Well, the whole point is that individuals will put in 4 letters followed
by 6 numerals which may or may not correspond to mother's maiden name or
her birthdate. But I don't care other than they put a code that they can
remember. If one were to suggest that they put in their own unique code,
more than one respondents will come up with xxxx999999 or abcd123456. So
I ask for mother's maiden and birthdate. The respondent is unlikely to
put in xxxx999999 or abcd12456 and will instead put in something that is
unique and meaningful to him and that he will remember.
I once suggested that they put in a code comprised of the name of their
spouse/boy or girl friend/ ... but there complaints ... I'm not married
... Is common-law OK? ... I don't have a girl friend ... Should I use my
x-wife's name or my present girl friend's name?. I'm not naive enough to
think that they all remembered or ever knew their mother's name and
birthdate. The respondents dutifully filled in the field without
complaint.
P.S. My mother's date of birth is April 12, 1923. The first 4 letters of
her maiden name is 'magi'
dennis roberts wrote:
>
> At 09:59 AM 8/4/00 -0400, Bob Hayden wrote:
> >----- Forwarded message from Peter Lewycky -----
> >
> >I've yet to meet an (adult) respondent who did not know his mother's
> >maiden name and her birthdate. :)
> >
> >----- End of forwarded message from Peter Lewycky -----
> >
> >We must meet sometime!-)
>
> can i come too? i remember her maiden name .... but not her birth date ...
> in fact, this is an interesting question ... take a random sample of adults
> ... say age 40 to 50 ... and ask these two questions ... wonder which
> answer has the higher p value of being correct? i predict the name does ...
>
> =================================================================
> Instructions for joining and leaving this list and remarks about
> the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES are available at
> http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/
> =================================================================
=================================================================
Instructions for joining and leaving this list and remarks about
the problem of INAPPROPRIATE MESSAGES are available at
http://jse.stat.ncsu.edu/
=================================================================
