Quantitative and Qualitative Data Collection Techniques for Health Measurements

This 6-hour course will be offered via Zoom over 2 mornings (10/31/23 and 11/2/23). Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:

Measuring someone’s health by means of questionnaires is a challenging task. The concept of health is very broad – it encompasses a person’s physical, social and mental state – which makes conceptualization difficult. In addition, there is a high risk of socially desirable answers, since people like to indicate that they are doing well. Finally, health research is often conducted among people who are not fit or the elderly for whom surveys are a cognitively demanding task.

This course will focus on both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to measure health. First, participants will learn about collecting qualitative data on health through semi-structured interviews and researcher driven photo-elicitation interviews. Ensuring the scientific quality of these forms of data collection will be discussed on the basis of Guba and Lincoln’s trustworthiness criteria. Finally, we pay attention to analyzing qualitative data by means of a thematic analysis. Second, we give an introduction to the design and implementation of quantitative surveys. Participants will learn more about the design of survey questionnaires and the survey features that affect data quality. Special attention will be paid to the design of response scales.

Level: Beginner, some basic knowledge on survey research methodology is helpful

Register

Strengthening Engagement in Research: Building and Maintaining Relationships with Patient & Community Partners

Meaningful partnerships with patients, community members, or other collaborators involved in your research are invaluable. Projects are set up for success when care is intentionally given to developing and strengthening partnerships over time.

This online training will describe best practices for building mutually beneficial partnerships. The session will also cover common challenges that researchers and patient, community, and other partners experience when working together, along with suggested solutions.

Participation in our Engagement in Research 101 or Engagement in Research Nuts and Bolts trainings are not required to attend this session; however, some knowledge of engagement, whether from prior training(s) or personal experience, may foster deeper understanding of the material in this session.

Register

Engaging Patient, Community, and Other Partners in Your Research is a multi-part online training series. You may register for the entire series OR any single training session.

Part 1 will focus on the basics of research engagement, providing an overview of patient and community engagement and its benefits, debunking common myths and misconceptions, and providing considerations and next steps for incorporating engagement approaches into your research.

Part 2 will cover specific engagement methods, including consultative community feedback sessions, advisory boards, and working with patient and community partners as members of a research team.

Part 3 will focus on the nuances of building and maintaining partnerships, outlining best practices for developing and strengthening mutually beneficial partnerships and discussing common partnership challenges and solutions.

Those who are in the process of developing, implementing, or revising a patient and/or community engagement plan for an active or upcoming project may be interested in attending our Engagement in Research Interactive Workshop, during which participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and seek feedback on their engagement plans in a small group setting.

This training series was developed collaboratively with patient, community, and researcher partners and is co-sponsored by the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and NC TraCS Institute.

NC BERD Seminar: Study designs: experimental studies and prospective cohorts

This session provides an overview of the experimental and observational prospective cohort study designs and describes fundamental concepts of each and distinguishing methods.

Presenter: Mike Bancks, PhD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

This event is hosted by Wake Forest and being cross-promoted by the NC BERD Consortium, a collaboration of the CTSA-funded BERD cores at UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Duke University School of Medicine.

Quantitative and Qualitative Data Collection Techniques for Health Measurements

This 6-hour course will be offered via Zoom over 2 mornings (10/31/23 and 11/2/23). Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:

Measuring someone’s health by means of questionnaires is a challenging task. The concept of health is very broad – it encompasses a person’s physical, social and mental state – which makes conceptualization difficult. In addition, there is a high risk of socially desirable answers, since people like to indicate that they are doing well. Finally, health research is often conducted among people who are not fit or the elderly for whom surveys are a cognitively demanding task.

This course will focus on both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques to measure health. First, participants will learn about collecting qualitative data on health through semi-structured interviews and researcher driven photo-elicitation interviews. Ensuring the scientific quality of these forms of data collection will be discussed on the basis of Guba and Lincoln’s trustworthiness criteria. Finally, we pay attention to analyzing qualitative data by means of a thematic analysis. Second, we give an introduction to the design and implementation of quantitative surveys. Participants will learn more about the design of survey questionnaires and the survey features that affect data quality. Special attention will be paid to the design of response scales.

Level: Beginner, some basic knowledge on survey research methodology is helpful

Register

The Perils and Pitfalls of Complex Clustering in Pragmatic Trials

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Speaker: Jonathan C. Moyer, PhD
Statistician, NIH Office of Disease Prevention

Moderator: Andrea J. Cook, PhD
Senior Biostatistics Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute

Learn More