IMPROVING CATI USING MACINTOSH TECHNOLOGY

THE OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE SOFTWARE PRODUCT BUILDING ON THE BEST AVAILABLE KNOWLEDGE OF COMPUTER ASSISTED TELEPHONE INTERVIEW CAPABILITIES. SPECIFIC AIMS OF PHASE I TO (1) INVESTIGATE THE NEEDS OF RESEARCH PROFESSIONALS REGARDING CATI SOFTWARE; (2) DEVELOP A PRELIMINARY CONCEPTUAL DESIGN FOR A CATI SYSTEM; (3) ASSESS THE CAPABILITY OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES TO MEET NEEDS FOR THE CATI SYSTEM; AND (4) PREPARE A DESIGN DOCUMENT FOR PHASE II DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SOFTWARE PRODUCT. SUCH A SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS THE ABILITY TO CONDUCT FULLY AUTOMATED SURVEYS FROM INITIAL CONCEPTION TO PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF DATA COLLECTED. UNIQUE ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM INCLUDE THE POWER OF THE MACINTOSH GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR CATI TECHNOLOGY, THE IMPORTANCE OF DATABASE SERVER/SQL TECHNOLOGY, AND THE POTENTIAL OF HYPERTEXT TECHNOLOGY TO SIMPLIFY TELEPHONE SURVEYS. METHODS WILL INCLUDE: (1) COMPREHENSIVE LITERATURE REVIEW; (2) CONSULTATION WITH EXPERTS IN CATI USE; (3) REVIEW OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ISSUES; AND (4) DEVELOPMENT OF DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PHASE II. THESE STRATEGIES WILL PROVIDE THE POTENTIAL FOR EXTENDING THE CURRENT CATI TECHNOLOGY FOR HEALTH RELATED SURVEYS, PARTICULARLY FOR DIFFICULT METHODOLOGIC ISSUES IN SUCH SURVEYS.