¶ … Society for Women's Health Research
Survey Design: Society for Women's Health Research
The research study conducted by the Society for Women's Health Research (2008) entitled "Surveys of adult U.S. women and doctors gauge perceptions about depression through hormonal transitions" is not designed to determine if it is actually safe for women to take medication for depression during pregnancy and immediately after pregnancy but rather if most adult women believe that doing so is actually dangerous versus physicians with specialized knowledge. While the extent to which women are willing to seek out and accept treatment from a physician if they were pregnant and suffering from depression might be a valuable subject area for research, the survey also asked a number of other questions, such as what the respondents thought were the symptoms of depression; if they believed women suffered more from depression than males; and if they believed women were more at risk for depression for certain times in their lives, all of which seemed less specifically germane to the stated topic. Of course, it is important that physicians are able to spot depression in patients but the women who were interviewed were laypersons. Whether someone could self-diagnose themselves...
This is inherently problematic because it is inevitably biased in favor of individuals who answer their phones and are willing to talk to interviewers. This may skew the demographic to older people with more time to respond to lengthy surveys (or who feel bad not responding to an inquiry). Demographics which may be hesitant to talk to an unknown interviewer over the phone may more likely to be poorer and younger. The survey questions took the form of yes no queries and asking respondents open-ended questions (such their perceptions of the symptoms of depression) which were then categorized and determined if they fit into particular categories. The demographics of the respondents were divided into white versus African-American women; household income; and age as well as into the two major comparative sections of women versus physicians. The doctors were surveyed through an Internet survey. Internet surveys may produce very different results from telephone surveys. First of all, they are much easier for people to fill out, which can result in a higher response…
