BIODTATSSS

Series of questions designed to collect information

Most common type of instrument used

Typically filled out by participants

• Questionnaire

• Interview

• Review of records

• Observation

Verbal communication between the researcher and the participant, during which information is collected

• Questionnaire

• Interview

• Review of records

• Observation

Collection of data from existing records using an abstraction form

Sources of data/records: hospital or facility records, computer data bases, government reports, census data

Common in case control studies

• Questionnaire

• Interview

• Review of records

• Observation

Behaviors that can be observed and measured using observation checklists or rating scales

Requirements: Develop standard protocol for data collection

Blinding

Train observers

Calibrate equipment

• Questionnaire

• Interview

• Review of records

• Observation

Types of questions

Can elicit more detailed responses

Responses require more effort to encode for data analysis

• Open ended questions

• Close ended questions

Types of questions

Easy to administer

Uniform and pre-coded

Can be encoded and analyzed in a short time

• Open ended questions

• Close ended questions

Types of interview

Operates within a formal interview schedule

Order of questions are designed prior to the interview

• Unstructured

• Structured

Types of interview

More conversational

Allows flexibility in questioning

• Unstructured

• Structured

Sampling in interview: _ and _

• Random sampling

• Non-representative sampling

• Non-random sampling

_ include:

Key informants: one-on-one interview with a point person

Focus group discussion: small group of people interviewed at the same time to informally discuss specific topics under the guidance of a moderator

• Non-representative sampling

• Random sampling