The aims of the study are to elucidate the reasons that prompted commissioners to seek information, to clarify which sources and types of knowledge commissioners commonly consulted and to describe the use of research evidence in decision-making.
We designed our own questions, rooted in an extensive qualitative investigation, to capture the types of evidence commissioners were using; these were fully piloted, but formal assessments of their validity and reliability were not undertaken.
The aim of the research was to determine the types of evidence local commissioners of health services use in practice and to investigate whether the characteristics of the decision-maker and the decision size significantly influence the decision-making process.
The purpose of this research was to examine the types of evidence local commissioners of health services used in practice during their own recent decision-making processes and variations in this in relation to the characteristics, roles, professional background and experience of the decision-maker.
An overview of the sources and types of knowledge cited by commissioners and observed in commissioning meetings is detailed in the following tables, classified into 'people' and 'organisations'organisations
The topic guide, which was revised as new questions emerged, covered the types of knowledge wanted by commissioners, information sources and how information was accessed and influenced decisions.
To investigate types of evidence used by healthcare commissioners when making decisions and whether decisions were influenced by commissioners' experience, personal characteristics or role at work.
By contrast, members of the legislature in cities that used the commissioner or council-manager types of government were usually referred to as commissioners or councilmen.
Almost one third (30%) of commissioners reported that they specified the types of stop smoking interventions to be delivered by the providers.
In addition over two thirds of commissioners reported that they specified the types of stop smoking interventions to be delivered by the providers, whilst only one third of managers indicated that this was the case.
