ABSTRACT

This chapter considers some of the conceptual issues around engaging the public in the process of priority setting. Surveys, especially those using structured questionnaires, can provide a systematic approach to measurement of a specific issue. Large-scale surveys, based on random sampling, have the advantage of providing some statistically valid basis for decision making and perhaps offer the greatest degree of representativeness amongst the methods. They also offer the advantage of being able to explore the clear differences between sub-groups in the population. Following the 1991 changes in the National Health Service (NHS), the main responsibility to ensure public involvement fell, as a result of government initiatives, to health authorities in their dual task of trying to assess health need and then delivering the most relevant services within available resources. Quantitative approaches are frequently posed against qualitative approaches although several methodologies straddle the divide.