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How much validity is there in doing external hand hygiene observations in a hospital where another facility observes for a total of 6 hrs. twice a year and reports that data out, when the observed facility already has their own internal hand hygiene observers to obtain there own data monthly?

Deb
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    Welcome to this site. Each discipline has its own peculiar terminology. In Statistice the term validity has a rather special meaning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Validity_%28statistics%29 . I don't think you mean that. Your question may become clearer if you give a bit more background, for example by describing why you want to know this. – Maarten Buis Jul 12 '13 at 13:21
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    Welcome to the site, @Deb. Is there a statistical question in this? I acknowledge that there seems to be a methodological aspect to your question, but I would say it is of the kind that should be posed to subject-matter experts in your field instead of statisticians. If you have a substantive statistical question, please edit to clarify. Otherwise, this Q may end up being closed as off-topic for CV (see our help page). – gung - Reinstate Monica Jul 12 '13 at 13:21

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I can see three reasons for such external audits (more may exist, I don't claim that this list is exhaustive)

  1. All observers make (unintentional) errors. So one reason for measuring the same thing twice (or more) is to try to quantify and correct for this measurement error.
  2. Moveover, if you are embedded in one facility for long enough, you no longer see what is peculiar to your facility. A fresh pair of eyes can help a lot in such situations.
  3. The previous two reasons exist without assuming any bad-will among facilities. However, another concern may be that people who report on their own facility may have incentives to portray the situation better than it is. An external check may help in keeping everybody honest.
Maarten Buis
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  • One outside facility is measuring in a 6hr time frame, internal observations are over a months period of time. I agree with number two. When you say bad-will among facilities, well there is even though the observation is done by professionals. Our internal data for the two months that the external data is done does not match. One reason that I find is the length of time is different and the rules are different. The external observers go by a different set of rules than the internal observers. – Deb Jul 12 '13 at 17:46
  • Without knowing the details I would in general collect the differences in rules and frame that list as under 2. That often leads to the most productive debate about where the differences come from. – Maarten Buis Jul 12 '13 at 18:56