Quality assurance
All members of the NORAH research consortium are experienced and established scientists who can vouch for the quality and neutrality of the results of NORAH.
The scientific approach also requires, however, that methods and results are constantly reviewed by others. This is why, at the start of the NORAH Study, external scientists were commissioned to monitor the quality of the work of the consortium. This groups of scientists form the Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Qualitätssicherung (Scientific Advisory Board for Quality Assurance - WBQ) to ensure the so-called external quality assurance. Parallel to this, the scientists carrying out the study also subjected themselves to internal quality assurance.
External quality assurance (WBQ)
The Scientific Advisory Board for Quality Assurance (WBQ) was made up of international experts on epidemiology, sleep medicine, cardiology, industrial medicine, acoustics, psychology and noise impact research. The WBQ examined the design of the study as far back as November 2010, i.e. even before the scientific consortium had been selected. Since then the quality assurance body had been meeting regularly with the consortium, examining work reports, and advising on the selection of methods. When the individual NORAH sub-studies were concluded, the WBQ also examined the results and – where necessary – suggested further evaluations before the results were published.
WBQ members
- Univ.-Prof. em. Dr. med. Barbara Griefahn, Leibniz Institute for Labour Research, TU Dortmund (sleep, quality of life)
- PD Dr. phil. Mark Brink, ETH Zürich (sleep, quality of life)
- Prof. Dr. em Erland Erdmann, University of Cologne (health risks, cardiology)
- Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Hoffmann, MPH (health risks, epidemiology)
- Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hellbrück, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (children)
- Dr. Irene van Kamp, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, NL-Bilthoven (children, quality of life)
- Prof. Dr. Kerstin Giering, University of Applied Sciences Trier, Environment Campus Birkenfeld (acoustics)
- Dr. Georg Thomann, Department for Nature and the Environment, Graubünden, Switzerland (acoustics)
- Prof. Dr. Joachim Vogt, TU Darmstadt (quality of life)
Internal quality assurance
The consortium had subjected itself to an internal quality assurance. This accompanied the researchers in their work and examined the methods and results before they were sent to the client.
- Prof. Dr. Hajo Zeeb, Leibniz Institute for Preventive Research and Epidemiology – BIPS GmbH, Bremen
- Dr. Enno Swart, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg
- Prof. Dr. em. August Schick, formerly University Oldenburg
- Dr. Berthold Vogelsang, Lower Saxony Ministry for Environment, Energy and Climate Protection
- Dr. Rudolf Schuemer, formerly Fernuniversität Hagen