Table 1.

Comparing Self-Reported Dietary Assessment Methods across Various Dimensions of Interest¹

		24-Hour Recall	Food Record	Food Frequency Questionnaire	Screener or History
Scope of interest	Total diet	X	X	X
	One or a few components			X	X
Time frame of interest	Short term	X	X
	Long term			X	X
Can be used to query diet in distant past	Yes			X	X
	No	X	X
Allows cross-cultural comparisons	Yes	X	X
	No			X	X
Main type of measurement error	Random	X	X
	Systematic			X	X
Potential for reactivity	High		X
	Low	X		X	X
Time required to complete	<15 minutes				X
	>20 minutes	X	X	X
Memory requirements	Specific	X
	Generic			X	X
	None		X
Cognitive difficulty	High			X	X
	Low	X	X
Study Design	Cross-sectional	X	X	X	X
	Retrospective			X	X
	Prospective	X	X	X	X
	Intervention	X		X	X

¹Published with permission from the National Cancer Institute, Dietary Assessment Primer. Complete original table can be found at https://dietassessmentprimer.cancer.gov/profiles/table.html