How to Use HSRC
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A University-wide facility at the University of Minnesota, the Health Survey Research Center (HSRC) is a service provider within the School of Public Health located on the campus in Minneapolis. HSRC’s mission is to provide high quality, professional, and tailored support services to health research investigators and the larger community. HSRC provides a wide range of research support for faculty, students, administrators, federal, state, and local government agencies, external universities, not-for-profit organizations and others.
HSRC’s goal is to promote, enhance, and facilitate health related research. As a land-grant university, the University of Minnesota’s mission is teaching, research, and service. HSRC supports these goals and is organized to provide high quality survey research services to members of the University and the larger community.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can you help me when I have a limited budget?
How can you help me meet my study deadlines?
How do we handle data privacy (Non-public Data)?
Please let us know at our initial meeting if any of the data and materials you expect HSRC to handle is non-public and/or if, at any time in the future, you anticipate that your study data and materials will need to be completely removed from our electronic files. Knowing this information before we start working on your study estimate will allow us to offer the best data management options for your study.
If you are not sure whether some or all of your data and study materials are non-public and/or if you want it removed and destroyed, then it is best to clarify what is needed. HSRC will work with you to clarify if your data is non-public. If you are unable to clarify the level of protection needed for your study data it is best to plan for handling your data as private data and study procedures appropriately implemented.
Regardless of who will take responsibility for handling non-public data for your study, we recommend that you: store all of your non-public data in a secure environment; encrypt the data when in electronic form as appropriate for transmissions and storage on non-server computers or files; and ensure that the non-public data is deleted using the University’s Secure Data Deletion standards http://www1.umn.edu/oit/security/datadeletion.html
What information and documentation do you need from me when we meet?
To prepare for our initial meeting, gather and bring the following:
- Your survey questionnaire or questions (even if in draft form or examples from other studies);
- Your research plans as related to data collection volume (i.e., desired number of participants or completed surveys, etc.), data collection means (i.e., mail, web-based, telephone, etc.), and data handling (i.e., data entry, database design and building, etc.) preferences;
- Your thoughts on the type/number of progress reports you would like to receive during the life of your study;
- Logos or pictures you’ll want embedded in data collection instruments and cover letters; and
- Any other items (i.e., incentives, specimen collection kits, etc.) or materials you think will be pertinent to your study.
If any of the materials are in electronic form, please send us those electronic copies. Study work often cannot be estimated or the implementation design begun until this material is gathered. The more materials and information assembled up front, the quicker we can respond to your request for a cost estimate and start the work once your study is funded.
Can you provide me with study data in the form and format I need?
Who do I contact for a study estimate?
Once you have agreed on costs, start dates, and have received funding, we will assign two of our staff members as your study leaders – one as study lead, and the other as a backup leader – for the life of your study while it is handled by HSRC. With this system, you are guaranteed communications with someone who is most knowledgeable about the data collected and the handling of your study. You should think of them as additional members of your research team managing the HSRC work.
At our first meeting it is important for you to discuss with us your long range plans for the study and study data. These plans have important implications for our design and development decisions, as well as scheduling our Center workload. Your study plan information is factored into our formal work agreement as we strive to accurately identify work deadlines and turnaround times for specific work tasks, as well as clarify and delegate tasks and responsibilities between our Center staff and your study staff.
Formalizing the work agreement in this way allows us to track work progress using benchmarks that let us know whether we are ahead or behind schedule. We also expect you to attend to your team’s task responsibilities as specified in this agreement. Any delay in receiving from you the planned materials, decisions, and/or data will necessarily affect our ability to carry out tasks and meet deadlines.
This does not mean you cannot change the scope of work for your study; instead the cost and specifics of those changes must be reassessed, renegotiated, and finally approved by you when you sign and date an addendum to the formal work order agreement (see Change Management below).
We provide all of our HSRC clients with an estimate and bid document for the cost of carrying out the requested work. This bid covers the costs of the work, any applicable fees (for use of our research tools, such as software and participant tracking services), supplies, materials, and any externally purchased services required for us to complete the requested study work. We bill only for the actual work performed (i.e. time spent) plus other related costs incurred while carrying out the work specific to your study. We guarantee that your final costs will fall at or below our quoted price on the signed agreement between us (see the Change Management section below for information on how we handle requests for changes in original work scope once a study is started).
