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International Measurement of Disability

Purpose, Method and Application

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

Editors:
  1. Barbara M. Altman

    1. Washington Group Secretariat, National Center for Health Statistics, Rockville, USA

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  • Provides detailed information on functioning measures of disability to the statistical and research communities
  • Proposes a model that could result in more comparable data on disability cross-nationally
  • Provides extensive information about ongoing collaborative work with other groups and training sessions that are being provided around the world
  • Develops both theoretical approaches (to environmental measures) as well as practical applications (using functioning approach to ascertain disability in current refugee crisis)

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series (SINS, volume 61)

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Table of contents (18 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxx
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  2. Origin of the Washington Group and Issues in Disability Data Collection

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
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    2. Background and Origin of the Washington Group: Improving the State of Disability Data

      • Julie D. Weeks
      Pages 3-14

    3. Cross-National Issues in Disability Data Collection

      • Marguerite Schneider
      Pages 15-28

    4. Washington Group Meetings, Processes and Milestones

      • Cordell Golden
      Pages 29-52

  3. Census/Survey Questions: Purpose, Process and Testing

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 53-53
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    2. Purpose of an International Comparable Census Disability Measure

      • Barbara M. Altman, Elizabeth K. Rasch
      Pages 55-68

    3. Summary of Washington Group Question Evaluation Studies

      • Kristen Miller
      Pages 69-84

    4. The Harmonized Joint Pilot Tests for 2010 Population Census Round in Latin American Countries: An Integration Experience

      • Alicia Bercovich
      Pages 85-93

  4. Moving Forward: Extended Question Sets and Methodological Advances

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 95-95
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    2. Development of Disability Measures for Surveys: The Washington Group Extended Set on Functioning

      • Mitchell Loeb
      Pages 97-122

    3. The Asian Testing Experience

      • Marguerite Schneider, Andres Montes
      Pages 123-135

    4. The Challenges of Conducting National Surveys of Disability Among Children

      • Howard Meltzer
      Pages 137-149

    5. Building a “Module on Child Functioning and Disability”

      • Roberta Crialesi, Elena De Palma, Alessandra Battisti, Children’s Workgroup
      Pages 151-165

    6. Cognitive Analysis of Survey Questions for Identifying Out-of-School Children with Disabilities in India

      • Daniel Mont, Sathi Alur, Mitchell Loeb, Kristin Miller
      Pages 167-181

    7. Developing Tools to Identify Environmental Factors as Context for Disability: A Theoretical Perspective

      • Barbara M. Altman, Howard Meltzer
      Pages 183-206

    8. International Comparisons of Disability Prevalence Estimates: Impact of Accounting or Not Accounting for the Institutionalized Population

      • Emmanuelle Cambois, Carol Jagger, Wilma Nusselder, Herman Van Oyen, Jean-Marie Robine
      Pages 207-229

  5. Conclusions: Outcomes and Place of the Washington Group Measures in International Data

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 231-231
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    2. The Washington Group on the Improvement of Disability Statistics Globally: Perspectives from the Philippines

      • Romulo A. Virola, Jessamyn O. Encarnacion
      Pages 233-253

    3. International Census/Survey Data and the Short Set of Disability Questions Developed by the Washington Group on Disability Statistics

      • Mitchell Loeb
      Pages 255-304
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Keywords

About this book

This volume provides an informed review of the accomplishments of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG) in the provision of international data and statistics on disability. It does so within the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The volume includes a description of the development and testing of a short set of questions for Censuses, now used in approximately 29 countries and recommended in the U.N.’s Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses: The 2020 Round, which includes disability as a core topic to be collected in censuses. It discusses the experiences of several countries on the use of the WG questions and how this has impacted on national agendas in the area of disability. It follows the development and testing of an extended set of questions for use in national surveys other than censuses and examines the challenges of translation and the importance of generating comparable question sets in different languages and within different cultures. It studies the examination of cognitive testing techniques in a variety of countries, and presents the results of the first round of censuses in 2010 in countries using the six question set. The volume includes discussions of the new development of question modules on a broad range of child disability and functioning, and the environmental contexts of participation that are part of the current work of the WG. In addition, it contains a reflection on the use of the WG’s functionality approach to identifying disabilities by humanitarian agencies to identify disabilities in populations of displaced persons. A thoughtful conclusion addresses what the development of cross-nationally comparable data can mean for the improvement of circumstances for all persons with disabilities.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Washington Group Secretariat, National Center for Health Statistics, Rockville, USA

    Barbara M. Altman

About the editor

Barbara M. Altman is a sociologist with a PhD from the University of Maryland. Retired from the National Center for Health Statistics, CDC, where she served as Special Assistant on Disability Statistics to the office of the Director, she also worked at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Prior to her work in the government, she served as Undergraduate Coordinator in the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland. She currently serves as a consultant on disability statistics issues. She played a key role in the organization and development of the work of the Washington Group, an international group working under the auspices of the United Nations, to develop culturally compatible measures of disability for international use and still consults on that activity. Her disability research interests focus primarily on disability definition and measurement, financing and utilization of health care services by persons with disabilities, and disability among minority groups, particularly Native Americans. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on disability topics including the recent Disability and Health in the United States Chartbook, and currently is co-editor of the series Research in Social Science and Disability.

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