Week 4 through Week 5

MODULE 2:  MEASUREMENT AND SURVEYS

During Weeks 4 through 5, students will learn basic principles of measurement and survey methodology for evaluating a health care system or health services. Students will read through the websites and view the videos that are posted below. From these activities, you should be able to define terms (e.g., reliability and validity), identify standardized measures/validated clinical rating scales (e.g., Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9] for depression), and other screening tools used for documentation of health outcomes. Upon completion of this module, students will be able to design and construct a survey related to a health care outcome.

It is recommended that you write notes as you review these materials because they will be helpful when completing written assignments and preparing for the online exams.  

Week 4:  Principles of Measurement

Student Learning Outcome(s) for this Session: Upon completion of this session’s readings/activities, students will be able to:

  1. Understand the definition of measurement and its importance in healthcare research.
  2. Describe the difference between quantitative and qualitative measurements.
  3. Define variables and their role in healthcare research.
  4. Differentiate between independent and dependent variables.
  5. Define reliability and validity and their importance in healthcare research.
  6. Define bias and measurement error and their impact on healthcare research.
  7. Understand the importance of standardized surveys in healthcare research. 

Readings & Resources:

REQUIRED:

  1. “Psychology 2e”by Rose M. Spielman, William J. Jenkins, Marilyn D. Lovett, OpenStax, Rice University is licensed under CC BY 4.0
  2. “Introductory Business Statistics”by Alexander Holmes, Barbara Illowsky, Susan Dean, OpenStax, Rice University is licensed under CC BY 4.0
  3. “AHRQ Quality Indicators Case Studies” by The Agency for Healthcare Research and Qualityis licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
  4. “AHRQ Quality Indicators”by The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
  5. “AHRQ Measures”by The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
  6. Video: “Reasons to Choose a CAHPS Survey”by Demoflick , The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

7. Video: “Depression Screening Tool (PHQ-9)”by Medicare Informatics is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

RECOMMENDED:

  1. Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2001). The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of general internal medicine, 16(9), 606–613.
  2. Bergner, Marilyn Ph.D.; Bobbitt, Ruth A. Ph.D.; Carter, William B. Ph.D.; Gilson, Betty S. M.D.. The Sickness Impact Profile: Development and Final Revision of a Health Status Measure. Medical Care 19(8):p 787-805, August 1981.
  3. Video: “Measuring Quality to Improve Quality – Strengths and Limitations of Clinical Quality Measurement”by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Sep 25th – Lab Exercise #1 DUE. Instructions are provided on Brightspace.

Week 5:  Survey Development

Student Learning Outcome(s) for this Session: Upon completion of this session’s readings/activities, students will be able to:

  1. Understand the process of survey development, including the steps involved in creating a survey, from defining the research question to selecting an appropriate survey design, sampling method, and response format.
  2. Differentiate between standardized and non-standardized surveys, including their advantages and disadvantages, and identify situations in which each type of survey may be most appropriate.
  3. Compare and contrast structured and semi-structured survey items, and explain when each type of item may be most appropriate for collecting data.
  4. Describe the different types of response scales used in surveys, including Likert scales, semantic differential scales, and visual analog scales, and explain the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  5. Understand the importance of pretesting and pilot testing surveys, and identify strategies for improving survey response rates and minimizing response bias.

Readings & Resources:

REQUIRED:

  1. Research Methods in Psychology (2019) by Rajiv S. Jhangiani, I-Chant A. Chiang, Carrie Cuttler, & Dana C. Leighton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Chapter VII: Survey Research.
  2. Graduate research methods in social work (2021) by Matthew DeCarlo, Cory Cummings, Kate Agnelli is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Chapter 12: Survey Design.
  3. Video: “Designing a Survey” by SAGE Video is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

4. Video: “Webinar: Designing Survey Questions about COVID-19” by National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

RECOMMENDED:

  1. Video: “Writing Good Survey Questions – Statistics Help” by Dr Nic’s Maths and Stats is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

2. Video: “Designing a Questionnaire or Survey – statistics help” by Dr Nic’s Maths and Stats is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Oct 9th – Lab Exercise #2 DUE. Instructions are provided on Brightspace.