Evaluation of the Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) framework: evidence from Uganda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sound policy, resource allocation and day-to-day management decisions in the health sector require timely information from routine health information systems (RHIS). In most low- and middle-income countries, the RHIS is viewed as being inadequate in providing quality data and continuous information that can be used to help improve health system performance. In addition, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of RHIS strengthening interventions in improving data quality and use. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of the newly developed Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) framework, which consists of a conceptual framework and associated data collection and analysis tools to assess, design, strengthen and evaluate RHIS. The specific objectives of the study are: a) to assess the reliability and validity of the PRISM instruments and b) to assess the validity of the PRISM conceptual framework.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Facility- and worker-level data were collected from 110 health care facilities in twelve districts in Uganda in 2004 and 2007 using records reviews, structured interviews and self-administered questionnaires. The analysis procedures include Cronbach's alpha to assess internal consistency of selected instruments, test-retest analysis to assess the reliability and sensitivity of the instruments, and bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques to assess validity of the PRISM instruments and conceptual framework.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cronbach's alpha analysis suggests high reliability (0.7 or greater) for the indices measuring a promotion of a culture of information, RHIS tasks self-efficacy and motivation. The study results also suggest that a promotion of a culture of information influences RHIS tasks self-efficacy, RHIS tasks competence and motivation, and that self-efficacy and the presence of RHIS staff have a direct influence on the use of RHIS information, a key aspect of RHIS performance.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The study results provide some empirical support for the reliability and validity of the PRISM instruments and the validity of the PRISM conceptual framework, suggesting that the PRISM approach can be effectively used by RHIS policy makers and practitioners to assess the RHIS and evaluate RHIS strengthening interventions. However, additional studies with larger sample sizes are needed to further investigate the value of the PRISM instruments in exploring the linkages between RHIS data quality and use, and health systems performance.</p

A Conceptual Framework of Information Requirements for Scientists Using Human Biological Samples

Introduction. This study was undertaken to develop an information requirement framework for scientists who use biological samples and related data in their research. Method. A self-reporting questionnaire completed by 137 respondents was used to collect data regarding demographics, bio-sample management, bio-sample use and requirements, data requirements, and work and research-related roles and activities. Analysis. Descriptive and TwoStep Cluster analyses were used to analyse the survey data necessary for developing a framework of information requirements. Results. Two groups of biomedical scientists (clinical group and basic scientist group) were formed by their distinct characteristics. A conceptual framework of information requirements for bio-sample researchers was formed. The study determined the following as core components: work roles, tasks, characteristics of data and bio-sample needs, factors affecting information seeking, and outcomes. Conclusions. This study will enable the system designer to understand bio-sample users by means of their information requirements resulted in the proposed framework. Future empirical studies should assess potential users, types of information required depending on their work-related roles, factors affecting information seeking, and the evaluation of information seeking effectiveness

The role of feedback literacy in written corrective feedback research : from feedback information to feedback ecology

Research on written corrective feedback (WCF) has received sustained interest in the field of second language acquisition and language education. This viewpoint article extends the theoretical and conceptual discussion on WCF research by introducing the notions of “feedback literacy” and “feedback ecology”. In this article, I first review three strands of WCF research. Then, I argue for the need to shift the focus of our investigation from feedback information (focusing on impact of feedback), to feedback process (focusing on learners “and teachers” perception of feedback), to feedback ecology (focusing on learners’ and teachers’ engagement of feedback and influences of such engagement). Putting forward a “feedback ecology” conceptual framework that is informed by Ecological Systems Theory, Actor-network Theory, and Complex Dynamic Systems Theory, I suggest three research tasks for future WCF studies, highlighting the affordances of qualitative research methodologies such as narrative inquiry.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A Comprehensive Framework for Patching and Vulnerability Management in Enterprises

