Automated system and method to develop computer-administered research questionnaires using a virtual questionnaire model
First Claim
1. A system to generate and deploy a self-monitoring field protocol comprising a sequence of electronic questionnaires, said system comprising:
- a design computer comprising a processor, a graphical user interface and a memory having a structured database and a library of software modules, whereinsaid library of software modules comprises a start questionnaire module, an end questionnaire module, and a data collection module,said structured data base comprises data fields linkable to the software modules to enable an exchange of structured data between the modules and the database, andsaid graphical user interface (GUI) comprises a display presenting a plurality of icons each corresponding to and electronically linked to one of the software modules, a screen display region for arranging selected icons in a logical sequence corresponding to a questionnaire of the field protocol, said GUI further comprises an electronic link to an alerting program for assigning an alert to each questionnaire,wherein said design computer stores the questionnaires generated for the field protocols and assigned alerts, converts the questionnaires and assigned alerts to a plurality of file formats compatible with a plurality of different types of data collection devices, and downloads the field protocols to each of the data collection devices.
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Abstract
A configurable electronic system provides a software based system by which researchers set up self-monitoring field protocols in a common computer format and deploy the protocols to computer devices to research participants. The system includes electronic software modules of tasks useful in generating of questionnaires for recording research data. By selecting, modifying and sequencing the modules, a researcher generates a sequence of questionnaires to be displayed on the computer devices operated by the research participants. The participants'"'"' computer devices include alert queues to stage questionnaires to be presented to a participant and resolve conflicts between questionnaires staged at substantially the same time.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A system to generate and deploy a self-monitoring field protocol comprising a sequence of electronic questionnaires, said system comprising:
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a design computer comprising a processor, a graphical user interface and a memory having a structured database and a library of software modules, wherein said library of software modules comprises a start questionnaire module, an end questionnaire module, and a data collection module, said structured data base comprises data fields linkable to the software modules to enable an exchange of structured data between the modules and the database, and said graphical user interface (GUI) comprises a display presenting a plurality of icons each corresponding to and electronically linked to one of the software modules, a screen display region for arranging selected icons in a logical sequence corresponding to a questionnaire of the field protocol, said GUI further comprises an electronic link to an alerting program for assigning an alert to each questionnaire, wherein said design computer stores the questionnaires generated for the field protocols and assigned alerts, converts the questionnaires and assigned alerts to a plurality of file formats compatible with a plurality of different types of data collection devices, and downloads the field protocols to each of the data collection devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method to establish an alerting mechanism for questionnaire responses for a self-monitoring field protocol comprising a series of questionnaires, said method comprising:
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a. generating the series of questionnaires; b. establishing an alert for each questionnaire to trigger the questionnaire when an event defined by the alert occurs; C. determining when each alert occurs; d. presenting each questionnaire to the participant based on the occurrence of the alert for the questionnaire, and e. when substantially contemporaneous alerts occur, determining a priority of the contemporaneous alerts based on a priority of alerts assigned during the establishment of the alert. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system to generate and deploy a self-monitoring field protocol comprising a sequence of electronic questionnaires, said system comprising:
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a design computer comprising a processor, a graphical user interface and a memory having a structured database and a library of software modules, wherein said library of software modules comprises a start questionnaire module, an end questionnaire module, and a data collection module, said structured data base comprises data fields linkable to the software modules to enable an exchange of structured data between the modules and the database, and said graphical user interface (GUI) comprises a display presenting a plurality of icons each corresponding to and electronically linked to one of the software modules, a screen display region for arranging selected icons in a logical sequence corresponding to a questionnaire of the field protocol. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A system to generate and deploy a self-monitoring field protocol comprising a sequence of electronic questionnaires, said system comprising:
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a design computer comprising a processor, a graphical user interface and a memory having a structured database and a library of software modules, wherein said library of software modules comprises a start questionnaire module, an end questionnaire module, and a data collection module, said structured data base comprises data fields linkable to the software modules to enable an exchange of structured data between the modules and the database; said graphical user interface (GUI) comprises a display presenting a plurality of icons each corresponding to and electronically linked to one of the software modules, a screen display region for arranging selected icons in a logical sequence corresponding to a questionnaire of the field protocol, said GUI further comprises an electronic link to an alerting program for assigning an alert to each questionnaire and said GUI further comprises a node operational mode for editing the software modules and a node linking mode for electronically linking the edited modules; said memory further comprises a formatting program for formatting a plurality of questionnaires and associated alerts into a standard file format memory, and the software modules further comprise templates with structured data fields linked to the database. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification