HCR 593-Module 5

• Population demographics
• Socioeconomic factors
• Environmental factors
• Cultural factors.

If you are doing a quality -improvement project, include all of the facility or organization information that the reader needs to understand the problem. This may include a description of the organizational culture in addition information related to:

• Administration
• Management
• Leadership structures
• Financial data
• Staffing
• Involved populations, such as patients.

Anything that could  influence the implementation or outcomes of your project, for better or worse, should be discussed.

Module 5: Producing the Applied Project: Sample Population

• What population are you drawing your sample from?
• Who is going to participate in your study or project?
• How many participants do you need? Is there a minimum?
• How are you going to get them?

You need to first look at the type  of  sample design you are going to use ( convenience, purposive, random, consecutive) and why you chose that design.

Next, you need to establish your  sampling frame (the general population from which you will recruit your participants).  Example: For a study of bereaved parents of estranged children, the sampling frame might be parents attending a grief support group in a particular region of the United States.

Then you must tell us who you want to recruit from that population.

You need to specify exactly who qualifies to participate

• Develop inclusion and exclusion criteria (I/E)
• Characteristics for I/E  may include
  • Demographics (age, sex, educational level, marital status, ethnicity, occupation)
  • Presence or absence of an illness or health condition
  • Duration of illness or health condition
  • Number of years phenomenon being  experience
• Professional role
• Primary language
• Literacy
• Previous experience with intervention
• Location

Example

The study will include a purposive sample of women in western Uganda who have experienced obstetric fistula. Inclusion criteria are women 18 years of age and older with a vesicovaginal or rectovaginal fistula  secondary to prolonged obstructed labor. Exclusion criteria will be women who have had their fistula for longer than five years so that the data reflect current sociocultural norms.

Module 5: Bias in Research

As you develop your project, take time to see if you have identified any potential “bias” in your approach, in your population, and in your analysis. How will you approach bias that you identify.