Ms. Schoeffler proposes to explore the qualities of good medical terminologies and to establish quantifiable measurements for these attributes. Decision-makers can use the measurements as a tool to objectively compare controlled vocabularies when choosing one for use. System-developers can use the measurements to maximize the utilities of the vocabulary developed. After identifying the attributes and developing their measurements, Ms. Schoeffler will seek validation of this work by assessing face, content & construct validity as well as checking reliability of the measurements. This validation will establish the usefulness of these ratings. For the validation, she will apply the measurements to the most commonly used adverse event thesauri in the pharmaceutical industry. this task will also continue her contributions to the important pharmaceutical industry evaluation of adverse drug event thesauri. To test the universality of these measurements, Ms. Schoeffler will apply them to a sample of small clinical vocabularies in other domains.