We offer several work options to choose from and we are happy to make recommendations when necessary for alternative approaches and options that will reduce costs. Please ask us for these recommendations up front if you believe costs will be an overriding issue in determining whether or not you wish to use the services of HSRC. Estimating the best possible options for your study without limits on costs often results in several hours (potentially up to 40-50 hours for one bid) compiling a budget that could be far out of line with your expectations. We can save everyone a lot of time if we know early that it is unlikely you will receive enough funding to support the most favorable, most comprehensive data collection processes.
Before any work can begin, all HSRC bid agreements or work orders must be formalized and finalized with dates and signatures from the study Principal Investigator and the HSRC Faculty Director.
As noted above, we recognize that change is a normal part of research studies. At HSRC, we practice change management during the life of a study. What this means to you is, if you identify a needed change in scope or procedures, we will provide you with an estimated study time and cost impact. At that time you determine if you have funds available to handle additional charges (if that is the resulting consequence) and whether you want us to proceed with the changes or not. We will make no changes to our work on your study without a formal sign-off on the study change document. We include a modest number of hours in each original study bid to address change management; but you control if, how, and when that time and money is spent. If there are no changes during the life of your study, the change management time is not used and you will not be charged the cost set aside for it.
HSRC is a university ISO (Internal Service Organization) that has University approval to sell services to University colleges or departments based on institutional policy. The sale must comply with all regulatory and legal requirements. An ISO must have the knowledge and expertise to conduct the business, comply with established University business standards and accounting principles, and provide competitive rates and service.
Margins for the sales activity must be set to break even. HSRC sells services to other departments that are unique, convenient or not readily available from external sources. ISO approval will ensure that goods and services: are being sold at reasonable rates when compared to external providers, comply with Federal costing rules and regulations related to the business, and are sold at rates that fully cover costs.
HSRC bills on an hourly basis for the work time to complete your study. The more people intensive the work processes to complete your study, the more costly. Our hourly rates are regulated and approved by the University of Minnesota’s ISO administrative officials. The smallest unit of time that we bill is in 1/4 hour or 15 minute increments. Our meetings, telephone conversations and email correspondence are billable time. Short phone conversations and emails will generally be estimated on a weekly basis.
In addition, we bill for supplies, materials, and fees related to carrying out work for your study. We will also sub-contract for particular services to support our internal services or to save you money while ensuring high quality service. Examples of this are contracting for: electronic services that aid in our task of locating participants lost to your study; long-distance phone services that allow us to contact your participants; on-campus, non-HSRC bulk printing, sorting, and handling of mailed surveys; and high volume, quick turnaround data entry services at a known external data entry business in the Twin Cities.
When we have completed all contracted services and products for your study or project, we will, at your direction, either return all related paper files and materials to you or destroy the paper file using a document destruction vendor. When appropriate, we will provide you with an electronic copy of your study data set(s) after data are cleaned and variables are labeled and defined. After six months to allow for any unexpected changes, additions, or deletions, we will provide you with one or two copies (your choice) of your final data set(s) and remove any other copies of the data set(s) from our servers. We will not keep copies of your final data set(s) indefinitely; instead we leave that responsibility to you to create copies and archives that meet your study needs and standards. We strongly recommend that you work with your technical support and services staff to determine the appropriate and best long-term storage method for your data in accordance with your organization or funding agency’s policies, practices, and procedures.
Methodology
What does HSRC deliver to clients throughout the life of a study?
The HSRC methodology has specific deliverables that are produced during the phases of a study. The deliverables by phase are identified here to provide a view of what can be expected during a study or project that utilized HSRC data collection support.
