“Science Guiding Prevention” is a central tenet of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) mission. Research in Healthcare Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Stewardship (HE&AS) is rapidly expanding with the involvement of researchers from varied countries and backgrounds.Reference Morgan, Deloney and Bartlett ¹ The field continues to be informed by new evidence, yet much of our day-to-day activities and interventions are not evidence based. For example, of the 127 Basic Practices recommended in the 2014 SHEA/IDSA Compendium of Strategies to Prevent HAIs in Acute Care Hospitals, only 16% received a high grade for quality of evidence.Reference Yokoe, Anderson and Berenholtz ² Research in HE&AS must investigate important and timely topics.Reference Safdar, Anderson and Braun ³ Researchers must use scientific methods that will provide the strongest evidence to advance healthcare epidemiology.

Excellent texts and articles exist for general research methods, but there are limited resources for information on specific aspects of HE&AS research or easy ways to access examples of studies using specific methods with HE&AS. In response to this need, the SHEA Research Committee has developed a series of white papers on research methods in HE&AS. The objective of this series is to promote rigorous HE&AS research by summarizing critical components, practical considerations, and pitfalls of commonly used research methods. The series will include documents on the following 6 priority topics: randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, use of administrative and surveillance data, observational and retrospective study designs, survey research/mixed methods, and mathematical modeling (see Table 1 for a list of white papers).

TABLE 1

Topics to be Covered in SHEA White Papers on Research Methods in Healthcare Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Stewardship (HE&AS)

NOTE. CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (in particular National Healthcare Safety Network, NHSN); VA, Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

The white papers are designed to be basic and practical and provide examples of HE&AS manuscripts while discussing strengths and weaknesses of key HE&AS studies. Authors for each paper were chosen from those with expertise on the SHEA Research Committee with additional experts invited to participate. Each white paper will be presented using a common format. Of particular importance, each manuscript will include 2 tables for researchers to reference. Table 1 in each manuscript will provide advantages, disadvantages, and pitfalls for the research method being summarized. Table 2 in each manuscript will provide a checklist of key considerations when developing a study. Because of length limitations, manuscripts will not include extensive discussions of finer points or alternative approaches to common methods.

These SHEA methods papers are being written as practical documents for day-to-day use. Beyond providing background on HE&AS research methods, each paper can be used to guide investigators to avoid common problems when designing and performing HE&AS studies. The checklists are designed to help investigators ensure they have prepared adequately. In addition, these white papers can be used as a guide to standardize review of HE&AS research by journals and funding agencies.

In the last decade, we have seen a large increase in research in healthcare epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship. We believe that these SHEA Research Committee White Papers on Research Methodology can be used by both new and experienced researchers to improve HE&AS research and ultimately improve patient care.