Abstract:

Respondents' recall ability may compromise the validity of their report of lifetime experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). This study compared two interview methods: a commonly used structured interview method and the Life History Calendar (LHC) method, which combines a visual calendar with a semistructured interview schedule to help respondents gain better access to long-term memory. Comparison of two studies conducted with samples drawn from the same sampling frame found that, as hypothesized, the LHC method elicited more reports of lifetime IPV—especially abuse that occurred early in respondents' lives—than a structured interview survey method.

Keywords: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE; LIFE COURSE ANALYSIS; LIFE HISTORY CALENDAR METHOD; MEMORY

Document Type: Research article