Form 6 WORKING GROUP TELEPHONE INTERVIEW GUIDE

Attachment 6

Working Group Telephone Interview Guide

6. Working Group Leads

Telephone Interview Guide

OMB No: 0925-XXXX

Expiration Date: xx/xx/20xx

Collection of this information is authorized by The Public Health Service Act, Section 411 (42 USC 285a). Rights of study participants are protected by The Privacy Act of 1974. Participation is voluntary, and there are no penalties for not participating or withdrawing from the study at any time. Refusal to participate will not affect your benefits in any way. The information collected in this study will be kept private to the extent provided by law. Names and other identifiers will not appear in any report of the study. Information provided will be combined for all study participants and reported as summaries. You are being contacted to participate in this data collection so that we can evaluate the State and Community Tobacco Control (SCTC) Research Initiative.

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 40 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: NIH, Project Clearance Branch, 6705 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7974, Bethesda, MD 20892-7974, ATTN: PRA (0925-XXXX). Do not return the completed form to this address.

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this telephone interview focused on your involvement in the ____________ Project. As you know, this project is being sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. My name is ___________ and I work for a company called Westat, an independent research firm located in Rockville, Maryland. Westat was contracted by NCI to conduct these interviews as part of a larger assessment of SCTC.

As was explained in the initial invitation, your participation is voluntary and you can choose to not respond to any question for any reason. But keep in mind that the information you provide will be kept private to the extent provided by law. The information collected will be analyzed and published in aggregate form and we will not identify any individuals in any report or presentation.

Your participation will help provide valuable information that will assist NCI and NIH in making decisions regarding future program activities and their structure.

The interview will take approximately 40 minutes. We would like to audio-record it to ensure accuracy. Only the Westat team will have access to the recording for analytical purposes and the recording will be destroyed once the project is completed. Do I have your permission to continue?

Today’s conversation is going to cover your impressions of the overall SCTC Initiative as well as your specific impressions of the Working Group component. By overall SCTC Initiative we mean all of the individuals and institutions involved including all seven of the university based research centers, the coordinating center, and the affiliated partners. By Affiliated Partners we are referring to SCTC collaborators who are not SCTC grantees and are based outside of funded research centers. Affiliated partners can include representatives at state or local tobacco control programs, public health and community based organizations, Federal or State agencies, organizations hired to consult on SCTC projects or workgroups, as well as other academic institutions.

A. NETWORK

1. How would you describe the value of the overall SCTC initiative¹?

• Probe on how the SCTC network enables respondent to conduct research, meet researchers with similar interests, develop dissemination products, accomplish goals.

• Probe specifically on opportunities to learn and grow from each other.

• Especially opportunities for SCTC scientists and affiliated partners to learn and grow from each other?

2. In your experience, what factors tend to promote collaboration² within the SCTC initiative?

[Probe on structural and cultural factors.]

• If not mentioned, probe specifically on whether the U01 cooperative agreement explicitly helped promote collaboration.

• If not mentioned, probe specifically on collaboration between SCTC scientists and affiliated partners³?

• Probe for issues involving alignment, trust, and synergy

3. In your experience, what factors tend to inhibit collaboration within the SCTC initiative?

• If not mentioned, probe specifically on collaboration between SCTC scientists and affiliated partners?

4. Are there ways that NCI could help promote increased collaboration in the future?

• Probe specifically on how future RFAs could be written to promote greater collaboration?

• If not mentioned, probe specifically on increasing collaboration between SCTC scientists and affiliated partners?

B. PROCESSES AND ACTIVITIES

I would like to switch gears now and ask you some questions about the working group(s) you are a member of on within SCTC…..

5. What would you say is the primary value of including Working Groups as part of the SCTC Research Initiative?

• What unique contributions do Working Groups offer the initiative in contrast to other initiative components of Pilot Projects, the Coordinating Center, the Annual Meetings, or the Bi-Monthly Conference Calls?

• What is the value of collaboration across SCTC centers within the Working Groups?

[Possible value might include opportunities to:]

• How Working Groups help accomplish core project goals

• work with a different set of colleagues

• tackle new or innovative research topics

• focus on practical implications of research

• reach out to new partners outside of the SCTC network

• What, if any, are the challenges associated with forming and managing Working Groups?

6. What constitutes a successful Working Group?

Probe on:

• Selection of team members

• Mutual respect, trust, and understand among team members

• Clarity and alignment on goals

• Agreement about implementation of project

• Open communication and clearly defined processes

• Synergy between collaborating individuals and institutions

7. Which individuals have been especially important or influential in your Working Group collaborations and why?

[Collect names, roles, and affiliations]

8. What, if anything, can NCI do in the future to improve the efficacy of Working Groups?

Probe on:

• Their structure

• Purpose

• Composition

• Implementation

C. PRODUCTS

9. What role did collaboration between the Working Groups and the projects play in producing Core and Pilot Project products?
   
   

10. What is the role of the Working Group in the dissemination of products (if any)?

11. How were the local perspectives and cultural orientations reflected in the “core” products?

12. At this juncture, what are your impressions of the products emerging from the project?

• Do you believe the end users will find them useful? Relevant? Effective?

• How will you measure success in this case?

13. In thinking about the overarching goals of SCTC, are there additional ways in which NCI can help promote product development and dissemination within the U01 cooperative agreement mechanism in the future?

1 The “SCTC Initiative” includes all centers, the coordinating center, and affiliated partners.

2 Aspects of collaboration: communication; sharing knowledge; building consensus; joint development; coauthorship; division of labor; decision-making; more…

3 Current collaborators for your SCTC work who are not SCTC research center-based scientists.