Epidemiology 414
Practical Epidemiologic Investigations
(Web
Technologies for the Epidemiologist)
UCLA -
School of Public Health
Department of Epidemiology
EXTRA CREDIT 1
UCLA
School of Public Health
Evaluation Committee
Employer Survey
(Abbreviated Research Plan)
Objective: To survey both current and
prospective employers of UCLA School of Public Health graduates, and obtain their
opinions about the quality and scope of the education received by such
employees, and what skills and other attributes they would like
to see in UCLA graduates.
Background: The Evaluation Committee is
interested in learning about the opinions of Employers of UCLA graduates, both
Public and Private, in order to determine whether graduates adequately meet their
expectations. It is clearly understood by the Committee that this present survey
will not be based upon a scientific sampling, and that the instrument developed
may not contain quantifiable information. However, it was felt that such a
survey could serve as a useful pilot for later efforts.
Methods:
- Create a List of Areas of Interest to survey
- It will be necessary to develop a number of questions by
topic area. Each topic area will also
have free-form text fields for the respondents to fill in. To create
the topic list and the questions, students will carry out a literature review,
and
conduct interviews with Committee members, other selected UCLA faculty, and
some current Employers. Typical topic areas will include:
- Writing skills
- Computer skills
- Analytic skills
- Public Health knowledge
- People skills
- Other
- Develop a sample Survey Instrument - The
Survey will be divided into two major parts: one in which
Employers evaluate current graduate employees (current employess may be
divided between recent graduates and 'older' graudates dating from > 5 years ago), and second part
of the survey, employers will be asked to indicate the type
and level of skills they would
like to find in future graduates.
- Review of Survey Instrument – After putting
together a draft survey form with a basic set of questions, the Evaluation Committee and several
selected Employers will review its content.
- Refine Survey Instrument - Based upon comments
received and further review the
survey will be refined and submitted to the
Evaluation Committee.
- Setting up a Web enabled survey/database
system - Using FrontPage the Survey form will be converted from Word/WP
into HTML-Form document. Data fields from the Survey will created using an Access data-base.
The HTML Survey Form, will then be converted
into a Cold Fusion Page, and a Cold Fusion Application developed to set
up the ODBC between Survey Form and Database. The Access database will
be
converted to a Microsoft SQL7 database for use on the Web.
- List of potential employers to be surveyed -
An email list will be assembled, which will be the basis for notifying
employers about the survey. In addition, information about the survey will
be
promulgated through known contacts, such as Dr. Jonathan
Fielding, Director of Public Health, at the County of Los Angeles, Dr. Strassburg,
in his capacity as Technical Advisor to L.A. CARE, etc. In addition,
certain UCLA
publications such as the Alumni News could be utilized.
- Employers will be asked to fill out the survey
on the Web, they will be provided the URL (http://lapublichealth.org/ucla/survey)
Analysis:
Develop a Report in Access which will provide
Committee members with pertinent information obtained from the Survey. (Although the
database will be in SQL7, each night there will be a
download into an Access data base).
EXTRA CREDIT 2
Dr Frerichs, the Epidemiology Department Chair, has been
encouraging faculty members to create web pages that are linked to the
Department's web page. All faculty Web pages will have a standard look and
feel, with a simple Frame environment. Other then basic information on each
faculty home page, the amount of information presented on the site will be
determined by the faculty member. This might include the creation of,
on-line resume, class outlines, class plans, faculty's abstracts, favorite
links, etc. For an example, please look at Dr. Frerichs' web
page at: http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/faculty/frerichs.html.
epi414@yahoo.com