Handout 4.3 Method Strengths (+) Weaknesses (–) Available Sometimes off the mark (collected Existing data + – (Health or other record) for a different purpose) + Inexpensive Uncertainty about – + Metric already determined representativeness of data Commonly used in health care + Variability in the consistency of – + Most health care staff are documentation in medical clinicians’ experienced in finding and records extracting data from health Data depends on reliable – record documentation process Observations + Direct measurement Time limited (possible problems – with representativeness) Objective + Hawthorne effect (social – + Able to obtain qualitative desirability) information after observation period Requires development of – to define “observations checklist” + Contextualized what observers will be looking for + Most health care staff already Possible reliability problems if more – experienced in “observing” than one observer Interviews: Telephone + Able to obtain a large sample Requires development of a set of – interview questions and probes + Able to obtain complete data Possible barriers due to language – + Able to ask about personal and/or hearing challenges information, i.e., knowledge of Hawthorne effect (social desirability respondent – bias) Training requirements for – interviewer(s) Interviews: + Able to collect complete data Hawthorne effect (social desirability – Face-to-face bias) + Knowledge of respondent Training requirements for – + Controlled environment interviewer(s) + Good response rate Challenge with sensitive questions – Obtains brush stroke Obtains brush stroke information Focus groups + – (6–8 individuals) information May not be representative – + Affirms/refutes ideas easily Need skilled facilitator – + Synergy (new ideas) may occur Role, levels of authority, gender, – in the group process etc., may affect openness Threats include domination of air – time, side-tracking Surveys: Mail + Standardized Needs cognitive testing to minimize – the risk of participants + Able to obtain data from a large misinterpreting the meaning of the
Handout 4.3 Method Strengths (+) Weaknesses (–) Existing data (Health or other record) + Available + Inexpensive + Metric already determined + Commonly used in health care + Most health care staff are experienced in finding and extracting data from health record – Sometimes off the mark (collected for a different purpose) – Uncertainty about representativeness of data – Variability in the consistency of clinicians’ documentation in medical records – Data depends on reliable documentation process Observations + Direct measurement + Objective + Able to obtain qualitative information after observation period + Contextualized + Most health care staff already experienced in “observing” – Time limited (possible problems with representativeness) – Hawthorne effect (social desirability) – Requires development of “observations checklist” to define what observers will be looking for – Possible reliability problems if more than one observer Interviews: Telephone + Able to obtain a large sample + Able to obtain complete data + Able to ask about personal information, i.e., knowledge of respondent – Requires development of a set of interview questions and probes – Possible barriers due to language and/or hearing challenges – Hawthorne effect (social desirability bias) – Training requirements for interviewer(s) Interviews: Face-to-face + Able to collect complete data + Knowledge of respondent + Controlled environment + Good response rate – Hawthorne effect (social desirability bias) – Training requirements for interviewer(s) – Challenge with sensitive questions Focus groups (6–8 individuals) + Obtains brush stroke information + Affirms/refutes ideas easily + Synergy (new ideas) may occur in the group process – Obtains brush stroke information – May not be representative – Need skilled facilitator – Role, levels of authority, gender, etc., may affect openness – Threats include domination of air time, side-tracking Surveys: Mail + Standardized + Able to obtain data from a large – Needs cognitive testing to minimize the risk of participants misinterpreting the meaning of the
pe_btb_mod4_handouts_final_06162014.docx