University of Surrey

About: University of Surrey is a education organization based out in Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 17976 authors who have published 44951 publications receiving 1249993 citations. The organization is also known as: Battersea Polytechnic Institute & Battersea College of Technology.

The telephone medium and semi‐structured interviews: a complementary fit

Abstract: Purpose – The telephone has been widely used to conduct quantitative research in diverse fields of study, generally using survey methodology. However, comparatively very few qualitative studies opt for this means of data collection. The purpose of this paper is to argue in favour of a medium that has generally been second‐rated in qualitative research. It aims at establishing telephone interviews as an equally viable option to other established methods of qualitative data collection.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is informed by the authors’ experience of using this method, as well as the limited number of previous research articles presented on the topic. It discusses its specific strengths and limitations, drawing on a conducted longitudinal study to illustrate key points. Its application to particular qualitative analysis methods, in view of the acknowledged requirements for each of these approaches, is also presented.Findings – Telephone conversations naturally follow an agenda‐driven format ...

Globalisation, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society: Sociological Perspectives

Abstract: Part 1: The Development of the Knowledge Economy 1. Globalisation 2. The Information and Knowledge Society Part 2: The Lifelong Learning and Learning Society 3. The Learning Society 4. Lifelong Learning 5. The Learning Organisation 6. The Learning City 7. Learning at a Distance 8. Providers of Learning Opportunities Part 3: Research and Lifelong learning 9. The Changing Nature of Research 10. Research as a Learning Process

Cost effectiveness of telehealth for patients with long term conditions (Whole Systems Demonstrator telehealth questionnaire study): nested economic evaluation in a pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial

Abstract: Objective: To examine the costs and cost effectiveness of telehealth in addition to standard support and treatment, compared with standard support and treatment. Design: Economic evaluation nested in a pragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting: Community based telehealth intervention in three local authority areas in England. Participants: 3230 people with a long term condition (heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or diabetes) were recruited into the Whole Systems Demonstrator telehealth trial between May 2008 and December 2009. Of participants taking part in the Whole Systems Demonstrator telehealth questionnaire study examining acceptability, effectiveness, and cost effectiveness, 845 were randomised to telehealth and 728 to usual care. Interventions: Intervention participants received a package of telehealth equipment and monitoring services for 12 months, in addition to the standard health and social care services available in their area. Controls received usual health and social care. Main outcome measure: Primary outcome for the cost effectiveness analysis was incremental cost per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained. Results: We undertook net benefit analyses of costs and outcomes for 965 patients (534 receiving telehealth; 431 usual care). The adjusted mean difference in QALY gain between groups at 12 months was 0.012. Total health and social care costs (including direct costs of the intervention) for the three months before 12 month interview were £1390 (€1610; $2150) and £1596 for the usual care and telehealth groups, respectively. Cost effectiveness acceptability curves were generated to examine decision uncertainty in the analysis surrounding the value of the cost effectiveness threshold. The incremental cost per QALY of telehealth when added to usual care was £92 000. With this amount, the probability of cost effectiveness was low (11% at willingness to pay threshold of £30 000; >50% only if the threshold exceeded about £90 000). In sensitivity analyses, telehealth costs remained slightly (non-significantly) higher than usual care costs, even after assuming that equipment prices fell by 80% or telehealth services operated at maximum capacity. However, the most optimistic scenario (combining reduced equipment prices with maximum operating capacity) eliminated this group difference (cost effectiveness ratio £12 000 per QALY). Conclusions: The QALY gain by patients using telehealth in addition to usual care was similar to that by patients receiving usual care only, and total costs associated with the telehealth intervention were higher. Telehealth does not seem to be a cost effective addition to standard support and treatment.

A Population Prediction Strategy for Evolutionary Dynamic Multiobjective Optimization

Abstract: This paper investigates how to use prediction strategies to improve the performance of multiobjective evolutionary optimization algorithms in dealing with dynamic environments. Prediction-based methods have been applied to predict some isolated points in both dynamic single objective optimization and dynamic multiobjective optimization. We extend this idea to predict a whole population by considering the properties of continuous dynamic multiobjective optimization problems. In our approach, called population prediction strategy (PPS), a Pareto set is divided into two parts: a center point and a manifold. A sequence of center points is maintained to predict the next center, and the previous manifolds are used to estimate the next manifold. Thus, PPS could initialize a whole population by combining the predicted center and estimated manifold when a change is detected. We systematically compare PPS with a random initialization strategy and a hybrid initialization strategy on a variety of test instances with linear or nonlinear correlation between design variables. The statistical results show that PPS is promising for dealing with dynamic environments.