The NIHR research design service for the East of England
Role of the Research Design Service
The East of England Research Design Service (RDS-eoe) Hertfordshire unit is a part of a nationwide network of NIHR funded units charged with providing support in these areas to researchers and potential researchers in the NHS. The Hertfordshire unit is part of the RDS-eoe, in collaboration with Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
In accordance with the national RDS charter (PDF - 0.12 Mb), the remit of the RDS-eoe is to provide support to researchers in the NHS by:
- Aiding study design, research methodology and sample size calculations
- Aiding research protocol development
- Aiding in the preparation of bids for funding, particularly bids to the NIHR such as the Research for Patient Benefit programme
- Providing support and aiding in the statistical analysis of data for NIHR funded projects
- Establishing networks of research contacts
The Hertfordshire unit is nested within CLiCIR, and as such reflects the expertise of the Centre’s personnel, with a focus on chronic conditions, longitudinal analysis and multilevel modelling.
A broad range of support can be provided on wider issues however, and the RDS-eoe can provide support on other issues such as qualitative designs.
Researchers within the NHS planning to conduct a study, who do not have expert statistical and methodological support are advised to contact the RDS-eoe at the earliest stages of planning a project, as the key to a successful research project is thorough preparation prior to the collection of data.