Int J Pharm Pract 1997:5:216-26

Centre for Pharmacy Practice, School of Pharmacy, University of London, Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX
Felicity Smith, PhD, MRPharmS, senior lecturer in pharmacy practice

Review articles

Health services research methods in pharmacy - Survey research: (2) Survey instruments, reliability and validity

FELICITY SMITH

Social surveys are an important tool in health services research. They have been used in a high proportion of pharmacy practice research studies and in a wide range of settings. Extensive hand searches of published studies has enabled a review of the issues and problems that survey methods present when applied in pharmacy practice and an exploration of how they have been addressed by researchers. It is hoped that the review will enable pharmacy practice researchers to benefit from the experience of their colleagues when conducting their own research. This is the second part of a two-part review of surveys in pharmacy practice research. The first part (IJPP, 1997;5:152) focused on research questions, study design, sampling frames and procedures, response and non-response. This second part discusses the development of survey instruments and the issues of validity, reliability and generalisability.