Assessing Adult Literacy by Telephone

Several industrialized nations have conducted expensive door-to-door surveys of adult literacy. Following a critique of the role of knowledge in literacy, the research presented here examined the construct and action validity of the use of simple checklists to assess the declarative knowledge component of adult's literacy by telephone. Significant relationships were found among knowledge when assessed either by listening (telephone) or by reading (mailed questionnaire) modality. The telephone data showed similar relationships to demographic variables that have been found in the 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey and other literacy surveys during the last half-century. It was concluded that the telephone method may provide a valid, cost-effective alternative to door-to-door assessments of literacy.