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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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