Sampling Method
Through multi-stage stratified random sampling, 18 provinces, including Shanxi, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui, were selected in the present analysis. According to the National Plan for the Elimination of Leprosy Hazards (2011–2020), it categorized 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in mainland Chinese into three types of epidemic areas by the prevalence and incidence rate of leprosy. The first category includes Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, etc. The second category includes Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, etc. The third category include Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, etc. 8 In this study, 7 provinces were classified as leprosy epidemic areas category I, 9 provinces were category II and 2 provinces were category III. The respondents included the heads of agencies such as CDCs, skin disease hospitals(institutions) and leprosy hospitals (villages); middle-level cadres and general staff.
Source of information
This analysis adopted a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach through questionnaire survey and qualitative interview. Through reference to the relevant previous studies in the literature and expert consultation, we designed a questionnaire on the satisfaction of scientific research environment and an interview guide for the institution of leprosy prevention and control.
In addition to collecting the basic situation of the respondents’ leprosy epidemic areas, the level and nature of institutions, job categories, etc., the questionnaire on the satisfaction of scientific research environment include: 1) Satisfied with the current scientific research environment, 2) Satisfied with the research funding of the research group, 3) Satisfied with the difficulty of applying for current research projects 4) Satisfied with the exchanges and cooperation between the research groups of the units, 5) Satisfied with the scientific research management of the unit,6) Satisfied with the academic atmosphere of the unit,7) Satisfied with the unit’s science and technology award criteria. Subjective evaluation according to 5-point Likert scale evaluation component table score (1 = very unsatisfactory; 2 = not satisfied; 3 = general; 4 = more satisfactory; and 5 = very satisfied). Institutional interview questionnaires, including basic information about institutions and experience in training of leprosy prevention talents, talent introduction and talent incentive policies.
Under the guidance of China Leprosy Association, research was carried out through the distribution of paper questionnaires to the organizations surveyed. Between October and December of 2018, a total of 351 valid questionnaires were collected from 107 agencies, the heads of scientific research departments of 95 institutions were interviewed. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Shanghai Skin Disease Hospital. Written informed consents were obtained from all participants.
Data statistics and analysis
All statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS21.0 and MS-EXCEL for Windows. Descriptive statistics were used to describe respondents’ satisfaction of the scientific research environment by four potential factors, such as different epidemic areas, the level and nature of institutions, job categories. This paper compared the difference in satisfaction level of the scientific research environment with each potential factor using one-way ANOVA and then Scheffe post hoc test method for the groups with significant difference. In the case where the overall test F value reached significant, but the post hoc test was not significant, Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) post hoc test was applied. The significance level for all statistical analyses was 0.05%.
Ranking questions were analyzed by assignment score, taking the example of " the issues that should be prioritized in the scientific research environment “. Concrete steps: (1) by the interviewees through the subjective experience of the current scientific research environment to screen out the most needs to solve the problem, and according to the importance of sorting, 1 indicates the first need to solve the problem, 2 indicates the second need to solve the problem, and so on, (2) each issues in descending order, the first problem to be solved is assigned a value of 8 points,The second problem that be solved is assigned a value of 7 points, and so on; the assignment without tick is 0; and (3) the total score of the problem needs to be solved, sorted by score.