As patching and vulnerability management have become a larger part of an organization's routine, its need for proper integration and complexity toward systems has increased. Threat actors continuously seek to develop and perform attacks exploiting vulnerabilities within systems, meaning organizations face the challenge of timely implementing patches to protect their assets. The master's thesis aims at gathering extensive information regarding patching and vulnerability management by integrating a semi-systematic literature review (SSLR), a semi-structured qualitative interview process, and our sense-making. These research methods collect insights from the existing theory and professionals' opinions. The SSLR allowed for gathering relevant studies and sense-making, which were subsequently utilized in developing a conceptual model depicting the vital processes and procedures of patching and vulnerability management based on the theory. As such, the conceptual model was showcased within the semi-structured qualitative interviews, which allowed for unbounded discussions regarding the practices, implementations, and expert input toward the conceptual framework and its improvement areas. The interviews and selection of interviewees allowed for several viewpoints and a wide perspective. Subsequently, after synthesizing the findings from the interviews and additionally gathered theory, the comprehensive framework, which aims to refine and extend the conceptual framework, was developed. The comprehensive framework aims at depicting the enterprises' collective patching and vulnerability management process, along with the intersection of the existing theory. Correspondingly, the framework could be utilized by enterprises to either improve their processes or for enterprises to implement absent processes. The findings highlight a major diversity in the implementation and execution of patching and vulnerability management. Larger companies tend to have more mature processes and employ more automation within their collection of vulnerability information and deployment of patches. Conversely, smaller companies lack the resources allocated to perform needed tasks, which results in a less organized and effective process. The research findings subsidize the existing research gap related to a lack of frameworks depicting the interrelation between patching and vulnerability management and how enterprises currently perform these processes. Additionally, it provides a substantially valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and enterprises wishing to improve their processes based on an exploratory study assessing the existing literature, experts' opinions, and the design of the conceptual and comprehensive framework. As the comprehensive framework aims to provide a generalized approach and implementation, it can be employed by different-sized businesses while tailored to their needs

A Comprehensive Framework for Patching and Vulnerability Management in Enterprises

As patching and vulnerability management have become a larger part of an organization's routine, its need for proper integration and complexity toward systems has increased. Threat actors continuously seek to develop and perform attacks exploiting vulnerabilities within systems, meaning organizations face the challenge of timely implementing patches to protect their assets. The master's thesis aims at gathering extensive information regarding patching and vulnerability management by integrating a semi-systematic literature review (SSLR), a semi-structured qualitative interview process, and our sense-making. These research methods collect insights from the existing theory and professionals' opinions. The SSLR allowed for gathering relevant studies and sense-making, which were subsequently utilized in developing a conceptual model depicting the vital processes and procedures of patching and vulnerability management based on the theory. As such, the conceptual model was showcased within the semi-structured qualitative interviews, which allowed for unbounded discussions regarding the practices, implementations, and expert input toward the conceptual framework and its improvement areas. The interviews and selection of interviewees allowed for several viewpoints and a wide perspective. Subsequently, after synthesizing the findings from the interviews and additionally gathered theory, the comprehensive framework, which aims to refine and extend the conceptual framework, was developed. The comprehensive framework aims at depicting the enterprises' collective patching and vulnerability management process, along with the intersection of the existing theory. Correspondingly, the framework could be utilized by enterprises to either improve their processes or for enterprises to implement absent processes. The findings highlight a major diversity in the implementation and execution of patching and vulnerability management. Larger companies tend to have more mature processes and employ more automation within their collection of vulnerability information and deployment of patches. Conversely, smaller companies lack the resources allocated to perform needed tasks, which results in a less organized and effective process. The research findings subsidize the existing research gap related to a lack of frameworks depicting the interrelation between patching and vulnerability management and how enterprises currently perform these processes. Additionally, it provides a substantially valuable resource for practitioners, researchers, and enterprises wishing to improve their processes based on an exploratory study assessing the existing literature, experts' opinions, and the design of the conceptual and comprehensive framework. As the comprehensive framework aims to provide a generalized approach and implementation, it can be employed by different-sized businesses while tailored to their needs

The Centrality of Claim-Making in the Social Studies Classroom: Teaching For Claim-Making with the Persuasive Claim Framework

This dissertation includes three articles that focus on the importance of claim-making and argumentative writing in social studies classrooms. Each article highlights various aspects of the claim-making process by introducing ways for teachers to help students write better claims, highlighting the importance of claim-making within the extant social studies literature, and analyzing the results of centering the claim-making process in a preservice teaching methods program. Article One, “What’s in a Claim: A Framework for Helping Students Write Persuasive Claims?” (2021), is an article written for practicing teachers. As part of a larger discussion on the challenges of implementing the dimensions of C3 (College, Career and Civic Life) Framework and incorporating the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) in social studies classrooms, this article attempts to assist teachers in improving the argumentative writing of their students. To meet these challenges the article introduces the Persuasive Claim Framework, a multi-dimensional model of claim writing. The Persuasive Claim Framework identifies a persuasive claim as an assertion that is supported with factual information and evidence from sources. Going further, the Framework identifies four dimensions of a persuasive claim: evidentiary, accurate, clear, and reasoned. Emerging from genuine problem of practice, the Framework centers on the challenges of claim-writing in the classroom, providing teachers with a new way of approaching argumentative writing, assessment, and teaching. Article Two, “Teaching With and For Claim-Making: The Role of Claims in Social Studies Teaching,” represents a conceptual analysis of the role claims play both in traditional argumentation and social studies literature. The discipline of social studies has a long history of argumentation as part of its curricular goals. This emphasis on argumentation can be traced back to ancient Greece and the origins of democratic public discourse. In this extended essay, the author centers on the role of argumentation and specifically claim-making within the larger context of social studies education, inquiry-based learning, and social studies instruction. The author makes the case for a curricular approach that emphasizes teaching for claim making, borrowing from Parker and Hess’ (2001) conceptualization of teaching for discussion. The author concludes by identifying the Persuasive Claim Framework (Lewis, 2021) as a conceptual model to help teachers and students reorient their thinking and writing to meet the demands of democratic deliberation and argumentation. Article Three, “Turning Student Teachers into Claim Makers: Developing the Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Novice Teachers with the Persuasive Claim Framework,” discusses the results of the use of the Persuasive Claim Framework as part of the master’s examination for a social studies methods preservice program. Using Shulman’s conception of pedagogical content knowledge (1986) and signature pedagogy (2005), this article documents the ways in which novice teachers develop classroom tasks as a way to coach their students in writing more persuasive claims. The results of this phenomenological study (Merriam 2001) demonstrate that novice teachers create increasingly complex tasks in their classrooms to meet the dimensional demands of the Persuasive Claim Framework. As a result, novice teachers showed growth in their own pedagogical content knowledge. To close, the article discusses both the advantages and important limitations of the Framework as part of a methods teaching program and makes recommendations on how the Framework can be used to assist novice teachers in becoming more effective social studies teachers

