This article presents an overview of processes necessary for effective perf
ormance improvement (PI) projects and includes a discussion of methodologic
al issues that affect the quality of PI projects, Issues related to project
design, project purpose, selection of a representative population for the
project, and issues of sampling are presented. Data collection methods and
Instruments are analyzed and issues related to connecting the problem, the
intervention, and the outcome are described. The final sections address str
ategies related to data analysis procedures and Interpretation.