Posted on July 14, 2016 by Niroshan Siriwardena

Improvement Science and Research Methods Seminar – Cognitive Interviews – Fiona Togher

As part of the CaHRU Improvement Science and Research Methods seminar series, Fiona Togher presented a fascinating seminar on the use of cognitive interviews on 28 June 2016. Fiona eloquently described how cognitive interviews can and indeed should be used as an integral part of questionnaire design. She explained how some of the potential problems found in data collected by questionnaires can be directly apportioned to participants understanding and perception of the questions along with issues of memory retrieval and the response process. Traditional field testing of questionnaires does not highlight these issues as this type of testing will only analyse whether a participant answers a question or not. It does not assess the thought process behind the participant’s decision to answer the question in that way.

Cognitive interviews are an in-depth question by question discussion with typical participants designed to assess their comprehension, retrieval, judgement and response process. From this it is possible to determine the suitability and relevance of questions to the target audience, thereby producing clear questionnaires that will themselves produce more robust data. Fiona was able to show practical application of this technique through her own experiences whilst developing a Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM) for use in Ambulance Services in England. Her personal experience of using cognitive interviews and relaxed and engaging presentation style made this an interesting, informative and enjoyable seminar.

Fiona recommended the following book as a good starting place for understanding this method: Willis, G. B. (2004) Cognitive Interviewing: A Tool for Improving Questionnaire Design Sage Publications, Inc. There is also a follow on book: Willis, G.B. (2015) Analysis of the Cognitive Interview in Questionnaire Design (Understanding Qualitative Research) OUP, USA. The next Improvement Science and Methods seminar will take place on 13th September, 2016 where Prof Chris Bridle, director of the Lincoln Institute for Health, will be discussing accumulative evidence synthesis.

By Dr Stephanie Armstrong

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Niroshan Siriwardena

CaHRU attends regional SAPC meeting at Nottingham University

Members of the CaHRU team, Jolien Vos, Fiona Togher, Despina Laparidou, Viet-Hai Phung, Ana Godoy, Dr Coral Sirdifield, Dr Zahid Asghar and Prof Niro Siriwardena, recently attended the Spring Trent Regional Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC) meeting at the University of Nottingham on 17 March 2015 representing the University of Lincoln. It promised to be an exciting day with CaHRU members giving three oral presentations and four posters.

An opening keynote by Professor Alan Ford from the University of Nottingham gave an overview of the challenges we face to innovate in teaching and learning. His talk was followed by a series of interesting parallels or the chance to attend a workshop. Parallel session captured research surrounding medical education as well as topics regarding care pathways, responsiveness in primary care and the development of a quality control framework for mobile app based health behaviour change interventions.

Just before lunch, time was allocated to poster viewing. Despina Laparidou presented a poster on the CADS:E3 study of dementia carers. Fiona Togher presented result from her doctoral work on the development of a prehospital Patient Reported Experience Measure. Ana Godoy and Coral Sirdifield displayed a poster on their analysis of the Quality and Costs of Primary Care (QUALICOPC) study in England, in particular on what patient’s value and what they experience in general practice. Jolien Vos presented the scoping review of her doctoral study on care navigation by older people with multimorbidity in a poster.

The afternoon began with a keynote from Professor Chris Salisbury from Bristol University, focussing on the redesign of primary health care in the context of multimorbidity. Another series of parallels took place which featured research taking place within CaHRU. Ana Godoy presented a case-control study investigating the association of bisphosphonates and stroke, Coral Sirdifield presented a further analysis of QUALICOPC and Jolien Vos presented a qualitative study of telecare for patients with multimorbidity ongoing research.

The day came to an end with the announcement of the winners of the early career prizes and the CaHRU team looking back on a successful conference.

By Jolien Vos

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Niroshan Siriwardena

Community and Health Research Unit at SAPC and RCGP Annual Scientific Meeting, Glasgow

Members of the Community and Health Research Unit from the University of Lincoln recently attended the combined Society of Academic Primary Care and RCGP Annual Scientific Meeting in Glasgow where they were selected to give five oral presentations on some of the team’s current research into cardiovascular disease, adult vaccination and insomnia treatment. The conference provided a wonderful opportunity for junior and senior members of the team to present work at an international conference.

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