NS310 Unit 3 Five-Pass Recall Example

Course	NS310 Nutritional Assessment
Unit	Unit 3
Paper type	24-hour recall write-up
Length	About 940 words, 6 pages double-spaced
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Purdue University Global
Program	BS in Nutrition Science
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for NS310 Unit 3

What the Second Pass Found: A Unit 3 24-Hour Recall Write-Up Using the Five-Pass Method With One Adult Volunteer

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

NS310: Nutritional Assessment

Unit 3 24-Hour Recall Write-Up

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The volunteer, foods, amounts and totals are composite; the multiple-pass validation study, self-report review and social desirability study cited are real.

What this part is doingNaming the recovered items in the lead shows the write-up treats the method's own working as evidence.

Methods

The volunteer, a 31-year-old office worker and a friend of the interviewer, gave verbal consent and is identified here by initials only, J.T. The interview took place on Wednesday evening, by phone, and lasted 34 minutes. It followed the five passes of the USDA Automated Multiple-Pass Method: a quick list, a forgotten foods list, time and occasion, a detail cycle and a final probe. Portions were estimated with a set of measuring cups, a ruler and a printed sheet of bowl, glass and mug sizes that J.T. had in front of him. Nutrients were calculated from USDA FoodData Central.

The Recall

Each line gives the time, occasion, place, food and amount, and the pass on which the item first appeared.

1. 6:45 a.m., breakfast, home: frosted wheat cereal, 1.75 cups; 2 percent milk, 1 cup. Pass 1.

2. 7:30 a.m., drink, car: coffee, 16 ounces, with 2 tablespoons flavored creamer. Coffee pass 1; creamer pass 2.

3. 10:15 a.m., snack, office: banana, 1 medium. Pass 1.

4. 10:15 a.m., snack, office: cheese crackers, about 10 crackers from a shared box. Pass 2.

5. 12:20 p.m., lunch, restaurant: turkey and provolone sandwich on a 6-inch white roll with mayonnaise; baked potato chips, 1 small bag; cola, 20 ounces. Pass 1.

6. 3:00 p.m., drink, office: cola, 12-ounce can. Pass 2.

7. 6:40 p.m., dinner, home: spaghetti, 2 cups cooked, with meat sauce, 1 cup; green salad with ranch dressing, 2 tablespoons; garlic bread, 1 slice. Pass 1, with dressing and garlic bread added in pass 4.

8. 9:30 p.m., snack, home: vanilla ice cream, 1 cup. Pass 1.

9. Throughout the day: water, about 3 cups. Pass 5.

Totals from FoodData Central: about 2,850 kcal, 104 g protein, 102 g fat, 378 g carbohydrate, 20 g fiber and 4,100 mg sodium.

What this part is doingRecording the pass on which each item surfaced lets the reader see the method working line by line.

What Each Pass Added

The quick list produced 14 items in about four minutes, told in no particular order. The forgotten foods pass, which reads out categories people commonly omit, added three items: the creamer, after the prompt about additions to coffee or tea; the crackers, after the prompt about snacks at work; and the second cola, after the prompt about drinks. The time and occasion pass placed every item in the day and added nothing new. The detail cycle added two items, the salad dressing and the garlic bread, when asked what was served with the spaghetti. The final probe added water.

The five added items supplied roughly 480 kcal, about one sixth of the day's total, which means a single open question would have missed a sixth of what J.T. ate.

What this part is doingThe highlighted sentence quantifies the method's contribution, which is the evidence the write-up is built to show.

This pattern matches what the method was designed to fix. In a validation study against doubly labeled water, the five-pass method underreported energy by 11 percent overall and by less than 3 percent in normal-weight adults (Moshfegh et al., 2008).

Interview Technique

Three habits kept the interview neutral. Probes were read as written, such as "Did you have anything to drink with that?", rather than improvised into leading questions like "Did you have a diet soda?" Responses drew no comment; when J.T. laughed about the ice cream, the next question simply asked for the bowl size. And the interviewer did not suggest amounts. When J.T. hesitated over the spaghetti, he was asked to pick the closest picture on the sheet instead of being offered "about two cups?" Each habit protects the data from the interviewer's own expectations, which can shape a recall as much as the respondent's memory.

What This Recall Can Support

The day's data support statements about the day. Drinks supplied a large share of energy: 32 ounces of cola and the creamer together account for roughly 450 kcal. Sodium was high, with most of it from the restaurant sandwich and the spaghetti sauce. What the recall cannot support is any statement about J.T.'s usual intake, his nutrient adequacy or his health.

Critique by Source of Error

Memory. Three of the five additions were snacks and drinks eaten away from a meal, the items people forget most. The passes recovered them; others may remain hidden.

Portions. J.T. first described his cereal as "one cup." When he poured his usual amount into a measuring cup at home on the phone, it came to 1.75 cups, adding about 140 kcal. Bowls are larger than the servings on cereal boxes, and people describe them by the box.

Reporting bias. J.T. paused before reporting the ice cream and called it "a little." Desire to appear healthy can shift what people report, and a study comparing two dietary methods found that this bias varied by gender, with women's social desirability scores linked to underreporting (Hebert et al., 1997).

One day. Tuesday was, in J.T.'s words, "pretty normal, except lunch out." A single recall describes one day well and a person's usual diet poorly. Self-report has known errors, but repeated recalls with methods like this one remain valuable for estimating intake when their limits are respected (Subar et al., 2015).

