Does the Global Health Security Index Drive Policy Change? Help Me Find Out

By Vincent Niger🔸 @ 2025-02-08T09:59 (+12)

Introduction

The Global Health Security Index (GHSI) has been widely discussed in the aftermath of COVID-19. Some researchers have criticized it for not being predictive of certain pandemic outcomes, while others have defended its methodology, arguing that its predictive value improves when the timeframe and standardization are carefully considered. However, my focus is different.

The GHSI was never designed as a forecasting tool. Rather, it's supposed to be an inventory of gaps to address to achieve better health security. Its theory of change assumes that stakeholders in pandemic preparedness and prevention will engage with it and take action based on its findings. Yet, there seems to be little research on whether this theory of change holds true and whether the GHSI effectively drives positive change in health security. This gap in research is what I aim to explore in my master’s thesis.

I am a nurse with limited research experience, and I recognize that qualitative research and studying policy change are complex. As I prepare to start my thesis in April, with 10 weeks dedicated to it, I want to ensure that I take on a manageable project that will teach me valuable skills for the rest of my career.

This post is an invitation for feedback on my research proposal. I have sought similar feedback before and connected with people who provided invaluable help. That experience made me feel grateful and eager to repeat the process. If you have experience in global health policy, qualitative research, or implementation science, I would greatly appreciate your advice on how to conduct a rigorous and useful study.

My Research Proposal

My full research proposal is accessible here.

I welcome feedback on any aspect, but I am particularly interested in:

If you have insights, suggested readings, or experiences that might be helpful, I would love to hear from you! I welcome all feedback, including tough criticism, as long as it’s honest and constructive. :)

Thank you in advance for your time and input!

Mariuslt @ 2025-02-18T14:11 (+2)

Not exactly my field, but I had a quick chat with a conveniently located senior researcher at work. This is a synthesis of our thoughts:

Summary: Might be a bit ambitious, but doable if you are well prepared.

Feasibility: The number and availability of of informants will be crucial. Do you already have contacts or a way in? I frequently see people (including myself) grossly underestimate the time it takes to collect data. How many informants? If you plan to publish the results in a peer-reviewed journal, aiming for more than the minimum (I don't know, 8?) is probably wise.

Transferability: I would imagine some findings would be generalisable to similar countries at least.

Methods: What are your options? Would a survey be possible? Need more people but is maybe easier to analyse. Thematic Analysis is a good pragmatic approach. Because of this pragmatism however, your current description lack some detail on how you will actually do the analysis (except the general steps). For example, how will you relate the data to your concept model? You won't have much time to figure this out during your 10 weeks. Especially if you have never analysed interviews before.

How to conduct interviews: If you know someone who already is doing a similar analysis, see if you can sit in on an interview, working session or supervision session and observe. It helped me the time I wrote a thematic analysis paper (but I will not offer or trust my own skills here)

Pitfalls: Just want to reiterate that data collection sometimes takes much more time than anticipated, and you should expect to spend 80% of your time on analysis.

Vincent Niger🔸 @ 2025-02-18T16:53 (+1)

Thank you for your comment Marius, this is super useful!