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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…

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…

Can I change or adapt the questions to meet my needs?

In order to collect internationally comparable data, it is important that the WG question be used without any changes to the wording of questions, order of questions, response…

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 use a screening question before the WG questions?

Evidence shows that single screener questions do not adequately identify the population of interest.  Most screeners are of the form “Do you have a disability?” with yes/no answer…

Can I use the key informant method to identify specific individuals with disabilities for further support?

While the key informant method may identify some people with disabilities, particularly those with more obvious types of impairment, assessing functioning of individuals through observation or…

Can the Short Set be answered by a proxy respondent?

Ideally, the questions should be answered by the individual in question (self-report) with the exception of those who are not capable of responding themselves. However, in a census setting and for…

Can the Short Set be used as a diagnostic tool?

The WG Short Set does not identify particular health conditions or diagnoses (the medical model of disability) but rather captures the possible impact of these conditions on functional abilities…

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…

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…