Sometimes the best way to learn about something is to get out of the office and go into the field to make observations. We use several different tools to help us understand and capture data from live settings. These range from casual observation through site tours to informal interviews, structured focus groups, and more systematic observations such as behavior mapping and shadowing.

We visit many different types of facilities to help us understand the nature of the healthcare process and its inherent challenges. We constantly develop our field research methods and build new tools for collecting observation data and generating informational graphics to understand that data.

We have used field research in several of our projects, including Teamwork in Primary Care and Infection Prevention and Safety.