Kari Kuulasmaa Luxembourg 9-11 April 2008 Quality assurance Kari Kuulasmaa Luxembourg 9-11 April 2008

Quality assurance includes Good management of the survey Procedures that assure standardized stable measurements Training Piloting Quality control Assessment of the attained quality

Survey manual Operational guidelines for the full survey process Sampling, ethical considerations, measurement protocols, quality assurance, logistics, data and sample management, data analysis and reporting etc. Needs to be prepared at the planning stage of each survey

Selection and training of personnel Selection of personnel Locally from exam site or moving with the exam site. Doctor or nurse, hearing test for blood pressure etc. Training To use the standard measurements Other parts of the survey process

Piloting the national survey Carry out a fieldwork phase of the full survey, but for few days only Invitations and scheduling of visits Measurements Sample processing and transfer Data management Evaluate the success and make necessary adjustments to the procedures

Quality control To detect problems in measurements and data management soon after they occur Ideally so that they can be remedied Anyway before erroneous results reported Transfer point quality control Usually simple and cost effective, if planned properly

External quality control From outside the survey organization To monitor the overall survey process, including national manual To standardize national levels E.g. Laboratory standardization

Assessment of the attained quality Assessment and documentation of the quality that was actually attained and of survey specific characteristics Facilitates correct interpretation of results Helps in improving future surveys Particularly important for Assessment of trends International comparisons

The only way to be confident with one’s data is never to check Dale Williams