Welcome to the Official Web site of the 2008 DoD
Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Active Duty Military Personnel
Active Duty Study Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the authority for this research?
- What is the survey about?
- When will the survey be done and the results available?
- How are study participants selected?
- Will answers be kept confidential?
- Who is RTI?
- What will happen to the questionnaires?
- How will the data be used?
- Will anyone at my installation see my answers?
- Can people who were not selected to participate take the survey?
1. What is the authority for this research?
This research is authorized by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and is supported by the Office of Drug Enforcement Policy and Support. RTI, a nonprofit research organization, is conducting the current study through a contract with the TRICARE Management Activity, HPA&E. All Institutional Review Board and Requests for Information Collection approvals have been obtained.DODD 1010.10, Health Promotion. "Directive establishes a health promotion policy within the Department of Defense to improve and maintain military readiness and the quality of life of DoD personnel and other beneficiaries." The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) (OASD(HA)) shall "coordinate health data collection efforts to ensure standardization and facilitate joint studies across DoD components."
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2. What is the survey about?
The survey collects information on injuries and illnesses, alcohol and tobacco use, illicit drug use, nutrition and exercise, mental health and stress, deployment, weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, sexual health, and other health topics.Return to the list of questions.
3. When will the survey be done and the results available?
Data will be collected for the survey during April and May, 2008. The analysis will be conducted during the fall and a report will be completed in early 2009. Copies will be available from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) following release of the results.Return to the list of questions.
4. How are individuals selected to take part in the study?
Individuals are selected as part of a scientific stratified random sample for the 2008 survey. RTI statisticians first randomly selected 70 U.S. military installations worldwide across all five active Services (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard). Then at each selected installation a random sample of several hundred persons, including officers and enlisted, male and female personnel, were selected to participate in the survey. A separate list of replacement personnel also was selected. Overall, the selected sample represents the active duty population.Return to the list of questions.
5. What about confidentiality?
As in previous years, the survey is designed so that all answers are anonymous and confidential; that is, participant names and social security numbers are not requested on the questionnaire. The data will be analyzed collectively for all respondents and within various subgroups, such as Service, gender, age group, and pay grade group, but never for an individual. Completed questionnaires are collected by RTI staff and mailed directly to a scanning firm. Only aggregate results will be provided to DoD after questionnaires have been processed and analyzed.Return to the list of questions.
6. Who is RTI?
RTI International is a private, nonprofit research organization with headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Associated with the University of North Carolina, Duke University, and North Carolina State University, RTI conducts various forms of laboratory and social research for government as well as commercial and industrial clients. DoD contracted with RTI to plan, conduct, and analyze data from the 2008 DoD Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Active Duty Personnel. More information About RTI is available.Return to the list of questions.
7. What will happen to participant's questionnaires?
Each questionnaire is confidential and secure. Questionnaires completed in group sessions at installations remain in the custody of RTI staff, who seal the cartons of completed questionnaires and ship them directly to a scanning firm. There, the questionnaires are batched and fed through an optical scanning machine, which reads the answers and combines them with all others received during the study. The accumulated data are delivered electronically to RTI researchers for analysis. The questionnaires are stored in bulk until the conclusion of the study, when they will be destroyed.Return to the list of questions.
8. How will the data be used?
Data collected for the survey provide a comprehensive worldwide assessment of the prevalence of substance use (alcohol, illicit drugs, and tobacco) and other health related behaviors among U.S. military personnel. Data are used in reports and scientific publications to better understand the nature, causes, and consequences of substance abuse and health practices in the military and to help evaluate and guide DoD and service-specific programs and policies.Return to the list of questions.
9. Who at my installation will see a participant's answers?
No one at your installation, in your unit or Service, or at DoD will ever have access to your questionnaire. Questionnaires are all shipped directly to a scanning firm, where they are processed by machine and stored until the conclusion of the study, when they will be destroyed.Return to the list of questions.
10. Can other persons take the survey in place of selected persons?
In a few cases this can be done, but it is limited to persons who are not physically at the installation at the time of data collection (e.g., PCS) and have been replaced as a part of sampling substitution procedure. Otherwise persons cannot be replaced.Return to the list of questions.
tjm@rti.org
Copyright© 2008, RTI International
Last Update: 25 January 2008