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Costing Research

Costing Research . Research is labour intensive. Key steps in costing Develop a critical path for the work Identify milestones when key deliverables will be needed Factor in Design time Review time Time to revise/reflect

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Costing Research

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  1. Costing Research

  2. Research is labour intensive • Key steps in costing • Develop a critical path for the work • Identify milestones when key deliverables will be needed • Factor in • Design time • Review time • Time to revise/reflect • Time for rewriting deliverables is a function the length of the report, the number of reviewers and level of reviewers • Percent of time • Design (20%) • Data collection/cleaning/analysis (50%) • Reporting/Revising (30%)

  3. Estimating labour costs Per diem = (base daily salary + 14% + 50%) • 14% - benefits • 50% - contribution to overhead Example a. Annual salary = $60,000 Per Diem = $400 (about $60 per hour) b. Annual salary = $100,000 Per Diem = $700 ($80 per hour) Rates will rise with experience

  4. Literature Reviews • Very fast to accumulate references • Slower to get the right references • Skill in searching • Boolean logic • Multiple data bases • Skill in sorting/ranking • Need to decide the role of the Lit Review • Scoping recent trends (brief 10 page overview) – 40 hours • Identifying or policy scope (30 page synopsis) – 120 hours • State of the art (100 pages with peer review) – 400+ hours plus honoria.

  5. Key informant interviews • Plan on 60 minutes at the maximum • Plan on 10 – 12 key issues • This is a guided conversation and not a standardized questionnaire. • Allocation of time (per interview) • Guide design/review (1 hour) • Contact/communication/scheduling (.5 hour) • Interview (1 hour) (assume by phone and notes taken on computer and audio recorded) • Notes (1.5 hours) (includes review by KI) • Report (1.5) – includes coding • Therefore 50 interviews will require $18,000 if completed by a fairly senior staff person ($80/hour) • This assumes the 60 minutes for interviewing is correct. Longer interviews collected more data and analysis ---- the entire cost structure shifts.

  6. Focus groups • Key cost items include • Recruiting (easiest if this is an outcome of a survey, much harder from a general list). This can be anywhere from $10 - $100 per attendee. • Developing the guide • Moderator (time to prepare and conduct each group) • Honoraria ($50 is the minimum - $250 is the minimum for professionals) • Reporting (10 hours to summarize each group and 20 hours for an integrated report). • Example • Focus group of general population will typically cost $3000 per group • Specialized groups will cost $5000+ • “Star” moderators will often charge $10,000 per group for their time.

  7. Surveys • Telephone surveys • Flow rate is key. • 30 items implies a flow rate of 2 per hour in the general population • Special populations require more time unless enrolled form a client list, in which case pre-survey notice is needed. • General population by telephone ($30 - $40) per completion (800 completions will cost about $15,000 for a 30 closed item survey). • Open (verbatim question boost costs • On-line surveys • On-line surveys in evaluation require herding the clients to a web site to ensure that only target respondents participate and participate only once. • In general on-line surveys are not significantly cheaper than telephone surveys, but they can boost response rates, especially when clients have the option of how to respond. • Key issue is that lists of e-mail addresses are often outdated and these always require a separate letter to legitimate the survey. • Mixed Mode surveys • Letter, with website and PIN, followed by phone call with an invitation to visit the web site or complete on the phone… regular mail, e-mail, phone follow-up. • Sample size and questionnaire complexity drive the costs.

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