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Structured observational research in services for people with learning disabilities
- Author:
- MANSELL Jim
- Publisher:
- NIHR School for Social Care Research
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 31p.
- Place of publication:
- London
The authors review structured observational research, primarily in services for people with learning disabilities. Observational research is of particular value where people using services are unable to answer interviews or questionnaires about their experiences, and where proxy respondents may not be sufficiently accurate sources of data. The review illustrates the use of observational data in assessing and improving the quality of services. Drawing on the published research evaluating services for people with learning disabilities, it deals with the question of what to observe and how to define it so that the information gathered is valid and reliable. It discusses sampling in order to obtain representative information, considers the practical steps that have to be taken in order to make observations in services, and, using examples from the research literature, it shows how to analyse and present observational data.