Qualitative interview study reveals usability barriers to statistical R tutorials in applied researchers, highlighting key requirements for accessible software guidance.
Key Points
To explore how applied researchers engage with an R tutorial for trial-based economic evaluation and identify factors affecting its usability and perceived value.
Conducted a three-step test interview study combining think-aloud tasks and reflective interviews with tutorial-naive applied researchers (n = 17).
Conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with applied researchers experienced in using the tutorial in practice (n = 3).
Analyzed interview transcripts and observational qualitative data using reflexive thematic analysis.
Identified three primary themes: running into technical hurdles during setup, struggling to comprehend outputs and statistical methods, and difficulty adapting tutorial code to real-world datasets.
Determined that operational barriers stemmed primarily from software setup problems, limited coding proficiency, ambiguous terminology, and absent real-time technical support rather than pure statistical difficulty.
Observed that researchers found methodological tutorials to be efficient learning instruments when structured transparently with adaptable, easily modified code.