In other cases, informants made specific
comments related to the scope of the study, key
issues to be addressed and suggestions for
recommendations. The responses were analyzed
by CASA Columbia staff to identify key themes,
provide illustrative quotes and inform
subsequent research efforts.
The National Addiction Belief and
Attitude Survey (NABAS)
CASA Columbia designed and developed a
focus group protocol and a survey to assess the
addiction-related attitudes and beliefs of a
nationally-representative sample of adults.
CASA Columbia staff, in collaboration with
Peter D. Hart Research Associates, a survey
research firm, developed the focus group
discussion guide and survey instruments. Peter
D. Hart Research Associates arranged for and
moderated the focus groups and fielded the
survey.
The recruiting and screening materials, consent
protocol, focus group discussion guides,
methodology and survey instrument were
approved by CASA Columbia’s IRB.
Focus Groups
Focus groups were conducted at research
facilities in Atlanta, GA and Philadelphia, PA.
The first set of focus groups took place in
Atlanta, GA on May 13, 2008. The second set
of groups was held in Philadelphia, PA on May
20, 2008. In each city, one group was composed
of respondents without a college education and
the other was made up of respondents who had
completed college.*
All participants were administered a screening
questionnaire as part of the recruitment process.
Because it was considered unlikely that we
would be able to recruit a representative sample
of those managing their disease to participate in
the focus groups, and inclusion of just several
such people in the group might bias the
- No qualitative differences were found in the
responses of these two groups of participants.
discussion, individuals with addiction who were
currently managing the disease were excluded
from participation. Efforts also were made to
split the groups as evenly as possible between
participants who had immediate family members
with a history of addiction and those who did
not. Participants also had to be between the ages
of 25 and 70. A relatively even balance of men
and women was sought in each group.
Participants were paid $90 for participating in
the focus group session.The National Survey
Using results of the focus groups, gaps identified
in the literature and the goals of this study as a
guide, a pretest survey was developed by CASA
Columbia staff with input from Peter D. Hart
Research Associates. This pretest survey was
administered and then modified and the final
questionnaire was administered by means of a
telephone survey. (See Appendix C for the
survey instrument and response frequencies.)Peter D. Hart Research Associates staff
completed interviews with 1,303 adults by
telephone between October 21, 2008 and
November 3, 2008.Of the respondents, 196 reported personal
experience with addiction, while 887
respondents reported having family members or
close friends with a history of addiction.The margins of error for the telephone survey
were: +/- 2.7 percent among all respondents; +/- 7.0 percent among those with personal
experience with addiction; and +/- 3.3 percent among those with family
members or close friends with a history of
addiction.Telephone numbers in the sample were called up
to four times. A total of 3,663 households
answered the phone and attempts were made to