Preventive Veterinary Medicine 103 (2012) 120–135 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Preventive Veterinary Medicine j our na l ho me p age: ww w.elsevier.com/locate/prevetmed Utilizing qualitative methods in survey design: Examining Texas cattle producers’ intent to participate in foot-and-mouth disease detection and control Amy H. Delgado a,1 , Bo Norby a,∗ , Wesley R. Dean b , W. Alex McIntosh c , H. Morgan Scott d a Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States b Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX 77843, United States c Department of Sociology, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States d Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 12 November 2010 Received in revised form 18 August 2011 Accepted 10 September 2011 Keywords: Foreign animal disease control Cattle Qualitative methods Survey development Theory of Planned Behavior a b s t r a c t The effective control of an outbreak of a highly contagious disease such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the United States will require a strong partnership between the animal agriculture industry and the government. However, because of the diverse number of eco- nomic, social, and psychological influences affecting livestock producers, their complete cooperation during an outbreak may not be assured. We conducted interviews with 40 indi- viduals involved in the Texas cattle industry in order to identify specific behaviors where producer participation or compliance may be reduced. Through qualitative analysis of these interviews, we identified specific factors which the participants suggested would influence producer behavior in regard to FMD detection and control. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as an initial guide, we developed an expanded theoretical framework in order to allow for the development of a questionnaire and further evaluation of the relative importance of the relationships indicated in the framework. A 2-day stakeholder work- shop was used to develop and critique the final survey instruments. The behaviors which we identified where producer compliance may be reduced included requesting veterinary examination of cattle with clinical signs of FMD either before or during an outbreak of FMD, gathering and holding cattle at the date and time requested by veterinary authorities, and maintaining cattle in their current location during an outbreak of FMD. In addition, we identified additional factors which may influence producers’ behavior including risk per- ception, trust in other producers and regulatory agencies, and moral norms. The theoretical frameworks presented in this paper can be used during an outbreak to assess barriers to and social pressures for producer compliance, prioritize the results in terms of their effects on behavior, and improve and better target risk communication strategies. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ∗ Corresponding author. Current address: Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States. Tel.: +1 517 432 5199; fax: +1 517 432 1042. E-mail address: norby@cvm.msu.edu (B. Norby). 1 Current address: Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, Ap Postal 55-2200, Vasquez de Coronado, San Jose 11101, Costa Rica. 0167-5877/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2011.09.012