Course Level: Intermediate
Course Limit: 20
Format Requirements: The class will involve a mixture of lectures and a practical session supported by the tutor and followed by a class-level walk through of the exercise. Participants who attend with a laptop will be able to undertake the practical example within the class. The course provides an introduction to Value of Information Analysis and, therefore, no experience of these techniques is required. However, participants will be expected to have an understanding of cost-effectiveness analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analysis as a pre-requisite, as such it is advertised as an intermediate level course. The practical exercise will be undertaken in excel.
Background: Value of Information (VOI) analyses are increasingly being undertaken across the SMDM community (and beyond) to estimate the value of additional research. This course aims to provide an introduction to Value of Information analysis, presenting the theory, general concepts and approach in an intuitive and non-technical manner for those who have heard the terms and want to know more. Participants will learn what types of questions VOI techniques can be used to address and which specific techniques are required to address which questions. In addition, a class practical will provide participants with the opportunity to undertake an EVPI calculation using excel.
Description and Objectives: This course provides an introduction to the principles and practice of Value of Information analysis. It is aimed at those who have seen the presentations and heard the terminology and now want to interpret the figures, understand the implications and use the techniques themselves . The course will cover the concepts of expected value of perfect information (EVPI), espected value of perfect partial information (EVPPI), expected value of sample information (EVSI) and expected net benefits of sampling (ENBS), detailing when each approach can be used and for which questions. Case studies will be used to illustrate the techniques where appropriate and participants will get the opportunity to undertake an exercise to calculate the expected value of perfect information.
The objectives of the course are:
- to de-mystify the techniques of Value of Information analysis
- for participants to be able to comprehend and explain the results of VOI analyses
- for participants to understand the different levels of VOI analysis and which questions can be addressed by each of the different techniques
- for participants to have the opportunity to undertake an Expected Value of Perfect Information exercise in excel