Using random telephone sampling to recruit generalizable samples for family violence studies.

Convenience sampling methods predominate in recruiting for laboratory-based studies within clinical and family psychology. The authors used random digit dialing (RDD) to determine whether they could feasibly recruit generalizable samples for 2 studies (a parenting study and an intimate partner violence study). RDD screen response rate was 42-45%; demographics matched those in the 2000 U.

Agreement about acts of aggression in marriage.

Psychological and Physical Aggression scales met internal consistency and agreement standards on the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) in a randomly recruited sample of 453 married community couples with children. Moreover, partners agreed on the extent of psychological and physical aggression as much or more than they did on CTS2 Negotiation scale and positive behaviors assessed on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. On the other hand, the CTS2 Sexual Coercion and Injury scales had much lower internal consistencies as measured by Cronbach's alpha, and agreement was generally very low.