Research Tools in Performance Assessment

Study Notes

Research tools are instruments used to collect information for performance assessments, self-evaluations, and external evaluations.
Different instruments are used to conduct assessment forms for gathering data according to the nature of the information.

Research tools are instruments for measuring events and used for data collection.
They should be measurable for data analysis and interpretation.

Research tools should have concise, complete, and definite question words.
The order of questions is important, and one question should not influence other questions.
Research tools should not be too long or too short, with a maximum completion time of 30 minutes.

Data are meaningful information collected through a systematic process from a selected sample.

Primary data collection involves personal direct contact, such as in-person surveys, interviews, focus groups, and direct observation.
Secondary data collection involves no direct contact, such as government publications, websites, books, and journal articles.

Observation: obtained by direct observations of investigators without asking questions, used for behavioral studies.
Interview: oral communication and response, which can be personal or telephone-based.
Questionnaire: questions prepared by the researcher and filled by the respondent, often used for large data sets.
Documents and records: collecting data from existing documents and records.

The choice of method depends on the nature of the study, size of the sample, scale of the survey, educational level of respondents, and type and depth of information to be collected.

Types of observations: structured and unstructured.
Tools for observation: field notes, checklist.
Advantages of observation: no subject bias, relates to what is happening, and independent of respondents.
Disadvantages of observation: expensive, limited information, and unforeseen factors may interfere with observation.

Classifications of interviews: personal (structured, unstructured, focused, clinical) and telephone-based.
Advantages of personal interview: flexibility, accuracy, and adequacy of data.
Disadvantages of personal interview: demands knowledge and skills, difficult analysis of data, and time-consuming.
Advantages of telephone interview: flexibility, fast, easy, simple, and economic.
Disadvantages of telephone interview: restricted to availability of telephone.

Advantages of questionnaire: can be posted, e-mailed, or faxed, large number of respondents, quick, and inexpensive.
Disadvantages of questionnaire: design problems, time-consuming, literacy problems, and no control over completion.
Structure of questions: open-ended, close-ended, dichotomous, multi-choice, rank order, rating, and checklist.
Closed-ended questions: limit response, easy analysis.
Visual analogue scales: assessing perception of physical stimuli as pain, sleep, etc.