In a former incarnation, I used to work in a social sciences field, so I have a great deal of sympathy for legit academic researchers trying to get a good survey response rate. Americans are so inundated with requests for information that the proportion of people asked to answer survey questions who actually do respond has shot down in recent years. When I received a request earlier this evening to respond to questions regarding child immunization patterns, I did my best to help out.
I was told the research was being conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, and that the entire interview would take in no event more than ten minutes. In typical gender-biased fashion (but probably reflecting the actual gender biases in parenting), the only parental history collected was about “the child’s mother.” And then the interview began to get really odd. We blew past the promised ten minutes, hitting the fifteen, twenty, twenty-five minute mark. After I’d described my the content and timing of my child’s vaccinations, the interviewer asked me for the name and contact information for my child’s doctor so that the immunization record could be verified. This struck me as rather odd and invasive, and so first I simply said that we’d just switched doctors and hadn’t moved records, making that impossible. They struck back with a request for contact information for prior doctors for access to my daughter’s records. I replied that I couldn’t give that information comfortably, and so the whole interview came to a crashing halt after 26 minutes.
After I hung up in great frustration, I began to exercise my credulity even more. How would I know that this was really a CDC survey? Certainly the interviewer asked a number of questions that an epidemiologist might ask, but couldn’t that have been an act? Maybe they were clever phishers, just looking for one key piece of needed information. Maybe I’m paranoid. I have no idea how to tell.
At the end of the experience, I think I can safely say that I’ve moved from the camp of those eager to lend researchers a hand to the camp of those who say, “No thanks. It’s just not worth it.” That makes me more than just a little bit sad.
No, I don’t answer questions for strangers who call me up. ever.
Doesn’t an interview need to be anonymous to be accurate? People agree to give accurate info when their identity is protected.
If these guys were really from the CDC and really wanted to know about “child immunization patterns,” wouldn’t they already have access to doctor or clinic or school records that would give them more accurate info than a verbal recollection from a parent?
Why try to get a hold of a child’s medical records and why ask about immunization? maybe trying to get a valid social security number or establish residency patterns and therefore citizenship of a child for potential identity theft or fake ID?
Call the CDC and find out. If they are phishing in the name of the CDC then some one needs to stop it quick. It’s inportant that the CDC be able to quickly and efectivly move when an outbreak of somthing nasty takes place. For that to happen they have to have the trust of the comunity.
OK I followed up with the CDC, and got this email back.
Hello,
Actually the CDC does conduct surveys on childhood immunization surveys as well as other health surveys in collaboration with a contractor . As described in the website you mentioned, it is true the information given by the parent is often compared with the medical record from the physician (easier if they keep electronic records in their office or use a regional electronic immunization registry). Parental understanding of their child’s immunization status has been shown in past surveys to be different from the medical record. Such surveys are designed to provide information to improve immunization coverage and protection of children from vaccine preventable diseases.
The information given back to CDC is never personally identified; it is only given as a summary. The National Immunization Survey (NIS) is probably what this article is describing. The summary data from all surveys that have immunization information are posted on our website at http://www.cdc.gov/nip/coverage/default.htm
If anyone doubts the credibility of the caller, they should take their name and number and ask for verification. The parents often receive a letter first explaining that they will receive a phone call.
Dr. Judy Schmidt, RN, MSN, MA, Ed.D.
Public Health Educator
Education, Information, and Partnership Branch, ISD
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
James, thanks very much for checking up on that. Now I also have a contact person to talk to about the survey problems — and they do remain problems.
I was just contacted by the same survey and it struck me as very odd. I did not answer the questions when they asked for names and birth dates of all my kids. They also asked some rather strange questions about cell phone use and family income in a way that was very suspicious. I feel like it was a total scam and I am glad that I did not give them real birthdates. I want to help in legitimate surveys but this one was way too strange. When they asked for the contact info for my childs doctor that was it for me. That is way beyond what I would ever give over the phone! I still think this is a phishing survey even with the above posted email from the CDC! Beware!