Case Studies

NIDRR Tools Collection

The Challenge

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) under the U.S. Department of Education funds more than 340 projects each year. These projects conduct research and training on a wide spectrum of disability and rehabilitation issues. As part of their research, they create tools and instruments to collect and analyze data. The challenge given to HeiTech Services in the fall of 2003, as part of their three-year contract to operate the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), was to gather these tools, catalog them in detail, and make the collection available to researchers and consumers alike.

The Strategy

NARIC staff analyzed data submitted by NIDRR grantees as part of their Government Performance Reporting Act annual reports. These reports listed individual projects and subprojects, with descriptions of activities and outputs. Instruments and tools were identified and a contact database was developed. We worked closely with NIDRR officers to develop a comprehensive interview instrument designed to gather information on the tools development, implementation, analysis, and results. Through telephone interviews with researchers, we gathered detailed information on each instrument, along with a sample of the instrument itself.

The resulting database included more than 40 instruments such as surveys, questionnaires, checklists, and assessments. These tools ranged from simple opinion questionnaires to complex, constructed machines. The database was moved to the NARIC website, with search screens, reports, and online samples made available to visitors. An online version of the original interview was also created.

The project was analyzed by NIDRR's Research Utilization Support and Help (RUSH) project. Based on the report, changes were made to the site and the database to make it more user-friendly and efficient. In later stages, HeiTech programmers moved the database into SQL with a ColdFusion front end. The submission form was modified to differentiate engineering instruments from less technical items. The Tools Collection, as it is formally called, was integrated into the NARIC website in the summer of 2005. In its first two months of operation, it received more than 1,200 visitors.

The Result

HeiTech Services worked closely with NIDRR to develop a powerful tool for researchers and consumers alike. The Collection highlights the spectrum of NIDRR research and puts the results directly in the user's hands. It demonstrates the utility and productivity of NIDRR research. It also demonstrates the ability of HeiTech Services staff to take a project from its earliest development, through modification and execution, to a tangible product that serves the client's needs and exceeds their expectations.