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Australian Journal of Primary Health Australian Journal of Primary Health Society
The issues influencing community health services and primary health care
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Validation of the research capacity and culture (RCC) tool: measuring RCC at individual, team and organisation levels

Libby Holden A D , Susan Pager B , Xanthe Golenko A and Robert S. Ware C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Medicine, Griffith University, University Drive, Meadowbrook, Qld 4131, Australia.

B Queensland Health, Level 2, 7 Clunies Ross Court, Brisbane Technology Park, Eight Mile Plains, Qld 4113, Australia.

C School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston Road, Brisbane, Qld 4006, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: l.holden@griffith.edu.au

Australian Journal of Primary Health 18(1) 62-67 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY10081
Submitted: 29 October 2010  Accepted: 2 May 2011   Published: 21 October 2011

Abstract

Research capacity building (RCB) in Australia has recently focussed on strategies that take a whole of system approach to developing research culture at individual, team and organisation levels. Although a theoretical framework exists, no tool has been published that quantitatively measures the effectiveness of RCB interventions aimed at these three levels. A sample of 134 allied health workers was used to validate the research capacity and culture (RCC) tool. Item level analysis was undertaken using Cronbach’s α and exploratory factor analysis, and test–retest reliability was examined using intra-class correlations (ICC). The tool had one factor emerge for each domain, with excellent internal consistency for organisation, team and individual domains (α = 0.95, 0.96 and 0.96 respectively; and factor loadings ranges of 0.58–0.89, 0.65–0.89 and 0.59–0.93 respectively). The overall mean score (total) for each domain was: 5.4 (inter-quartile range 3.9–7.7), 4.4 (IQR 2.6–6.1) and 3.9 (IQR 2.9–6) for the organisation, team and individual domains respectively. Test–retest reliability was strong for each domain: organisation ICC = 0.77, team ICC = 0.83 and individual ICC = 0.82. The RCC tool has three domains measuring research capacity and culture at organisation, team and individual levels. It demonstrates excellent internal consistency and strong test–retest reliability.

Additional keywords: evaluation, research culture, team based.


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