Vocational Bias: A Potential Pitfall in the Use of Key Informant Interviews in Pediatric Community Needs Assessments
Key informants are individuals with insight into a community or a problem of interest. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of the employment type of key informants on the outcome of a pediatric needs assessment for an urban community. Twenty-one interviews were conducted during the course of a...
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Wiley
2008-01-01
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| Series: | The Scientific World Journal |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2008.72 |
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| author | Kimberly Northrip Candice Chen Jennifer Marsh |
| author_facet | Kimberly Northrip Candice Chen Jennifer Marsh |
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| description | Key informants are individuals with insight into a community or a problem of interest. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of the employment type of key informants on the outcome of a pediatric needs assessment for an urban community. Twenty-one interviews were conducted during the course of a pediatric community needs assessment. As part of the interview, informants were asked to list the top three problems facing children in their community. We analyzed their answers to determine if informant responses differed by employment type. Key informants were divided into four employment types: health care setting, social service, business, and infrastructure. Responses were coded as being primarily one of three types: medical, social, or resource. Our results showed that those informants who worked in a health care setting listed medical problems more often than those who did not (p < 0.04). Those who worked in social services listed resource problems more often than those who did not (p < 0.05). Those in business and infrastructure positions listed more social problems (p < 0.37). No difference was observed in response type between those who had lived in the community at some point and those who had not. This study lends support to the hypothesis that informants’ reporting of community problems is biased by their vocation. Clinicians often focus their needs assessments on health care workers. This study suggests, however, that we need to take into consideration the bias this presents and to seek to interview people with diverse work experiences. By limiting the process to health care workers, clinicians are likely to get a skewed perspective of a community’s needs and wants. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b25fe9fd9a244da5a34bcaa1df0ac6d0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1537-744X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2008-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Scientific World Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-b25fe9fd9a244da5a34bcaa1df0ac6d02025-02-03T01:20:56ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal1537-744X2008-01-01850250610.1100/tsw.2008.72Vocational Bias: A Potential Pitfall in the Use of Key Informant Interviews in Pediatric Community Needs AssessmentsKimberly Northrip0Candice Chen1Jennifer Marsh2Department of Pediatrics, University of Kentucky, 740 South Limestone St., Lexington, KY 40536, USADepartment of General Pediatrics, Children's National Medical Center, 111 Michigan Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20010, USAOffice of Medical Services, Peace Corps Headquarters, 1111 20th St., NW, Washington, D.C., USAKey informants are individuals with insight into a community or a problem of interest. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of the employment type of key informants on the outcome of a pediatric needs assessment for an urban community. Twenty-one interviews were conducted during the course of a pediatric community needs assessment. As part of the interview, informants were asked to list the top three problems facing children in their community. We analyzed their answers to determine if informant responses differed by employment type. Key informants were divided into four employment types: health care setting, social service, business, and infrastructure. Responses were coded as being primarily one of three types: medical, social, or resource. Our results showed that those informants who worked in a health care setting listed medical problems more often than those who did not (p < 0.04). Those who worked in social services listed resource problems more often than those who did not (p < 0.05). Those in business and infrastructure positions listed more social problems (p < 0.37). No difference was observed in response type between those who had lived in the community at some point and those who had not. This study lends support to the hypothesis that informants’ reporting of community problems is biased by their vocation. Clinicians often focus their needs assessments on health care workers. This study suggests, however, that we need to take into consideration the bias this presents and to seek to interview people with diverse work experiences. By limiting the process to health care workers, clinicians are likely to get a skewed perspective of a community’s needs and wants.http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2008.72 |
| spellingShingle | Kimberly Northrip Candice Chen Jennifer Marsh Vocational Bias: A Potential Pitfall in the Use of Key Informant Interviews in Pediatric Community Needs Assessments The Scientific World Journal |
| title | Vocational Bias: A Potential Pitfall in the Use of Key Informant Interviews in Pediatric Community Needs Assessments |
| title_full | Vocational Bias: A Potential Pitfall in the Use of Key Informant Interviews in Pediatric Community Needs Assessments |
| title_fullStr | Vocational Bias: A Potential Pitfall in the Use of Key Informant Interviews in Pediatric Community Needs Assessments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vocational Bias: A Potential Pitfall in the Use of Key Informant Interviews in Pediatric Community Needs Assessments |
| title_short | Vocational Bias: A Potential Pitfall in the Use of Key Informant Interviews in Pediatric Community Needs Assessments |
| title_sort | vocational bias a potential pitfall in the use of key informant interviews in pediatric community needs assessments |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2008.72 |
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