WLS Codebooks

Note: Codebooks contain frequency data from the private data release. For some variables, these differ from the frequencies in the public release. Variables that differ between the public and private versions include "(not available on public release)" as part of the variable description, or a note indicating the difference between the public and private versions.

In Person: Cognition - Digit Ordering

KDIGIT  Cognition - Digit Ordering Module

OVERVIEW

The Cognition - Digit Ordering Module, which was first administered to a
randomly selected 80% sub-sample during the 2005 collection wave, assesses
cognitive ability by asking participants to mentally rearrange and verbally
restate increasingly lengthy sets of one-digit numbers such that they are
value-ordered from lowest to highest. For the 2011 CAPI interview, the exact
same version of the Digit Ordering Task used in 2005 was once again
administered to a randomly selected 80% sub-sample. Prior to attempting the
task, selected participants were told:

     "Now we are going to do a task that's quite a bit different. I'm going
     to read some numbers to you, and when I am done I would like you to 
     rearrange the numbers from the lowest number I say to the highest
     number I say and then say them back to me. For example, if I said '4 
     zero 2', you would say, 'zero 2 4'. I can only say the numbers once, 
     so that's why it's important that you are able to hear me clearly. 
	
     This is designed to be a little hard and we want you to do it without 
     writing anything down. We don't expect everyone to get everything 
     right, but we really want you to try your best, OK? Is this clear?"

If the participant understood these instructions and agreed to attempt the
Digit Ordering Task, the interviewer proceeded to read them a series of three
one-digit numbers. If the participant correctly repeated the numbers in
ascending order, they moved on to the next level of the task, in which they
were asked to rearrange and restate a series of numbers that was one-digit
longer (in the referenced case, four digits long). Participants who repeated
the first set of numbers in an incorrect order were given a second series of
three one-digit numbers. If they correctly rearranged this set, they moved on
to the next level of the task; if they once again restated the numbers in an
incorrect order, however, the interviewer thanked them for their efforts and
ended the task. This incremental administration pattern continued until the
number sequences reached a maximum of eight digits or until the participant
incorrectly rearranged two consecutive number sequences of equivalent length.
Participants' answers were recorded verbatim for the duration of the Digit
Ordering Task and they were never informed as to the correctness or
incorrectness of their responses, although positive feedback (e.g. "you're
doing really well!") was provided to those who reached number sequence lengths
of five and seven digits.  

For more information about the nature of the Cognition - Digit Ordering Module
and our cognition data at prior collection waves, please see Appendix G (cor862
and cor946). No new documentation about the Digit Ordering Task was added to
the appendix for the 2011 collection wave. 


BRIEF VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS

    Variable ranges reference dataset/codebook order and are not necessarily 
    alphabetical.
    _____________________________________________________________________

    KORDSTAT-KORDREL:	    Module-Level Status Variables

    KI501RE:		    Random 80% Sub-Sampling Flag Dictating 
    			    Whether Digit Ordering Task Administered to
    			    Participant

    KI501REA:	  	    Flag for Outcome of Digit Ordering Task
    
    KI502RE:        	    Highest Level of Digit Ordering Task 
    			    Successfully Completed by Participant, Not
    			    Including Those Who Refused One or More
    			    Items
    
    KI502REA:	    	    Highest Level of Digit Ordering Task
    			    Successfully Completed by Participant, 
    			    Including Those Who Refused One or More 
    			    Items

    KI503RE:        	    Participant's Score for the Digit Ordering
    			    Task, Not Including Those Who Refused One 
    			    or More Items
    			    
    KI503REA:        	    Participant's Score for the Digit Ordering
    			    Task, Including Those Who Refused One or 
    			    More Items

    KI504RE:        	    Flag Providing Additional Information About 
    			    Low Performance on the Digit Ordering Task

    KI531RE-KI536RE:	    Task Level #1 (3-Digit Number Sequences): 
    			    Indicators for the Participant's Answers 
    			    and Their Correctness
    			    
    KI541RE-KI546RE:	    Task Level #2 (4-Digit Number Sequences): 
    			    Indicators for the Participant's Answers 
    			    and Their Correctness
    			    
    KI551RE-KI556RE:	    Task Level #3 (5-Digit Number Sequences): 
    			    Indicators for the Participant's Answers 
    			    and Their Correctness
    			    
    KI561RE-KI566RE:	    Task Level #4 (6-Digit Number Sequences): 
    			    Indicators for the Participant's Answers 
    			    and Their Correctness
    			    
    KI571RE-KI576RE:	    Task Level #5 (7-Digit Number Sequences): 
    			    Indicators for the Participant's Answers 
    			    and Their Correctness
    			    
    KI581RE-KI586RE:	    Task Level #6 (8-Digit Number Sequences): 
    			    Indicators for the Participant's Answers 
    			    and Their Correctness

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