Based on patient questionnaires, discussions with ED physicians who have used scribes, and interviews with the physicians in this study, the above changes were beneficial.
Data was collected via a questionnaire, group discussion with experts and interviewing process.
The Barometer utilises the eDelphi software (http://edelfoi.fi), in which the researcher (Delphi manager) has three different working modes in their use (questionnaire, results, discussion).
Following completion of the questionnaire, a discussion was held about the clarity of instructions, format and wording, as well as reactions to item content, e.g., to identify items considered controversial or irrelevant.
Data were collected through a questionnaire, group discussions and semi-structured interviews.
Data collection was done by detailed interviews, mail-in survey questionnaire and discussions with groups of stakeholders.
The original set of eight items [ 12, 21] was reduced to six after piloting the questionnaire and discussions with health professionals (table 1, appendix 1).
This expert panel consisted of three medical oncologists who usually treat ovarian cancer in representative University Hospitals in Spain and two health economists working in several meetings based on structured questionnaires and discussion.
This latter qualification was assessed through the use of a screening questionnaire and discussions with one or more clinicians listed as references by the applicants for the reviewer positions [see Additional file 1].
The information gathering can take many different forms - review of existing documents and reports, questionnaires, interviews, discussions, telephone calls, enquires by letter, etc. - and methodologies suitable for each particular situation have to be adopted.
