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Can capabilities be self-reported? A think aloud study

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  • Al-Janabi, Hareth
  • Keeley, Thomas
  • Mitchell, Paul
  • Coast, Joanna

Abstract

Direct assessment of capability to function may be useful in healthcare settings, but poses many challenges. This paper reports a first investigation of the feasibility of individuals self-reporting their capabilities and the meaning of the responses. The study was conducted in 2010, using think-aloud interviews with participants in the UK. The findings of the study suggest that the majority of participants were able to comprehend questions about their capabilities, felt able to judge their own capability wellbeing and provided responses in line with this judgement. In a number of cases, for example in relation to ‘autonomy’, participants highlighted that their capability was potentially greater than their functioning. The findings also show varying interpretations of the capability concept, with some participants finding the capability concept unintuitive in relation to specific aspects of life (in particular, ‘attachment’). The findings suggest that guiding individuals in the process of identifying their capabilities may be important in generating consistent responses to capability questions.

Suggested Citation

  • Al-Janabi, Hareth & Keeley, Thomas & Mitchell, Paul & Coast, Joanna, 2013. "Can capabilities be self-reported? A think aloud study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 116-122.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:87:y:2013:i:c:p:116-122
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.03.035
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Choices, capabilities, and unanswered questions
      by Chris Sampson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2021-02-10 07:00:04

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    Cited by:

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    2. Philippe Tessier & Josselin Thuilliez, 2018. "Does freedom make a difference?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(8), pages 1189-1205, November.
    3. Hutchinson, Claire & Worley, Anthea & Khadka, Jyoti & Milte, Rachel & Cleland, Jenny & Ratcliffe, Julie, 2022. "Do we agree or disagree? A systematic review of the application of preference-based instruments in self and proxy reporting of quality of life in older people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    4. Philip Kinghorn & Nafsika Afentou, 2020. "Proxy responses to ICECAP-A: Exploring variation across multiple proxy assessments of capability well-being for the same individuals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-14, July.
    5. Hackert, Mariska Q.N. & van Exel, Job & Brouwer, Werner B.F., 2020. "Well-being of Older People (WOOP): Quantitative validation of a new outcome measure for use in economic evaluations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    6. León Tamayo, Dorian Fernando, 2018. "Enfoque de las capacidades," EconStor Preprints 182466, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Karimi, M. & Brazier, J. & Paisley, S., 2017. "How do individuals value health states? A qualitative investigation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 80-88.
    8. Jackson, Louise & Al-Janabi, Hareth & Roberts, Tracy & Ross, Jonthan, 2021. "Exploring young people's preferences for STI screening in the UK: A qualitative study and discrete choice experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    9. Paul Mark Mitchell & Samantha Husbands & Sarah Byford & Philip Kinghorn & Cara Bailey & Tim J. Peters & Joanna Coast, 2021. "Challenges in developing capability measures for children and young people for use in the economic evaluation of health and care interventions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 1990-2003, September.
    10. Joanna Coast, 2019. "Assessing capability in economic evaluation: a life course approach?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(6), pages 779-784, August.

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