EU Civilian Crisis Management and Organisational Learning

Commentators and policy-makers stress the need to learn the lessons of EU civilian crisis management. Yet despite numerous case studies mission performance, we know little about the EU's overall capacity for such learning. The first part of this article outlines a theoretical framework for analysing organisational learning in the context of peace operations. It recommends focusing on administrative reform and conceptual development in Brussels, and lists various factors that are expected to facilitate or inhibit organisational learning cycles. On this basis, second part presents a historical survey of the EU's learning efforts in civilian crisis management. Despite a dynamic expansion of mission tasks as well as corresponding review processes, organisational learning has remained haphazard and limited to capacity expansion or mission support requirements. Only over the last two years did the EU invest in more formalised lessons-learning processes, which led to improved information gathering across missions and created more space for conceptual discussions on mission objectives. Yet at the time of writing, this increased institutional momentum for learning could not overcome fundamental political constraints on more ambitious reforms of EU peace operations

Variables As Currency: Linking Meta-Analysis Research and Data Paths in Sciences

Meta-analyses are studies that bring together data or results from multiple independent studies to produce new and over-arching findings. Current data curation systems only partially support meta-analytic research. Some important meta-analytic tasks, such as the selection of relevant studies for review and the integration of research datasets or findings, are not well supported in current data curation systems. To design tools and services that more fully support meta-analyses, we need a better understanding of meta-analytic research. This includes an understanding of both the practices of researchers who perform the analyses and the characteristics of the individual studies that are brought together. In this study, we make an initial contribution to filling this gap by developing a conceptual framework linking meta-analyses with data paths represented in published articles selected for the analysis. The framework focuses on key variables that represent primary/secondary datasets or derived socio-ecological data, contexts of use, and the data transformations that are applied. We introduce the notion of using variables and their relevant information (e.g., metadata and variable relationships) as a type of currency to facilitate synthesis of findings across individual studies and leverage larger bodies of relevant source data produced in small science research. Handling variables in this manner provides an equalizing factor between data from otherwise disparate data-producing communities. We conclude with implications for exploring data integration and synthesis issues as well as system development

A Qualitative Method for Assessing the Impact of ICT on the Architectural Design Process

During the last thirty years or so, we have witnessed tremendous developments in information and communication technology (ICT). Computer processing power doubles each 18 months, as Gordon Moore predicted during the mid-1960s. The computer and communications world has been revolutionised by the invention of the Internet. It has changed the way of exchanging, viewing, sharing, manipulating and storing the information. Other technologies such as smartphones, wearable computers, tablets, wireless communications and satellite communications have made the adoption of ICT easier and beneficial to all its users. ICT affects the productivity, performance and the competitive advantage of a business. It also impacts on the shape of the business process and its product. In architectural design, ICT is widely used throughout the design process and its final product. The aim of this research, therefore, is to explore the key implication of using ICT in architectural design and what new changes and forms have occurred on buildings as a result of ICT developments and use by architecture practitioners. To achieve this aim, a qualitative research approach was adopted using a narrative review of ICT usage in the design of buildings. The literature found was subjected to a thematic analysis of how ICT adoption affected the architectural design process. The findings of this research indicate that there is a continuous change in the design process and its final products (buildings) as the technology evolves. The framework proposed provides a foundation for gathering evidence from case studies of the impact of ICT adoption by architectural designers. The research proposes that future empirical work has to be conducted to test and refine the relevance, importance and applicability of each of the components of the framework, in order to detect the impact of ICT on the building design process and its final product