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Lessons Learned from the Application of a Vietnamese Surname List for Survey Research

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Abstract

Surname lists are increasingly being used to identify Asian study participants. Two Vietnamese surname lists have previously been published: the Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Program (VCHPP) list and the Lauderdale list. This report provides findings from a descriptive analysis of the performance of these lists in identifying Vietnamese. To identify participants for a survey of Vietnamese women, a surname list (that included names that appear on the VCHPP list and/or Lauderdale list) was applied to the Seattle telephone book. We analyzed surname data for all addresses in the survey sample, as well as survey respondents. The VCHPP list identified 4,283 potentially Vietnamese households, and 79% of the households with established ethnicity were Vietnamese; and the Lauderdale list identified 4,068 potentially Vietnamese households, and 80% of the households with established ethnicity were Vietnamese. However, the proportions of contacted households that were Vietnamese varied significantly among commonly occurring surnames. The characteristics of women with surnames on the VCHPP and Lauderdale lists were equivalent. The two lists performed equally well in identifying Vietnamese households. Researchers might consider using different combinations of Vietnamese surnames, depending on whether accuracy or high population coverage is the more important consideration.

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Acknowledgments

This publication was supported, in part, by grant R01-CA-115564 from the National Cancer Institute, cooperative agreement U01-CA-114640 from the National Cancer Institute, and cooperative agreement U48-DP-000050 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The contents of the article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Cancer Institute or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (M3-B232), 1100 Fairview Avenue North, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA

    Victoria M. Taylor, H. Hoai Do & Lin Li

  2. Division of General Internal Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Tung T. Nguyen

  3. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Yutaka Yasui

Authors
  1. Victoria M. Taylor
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  2. Tung T. Nguyen
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  3. H. Hoai Do
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  4. Lin Li
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  5. Yutaka Yasui
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Correspondence to Victoria M. Taylor.

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Taylor, V.M., Nguyen, T.T., Hoai Do, H. et al. Lessons Learned from the Application of a Vietnamese Surname List for Survey Research. J Immigrant Minority Health 13, 345–351 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-009-9296-x

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