This paper is the first of a four part report on a study of the professional competence of speech therapists in the United Kingdom. It considers some of the methodological approaches to the study of professional competence, and describes the methods adopted for this study. A combination of consultative and survey techniques were used to determine which knowledge, skills and attitudes were considered essential to the competence of speech therapists working in three specialities; children, learning difficulties, and elderly/adults with acquired neurological disorders. Sixty-eight speech therapy 'experts' were consulted using Delphi and Nominal Group techniques. The items of knowledge, skills and attitudes generated by these experts were then distributed to 657 specialist speech therapists in order that the lists could be validated by a larger sample of clinicians.
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