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Why do the Washington Group anxiety and depression questions take a different form than questions in other domains?

The Washington Group (WG) uses a functional approach in its data collection tools as opposed to other approaches that ask directly if someone has a disability, has conditions or impairments that can…

Can I ask the WG questions to a single household respondent for all household members?

The WG questions are intended to be administered individually to each person selected to be a respondent in a data collection. In some population censuses or sample surveys, only specific members of…

Where is the best place to add the Short Set to a census or survey?

This module of six questions is best situated either at the beginning of a survey questionnaire (together with the demographic information collected on household family members) or towards the…

Do the questions refer to the use of assistive devices?

The intention with the Short Set questions is to record, with the exception of seeing and hearing, difficulties people have with unaccommodated functioning (without the use of assistive devices or…

What about short-term or temporary difficulties? Are they included?

The WG questions do not address duration. Based on test results, the WG determined that when people answer the Short Set of questions, more often than not, they think of the difficulties they have in…

Can I change the answer categories?

Disability is not a Yes/No dichotomy but describes a dynamic and complex relationship between a person, the environment in which they live and their ability to participate in society on an equal…

Can I ask a subset of the six questions? I don’t have the resources to add all 6 questions to my census/ survey, what should I do?

A comprehensive measure to determine disability includes all six domains of functioning: seeing, hearing, walking/climbing steps, remembering/concentrating, self-care and communication.As noted in…

Do I need to include the clause: “…even if wearing glasses” and “even if using a hearing aid”?

In a few countries we have learned that hearing aids are non-existent. In these cases it would be appropriate to omit the clause “…even if using a hearing aid.”On the other hand, to indiscriminately…

Why don’t the WG questions use the word “disability”?

‘Disability’ is a word whose meaning can vary not only across cultures but among people in the same culture.  Moreover, in some cultures the term is associated with shame and/or stigma. In order…

Is it possible to modify the way questions are administered?

It is recommended that the response options be read aloud as part of each of the six questions as follows:Do you have difficulty walking or climbing steps? Would you say: No, no difficulty Yes,…