Limits

The interviewer knew the volunteer, which may have made him more relaxed or more guarded. The recall was by phone, so the portion aids were described rather than handled together. A second, nonconsecutive day would be needed before any statement about J.T.'s usual intake.

References

Hebert, J. R., Ma, Y., Clemow, L., Ockene, I. S., Saperia, G., Stanek, E. J., Merriam, P. A., & Ockene, J. K. (1997). Gender differences in social desirability and social approval bias in dietary self-report. American Journal of Epidemiology, 146(12), 1046-1055. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009233

Moshfegh, A. J., Rhodes, D. G., Baer, D. J., Murayi, T., Clemens, J. C., Rumpler, W. V., Paul, D. R., Sebastian, R. S., Kuczynski, K. J., Ingwersen, L. A., Staples, R. C., & Cleveland, L. E. (2008). The US Department of Agriculture Automated Multiple-Pass Method reduces bias in the collection of energy intakes. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 88(2), 324-332. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/88.2.324

Subar, A. F., Freedman, L. S., Tooze, J. A., Kirkpatrick, S. I., Boushey, C., Neuhouser, M. L., Thompson, F. E., Potischman, N., Guenther, P. M., Tarasuk, V., Reedy, J., & Krebs-Smith, S. M. (2015). Addressing current criticism regarding the value of self-report dietary data. The Journal of Nutrition, 145(12), 2639-2645. https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.115.219634

NS310 Unit 3 instructions, in plain terms

The recall assignment asks students to interview a volunteer about everything eaten and drunk in the previous 24 hours and then evaluate the data. Prompts usually ask for methods, the recall itself, nutrient totals and a critique. Use the multiple-pass method or the approach your course teaches, and name it. Describe the portion aids and the nutrient database. Present the recall with times, occasions, places, foods and amounts. Track which pass recovered each item if your course uses passes. Keep collection separate from critique so the data can be judged first. Organize the critique by source of error. State what the recall can and cannot support. Three or four pages usually covers it.

Inside the NS310 Unit 3 example

The methods section names the interview approach, the portion aids and the database, and explains how consent was given. The recall is listed in nine numbered lines, each marking the pass that first captured the item. Totals for energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, fiber and sodium follow. A pass-by-pass account shows the quick list producing fourteen items and later passes adding five. The highlighted sentence puts the added items at about a sixth of the day's energy. A validation study against doubly labeled water is cited. A section on technique describes neutral probes and not suggesting amounts. A short section says what the day's data can support. The critique covers memory, a cereal bowl that measured 1.75 cups and pauses that hint at bias.

Reading the NS310 Unit 3 grading rubric

Recall write-ups are usually graded on method, completeness of the data, accuracy of calculations and the quality of the critique. Naming the method and the portion aids shows the interview could be repeated. Points go to recording times, places and preparation, not only foods. Correct use of a recognized nutrient database is expected. A critique that sorts errors by source earns more than a list of general limitations. Recognizing that one day does not describe usual intake is a common marker of understanding. APA references and clear presentation are also scored. Write-ups that compare one day with recommended intakes without caveats often lose points. Showing what each pass contributed is often credited as insight into the method.

Common NS310 Unit 3 mistakes, and how to avoid them

Recall write-ups often skip the method and present a food list with no sense of how it was collected. Another common problem is portion amounts given as servings with no aid used. Some writers mix critique into the data so the reader cannot judge the numbers first. Totals are sometimes calculated from food labels rather than a database, without saying so. Critiques tend to say people forget things without showing what was forgotten. Many write-ups judge the volunteer's diet on the basis of one day. Interview technique is rarely discussed, though it shapes the data. If you have your interview notes but are unsure how to present them, set out the passes first and mark where each item appeared. From that record, a writer can draft the whole paper.

Get an NS310 Unit 3 example written to your instructions

Some sections ask for a recall of a volunteer, some allow a self-recall, and some supply ASA24 output. Send the instructions for NS310 Unit 3, the analysis program assigned and the rubric. The interview data remain yours to collect; the free first custom sample supplies the passes, the table and the critique around them within 24-48 hours. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

More NS310 papers and BS in Nutrition Science samples

NS310 Unit 3 questions, answered

Can I use ASA24 instead of interviewing someone?

Many sections allow or even require ASA24, the National Cancer Institute's free self-administered tool, which is modeled on the multiple-pass method. If you use it, the write-up should say so and critique the self-administered format, which removes the interviewer's probes but also the interviewer's influence. Check the prompt before choosing, since some units specifically assess interview skill.

How should portion sizes be estimated?

With whatever aids the course recommends: measuring cups and spoons, a ruler, food models or photographs of portion sizes. State which aids were used, because the choice affects accuracy. The example goes a step further and checks one estimate against a measured amount afterward, which turns a general limitation into a specific finding about this interview.

Should the recall be compared with dietary recommendations?

Usually not directly, and the example explains why. One day is a poor estimate of usual intake, so setting it against a Recommended Dietary Allowance can mislead. Where the prompt asks for a comparison, present it with that caveat stated plainly, or compare against a pattern such as food group servings and label the result as descriptive.

Where can I find a free NS310 Unit 3 sample paper?

This page has a complete Unit 3 24-hour recall write-up using the five-pass method, with a pass-by-pass account of what the interview recovered and a critique by source of error.

What are the five passes of the USDA multiple-pass method?

A quick list, a forgotten foods list, time and occasion, a detail cycle and a final probe. Each pass is designed to recover items or details the earlier ones missed.