Criteria, norms and standards of quality: What do they mean?

A. Donabedian

American Journal of Public Health, 1981, vol. 71, issue 4, 409-412

Abstract: Quality assessment requires specification of: 1) a set of phenomena that are usually attributes of either process or outcome; 2) a general rule of what constitutes goodness; and 3) a precise numerical statement of what constitutes acceptable or optimal goodness with respect to each of these phenomena. The terms 'criteria', 'norms', and 'standards', as currently employed, do not correspond well with these three components, but they could be used effectively if the basic distinctions were understood. Alternatively, one could use, as corresponding terms, 'elements', 'parameters', and 'standards'. The terms 'criteria', and 'norms' would then be redefined and be available to be used more uniformly, while 'standards' could be further differentiated according to method of measurement, configuration, level, and flexibility.

Date: 1981
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.71.4.409

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.71.4.409_0

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.71.4.409

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().