When enough is enough: a conceptual basis for fair and defensible practice performance assessment

Abstract

A practice performance assessment should use multiple instruments. The reproducibility of subjective parts should not be increased by over-structuring, but by sampling through sources of bias. As many sources of bias may exist, sampling through all of them may not prove feasible. Therefore, a more project-orientated approach is suggested using a range of instruments. At various timepoints during any assessment with a particular instrument, questions should be raised as to whether the sampling is sufficient with respect to the quantity and quality of the observations, and whether the totality of assessments across instruments is sufficient to see 'the whole picture'. This policy is embedded within a larger organisational and health care context.