RESEARCH PRESENTATION ON TOOLS AND METHODS OF

DATA COLLECTION

PRESENTED BY:MR.PRANAY SHELOKAR

MSC (N) 1ST YEAR

CHECKLIST:

It is one of the most commonly used instruments for performance evaluation. A checklist enables the observer to note only whether or not a trait is present. It consists of a listing of steps, activities, and behaviours the observer records when an incident occurs. The observer has to judge whether certain behaviour has taken place.

In health care setting, checklist is commonly used to list patient’s behaviour’s associated with particular nursing interventions, and the assessor to check or tick within a space provided whether or not those particular behaviours occurred.checklist specifies the presence or absence of an attribute or trait, which is then “checked” by the rater/observer.An example of checklist is depicted in table

Checklist for evaluation of student’s performance during surgical dressing

Sr,no Behaviour Place for tick mark RemarkYes no

1 Explains procedure2 Collects necessary equipment3 Arranges equipment for convenient use4 Prepares the patient5 Washes hand6 Maintains aseptic technique7 Removes dressing8 Observes condition of wound9 Cleans wound10 Applies dressing11 Removes equipment12 Makes patient comfortable13 Complete charting14 Takes care of equipment

Definitions:“A checklist is a simple instrument consisting prepared list of expected items of performance or attributes, which are checked by a researcher for their presence or absence”.

Characteristics of checklist:Observe one respondent at one timeClearly specify the characteristics of behaviour to be

observedUse only carefully prepared checklist to avoid more

complex traits.The observer should be trained how to observe,

what to observe , and how to record the observed behaviour

Use checklists only when you are interested in calculating a particular characteristic.

Construction of checklists:While constructing or preparing a checklist the following points should be kept in mind.

Express each items in a clear, simple, languageAn intensive survey of the literature is made to

determine the type of checklist to be used in a particular research.

The list of items in the checklist may be continuous or divided into groups or related items.

These list of the items are formulated on the basis of judgement of experts, and each item is evaluated in respect of the number of favourable and unfavourable responses.

Avoid negative statements whenever possible.Avoid lifting statements verbatism from the text.Ensure that each item has clear responses: yes or no,

true or false and the like.Review the items independently.Checklist must have the quality of completeness and

comprehensiveness.

Advantages:Checklists allow inter-individual comparisons. It provides a simple method to record observation. It is adaptable to subject matter areas. It is useful in evaluating learning activities. It is helpful in evaluating procedural work.Properly prepared, it allows the observer to contain

the direct attention.Checklist have the objectivity to evaluate

characteristics

Useful for evaluating those processes that can be subdivided into a series of actions.

Decreases the chances of error in observation.

Disadvantages:Does not indicate quality of performance, so

usefulness of checklist is limited.Only a limited component of overall clinical

performance can be evaluated.It has a limited use in qualitative research

studies.