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| RMU Staff: Joe Fraser, Chris Theriault, Daniela Meier, Olga Kits & Steve Doucette |
Researchers often contact the RMU for database support and biostatistical consulting. Typically, these two services go hand in hand as our database specialists know very well how the data needs to be laid out in a database, in order to create an analytical dataset that can be easily imported into a statistical software program. Over the last year, we have seen increases in requests for qualitative methods support and health economic consulting. We anticipate this trend to continue. More researchers are interested in a health economic evaluation of their intervention in order to assess additional benefits beyond immediate patient outcomes. This is an important consideration from a healthcare system perspective.
What’s the newest thing at the RMU?
The newest support available to researchers via the RMU is REDCap. REDCap, is a free, secure, web-based application for building and managing online surveys and databases for research studies. It was introduced at the NSHA earlier this year and is available to all NSHA-affiliated researchers. REDCap presents a much more sophisticated option for high quality and secure data capture compared to commonly used products like Microsoft Excel or Access. To date, 2537 Institutions in 116 countries utilize it, which opens up possibilities for multi-centred research studies in Canada and beyond. Databases can be quickly developed and customized based on a study’s needs. RMU database specialists serve as REDCap administrators and oversee the creation of projects as well as management of users. The RMU will be offering two workshops in the near future to introduce researchers and research staff to REDCap to explore how it could benefit their research studies. Stay tuned for the announcements.
What is something researchers may not know about the RMU?
One of the most common misperceptions about the RMU is that we charge for all of our services. While we do charge for some of our services, there is a significant number of services that we provide for free. They include the one-hour initial consult, all preparatory work required for the duration of a project, support for research design and methods refinement, initial support in the context of a grant application and development of Statement of Work. We encourage researchers to look for funding opportunities and include our services in their budgets in consultation with our consultants. You can find more specific information about our services on our website. http://www.cdha.nshealth.ca/rmu
