Final Considerations for Gathering Data on Hearing Quality

• Always start with the question “what do you want to know”
• Balance data gathering between the question you want to know and the resources you have available – any project can be scaled up or down to meet your needs
• Court observation is typically the most robust way to collect data on quality court hearings
• Consider who you have available to observe/code the hearings (best to use people who are knowledgeable about a/n court process)
• Consider training needs (so coders can reliably use observation instruments)
• Consider how many hearings of specific hearing types you will need to observe in order to answer your research questions
• If your court records (audio or video) their child abuse and neglect hearings, recordings are an efficient way to observe court
• Coding audio or video recordings also eliminates potential “observer effect” of coding live hearings (the theory that the mere observation of an event changes that event).