Developing a tobacco survey for deaf youth

Formidable barriers hinder use of standard data collection methods among de af youth. Culturally and linguistically sensitive data collection strategie s are needed to identify the unmet health and programming needs of this pop ulation. Unfortunately, researchers often fail to describe the issues invol ved in developing such targeted methods. The authors describe development o f a culturally appropriate data collection instrument for a study of tobacc o-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices among deaf youth. The instrum ent uses interactive multimedia technology to administer a questionnaire tr anslated into the primary languages used by the Deaf. The procedures taken to accommodate this technology to these languages and to Deaf culture are d escribed. This process yielded useful insights with respect to data collect ion not only among the Deaf, but among other frequently overlooked and unde rserved populations as well.