Research and Evaluation Data Banks

Abstract

Computerized data banks for ongoing research and evaluation are becoming increasingly common in institutions of health professions education. An organization wishing to create such a system must choose among a virtually infinite set of alternatives for software design. Such choices are made in an uncertain environment since the exact nature of system use cannot be predicted. Tofacilitate software design, this article identifies numerous "rational" and "nonrational" factors affecting such decisions and a set of characteristics descriptive of the designs themselves. Using as examples four systems currently in operation in schools of medicine, the narrative examines ways in which software designs differ on these characteristics and some of the operating implications of these differences.