May 23, 2005
The following news item was sent by Christina Bethell, Director, The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative.
The National Survey of Children’s Health Data Resource Center is now posted as a public site. The link is www.nschdata.org <http://www.nschdata.org>. Please send contact information (e-mail lists, etc) of people and organizations you think should be included in the formal announcement of the site (in June).
This is the “soft launch” of the site. This means that it is fine to use it. However, as listed below, several features and content that will be added in the next month or so before the “hard launch” and a press release is issued and a larger scale announcement in the Summer. Please take time to explore the data query tool
yourself!
PLEASE SEND YOUR FEEDBACK!! We have done extensive checks on the data and
content and have worked hard to ensure careful indicator construction and labeling. Still, we are sure there are still things we did not catch and that require editing.
Please forward any comments or requests to me or us (using the Tell Us What
You Think feature) so we can improve this before the hard launch in June. Our goal is to make this user friendly and as responsive to the range of inquiries and uses of the data the same time. Keep in mind that we have worked hand in hand with the chartbook development and we have worked hard to be sure the measures are constructed in a standardized way in the chartbook as in the DRC. The chartbook will not be released by HRSA/MCHB for a while pending final review and edits.
Our priorities for features and content to include for the hard launch in
the summer are:
1. Search Map: A visual map and summary table of what can be searched in the data query for people who like to see the whole before drilling down to the specific or examining the full NSCH content in “Learn About the Survey”.
2. Hyperlinked Guide to Survey Items: Guide to topics and questions asked in the NSCH that is HTML enabled so that each topic is linked to the actual items asked in the CATI (a much longer and more complex document to search). The guide will be up in a day or so and the HTML linking to the CATI will be done ASAP!.
3. Derivation of Measures Pop-Ups: Pop-up boxes that can be accessed from
within the query tool that summarize how all “derived” variables were constructed. We have this far along but need more time to ensure the way it is presented is standardized across all the derived variables/indicators.
4. Statistical Notes: A few edits to the descriptions of confidence intervals and weighted estimates and a more thorough document peple can click to on how confidence intervals are calculated and issues related to findings with large relative standard errors, etc. We will also post other statistical notes and methods memos over time.
5. Healthy People 2010: We have found at least 23 HP 2010 objectives that can be reasonably assessed using NSCH data. We have a HP 2010 Section on the site and will map the indicators to this as soon as we can.
6. Remaining Single Items: We prioiritized putting up the child and adolescent health mesures/indicators and are now quickly filling this in with the single items that these indicators are constructed from. Some require a lot of consideration as to presentation to minimize misuse/misinterpretation of the data. In cases where an indicator/measure is a single item, it is already included in the “Survey Section” search area. This will happen ASAP!
7. Additional Subgroups: In particular, we will add subgroups related to
family/household characteristics and geographic areas such are urban, suburban, rural, etc. The latter is a BIG job and we have to wait for codes to be released and work with NCHS so this will not be possible to add as a subgroup until the Fall at the earliest — we will go as fast as we can.
8.. User Survey: We wil add survey items to “Tell Us What You Think” ASAP.
9. Tell A Friend: We will create an easy way for people to e-mail the site to a friend in order to encourage spreading the word and use of the site.
10. Downloadalbe Constructed Data Sets: Shortly, people will see a button on the home page that they can use to access their states NSCH data set with all the variables cleaned and indicators constructed.
11. Features and Highlights: A box will appear on the home page with links to special features and highlights we want to alert users to. For example, when the chartbook is released it will go here. Or, papers published using the NSCH of interest could also be posted, etc.
12. Site your Results: A button and statement on all query pages
13. E-Update Sign Up: We will add a button for people to sign up for our e-updates.
We will also be working on the following in the nearer term:
1. Revamping the CSHCN Data Resource Center to look like the NSCH and
creating the umbrella DRC site (www.childhealthdata.org <http://www.childhealthdata.org> ).
2. Integrating the Resources for Data Users section across the two DRC sites (NS-CSHCN and NSCH)
3. Adding a NSCH specific “Especially for Families” section
4. Conducting user surveys and cognitive interviews to get more feedback
5. Clarifying what and how to best support use of data findings based on small cell sizes (e.g. Relative Standard Error > 30%) and addressing problems related to cases where all persons sampled selected only one response option (0% and 100% cells require an adjustment to the CI calcuation).
6. Enhancing the “Report Your Results” section to included examples we have
collected but have not yet secured permission to post online.
Over the longer term there are many features and improvements we have in mind and need to assess the possibility of given our time/resources. These include:
1. US map displays for each measure –this will allow users to view a shaded map indicating results across all states at the same time.
2. Additional methods memos and findings highlights/issue briefs.
3. “NSCH Fast Facts” tailored to specific audiences and sent on a routine basis via e-mail
4. Adjusted odds ratio look up tables for key measures for key subgroups
(insurance status, type of insurance, income, race/ethnicity, CSHCN status, etc.)
Please do tell us what you think–good or bad we want to hear it.