- Estimate
Results/Deliverables: Study Estimate for Grant Request; Study Estimate (Time, Cost, Time Frame); Study Dates for Development & Fielding; Study Assumptions; Basic Grant Wording for Using HSRC as a Service Provider
- Consult/Review
Results/Deliverables: Feedback on Documents & Processes; Information on Support Services & Partner Vendors; Recommendations on Use of In-Place Models/Templates/Standards; Advice on Question Wording; Pre-testing Results & Recommendations; Basic Interviewer Training; Tracking Advice & Recommendations;
- Develop
Results/Deliverables: Survey Questions; Survey Questionnaire; Pre-test Results & Recommendations; Developed & Ordered Survey Materials; Developed Survey Tools, Protocols, Scripts, Processes; Developed & Implemented Study Training & Materials; Fielding Plan; Fielding Sample; External Processes Developed and Implemented; Coding & Editing Rules & Criteria Defined & Implemented; Survey Instruments Defined, Developed & Implemented; Study Leadership In Place; Study Reporting Defined & Developed
- Field
Results/Deliverables: Study Reporting Completed as Planned; Completed Surveys; Resolved Problems; Respondents Tracked; Location Information Updated; Survey Interviews Coded & Edited; Data Entered, Edited and Verified; Call records Completed; Protocols, Processes & Materials Changed & Adjusted as Needed; Materials & Supplies Ordered as Needed; Open Ended Questions Coded as Defined; Increasing Response Rate Processes Defined & Implemented as Agreed; Study Requested Adjustments Made as Agreed; Appropriate IRB, HIPAA, Privacy & Security Processes Followed as Required; Accounting Processes & Reports Completed as Defined
- Close/Report
Results/Deliverables: Study Data File; HSRC Produced Statistical Reports; Study Frequencies, Study Marginals; Study Book; Study Debriefing Report; Study Materials Returned or Destroyed; Accounting Processes & Reports Completed; Study Formal Closure
- Change Management Results/Deliverables:
Documented change request; Time, cost, timeframe estimate of change requested; Approvals for proceeding with the requested change; Track of changes requested/approved and time/cost impact
How does HSRC work with clients?
The HSRC methodology has specific phases that address specific study or project activities. These phases of the study or project create the deliverable identified above. The phases identified here provide a view of the activities and tasks that are to be performed to effectively provide data collection and support for a study.
HSRC is continually looking for ways to improve both our methods and the tools that support those methods to improve services to our clients. We expect our methodology and methods to improve over time to enable us to provide optimized services to our clients yet to be able to tailor those services to meet unique client study or project needs.
Estimate (limited HSRC time investment)
- Gather study requirements
- Clarify expectations
- Size work effort
- Provide PI with work effort bid document
- Provide options and alternative with recommendations to reduce work effort, costs, and time frame as needed
- Obtain work effort bid agreement via signature for work needed
Consult/Review (limited HSRC time investment)
- Respond to client questions
- Provide advice to PI as requested
- Assist with turning open-ended questions into closed ended questions as requested
- Communicate capabilities of tools and techniques to PI as requested.
Develop
- Plan study
- Manage study
- Develop survey questions
- Sample selection
- Develop & test survey instruments (mail/paper, CATI, Internet)
- Develop materials
- Order supplies (surveys, incentives, postage, etc.)
- Develop protocols (manual, electronic)
- Design and Develop data entry forms & programs
- Pretest
- Train
- Define reporting needs (content, frequency)
- Set up work flow, storage and files
- Assign study lead/back up
Field
- Manage study
- Sample management
- Data collection
- Log progress
- Obtain additional materials/ revise materials
- Process incentives
- Process revisions/change requests
- Study Lead/Back-up directions & communications
- Progress reporting
- Issue resolution and adjustments
Close/Report
- Manage study
- Close cases
- Produce base statistical reports
- Produce study data file
- Produce study frequencies
- Return/destroy study materials
- Complete final accounting & crediting (if applicable) of supplies & incentives
- Debrief selected staff working on the study with feedback on lessons learned to the PI, HSRC staff & study documentation
- Complete the debriefing report
- Complete the Study book
Change Management
- Work with study to define needed changes and adjustments
- Provide bid estimates of time & costs for requested changes
- Provide options and alternative with recommendations to reduce work effort, costs, and time frame as needed
- Obtain work effort bid agreement via signature for work needed
- Monitor and manage change management work to remain within study bid
When working on a study needing data collection for the first time, whether you are a Principal Investigator or team member it is difficult to get a grasp of what occurs when.
How does HSRC improve our work methodology?
HSRC has adopted and is evolving our methodology for how we will consistently provide our services to studies and projects. Our methodology has been developed internally over a number of years. We are continually looking to improve our methods, templates, processes, tools and techniques.
Our basic philosophy in developing our methodology for study and project support work is that we believe it is more time and cost effective for our clients when we have processes, templates, methods, tools, and techniques in place to review, modify and tailor to the specific studies than to build from scratch for each study. HSRC will tailor our methods and our methodology to improve and increase our effectiveness over time. HSRC learns and improves with each new study or project we support.
Our approach to evolving our methodology is best reflected in the following diagram:
