Background The movement of GB qualified pharmacists overseas is seen to intensify the workforce shortage problem in pharmacy1. Research is underway in an attempt to determine why this group of pharmacists leave GB for overseas.

Exploratory stage (case studies): data collection using email An investigation of the motivations, experiences, future plans and career paths of this group of pharmacists, was undertaken in November 2002. Due to the location of the pharmacists, email was considered as the preferred mode of data collection. Advantages associated with this method include the elimination of time differences; a reduction in costs (otherwise incurred through telephone interviews); the instantaneousness of responses; responders are encouraged to reveal more personal information; no interviewer effect; and the information given is already transcribed 2-5. A small random sample (n=80) was taken from the Pharmacy Register, selected by gender, age and country. An initial letter provided the choice of being contacted by telephone, email or post. The majority selected email. Those agreeing to take part were sent an email outlining the themes of interest. Many responded to the themes and many attached CVs to give an outline of their career path to date. These findings influenced the design of a postal questionnaire subsequently sent to all pharmacists in this group (a census).

Census survey: data collection using a web form A postal survey was sent to all GB-trained pharmacists working overseas (n=3569) in August 2003. By October 2003 a response rate of approximately 50% had been achieved. At this stage a reminder letter was sent that included not another hard copy of the questionnaire but instead a link to an electronic version. This decision was partly based on costs and time constraints, but also as a way to encourage responses. The web version was created in a basic text editor (Notepad) using HTML coding. This was then checked by IT support experts and posted on the School of Pharmacy website. Although the design of the web form was very basic, certain functions were included, such as a security password to prevent random data entries and the necessity of inputting a 'case id' to monitor responses. Responses were sent to email and an EXCEL file. Postal questionnaires had been input into an SPSS file, and coding was set up for the web form to ensure cases could be easily added to the SPSS file.

Discussion Using the Internet as a means of data collection encouraged a further 132 responses to the quantitative survey, increasing the response rate by 4%, to 54% overall, suggesting that a web-based tool is a suitable method of administration for this sort of research. In avoiding error through the data entry process, it also has the potential of increasing reliability of findings. A few pharmacists could not access the web form because of server/ network settings they were using, so it is not without problems. Using email during the qualitative stage was also useful in that it allowed respondents to attach detailed documentation, and it helped speed up the communication process.

References
(1)Hassell, K and Shann, P. RPSGB membership database review. 31-1-2002.
(2) Best S & Kruger B, New Approaches to Assessing Opinion: the Prospects for Electronic Mail Surveys, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, vol.14, no.1, 2001.
(3) Bunting SM et al, Use of Electronic Mail (Email) for Concept Synthesis: An International Collaborative Project, Qualitative Health Research, vol.8, no.1, 1998, 128-135.
(4) Baron, NS, Letters by Phone or Speech by other means: the linguistics of email, Language and Communication, 18 (1998), 133-170.
(5) Gonzalez JE, Present Day Use of the Internet for Survey-Based Research, Technology in Human Services, Vol 19. Nos 2/3, 2002.