Contact Us | Sign In | Apply for NAQC Membership
For Researchers and Students

One of the roles of the North American Quitline Consortium is to facilitate interactions and relationships between researchers and tobacco cessation quitlines in the U.S. and Canada. We encourage researchers to become members of NAQC, so they may be eligible for one-on-one membership services such as:

  • providing letters of support for research studies
  • identifying quitlines that might be suitable for participation in research projects (members preferred)
  • assistance with recruitment of quitlines for research studies (members preferred)
  • technical assistance for basic quitline information
  • provision of publicly-available data from the NAQC Annual Survey of quitlines
  • provision of Annual Survey data that is not publicly available (members only)

For these and other services, or for questions about NAQC’s research-related activities, contact naqc@naquitline.org, or 800-398-5489.

Non-members may be eligible for minimal assistance, as time and resources allow. 

Use the links below to navigate through this page.

Meet NAQC's Research & Evaluation Team  
Quitline Data Resources
    The Minimal Data Set (MDS)
    Annual Survey of Quitlines
Research Guide
NAQC Membership
Available Networking Resources
Promoting Objectivity in Research – Financial Conflict of Interest Policy

Meet NAQC's Research & Evaluation Team 

Katie Mason, MPP
Research and Evaluation Manager
Ms. Mason oversees and manages evaluation and research program activities, including the annual survey of quitlines and Minimal Data Set. She has a decade of experience evaluating public health and social programs. Katie has worked in government, nonprofits, and the private sector. Prior positions have included Research Associate at the North Carolina Partnership for Children and Evaluation Fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. She is fluent in Spanish. Katie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Public Policy from Duke University.
     

Quitline Data Resources

The Minimal Data Set (MDS)

The Minimal Data Set (or "MDS”) is a standardized set of intake and follow-up questions asked by all publicly funded quitlines in North America. It was created to facilitate data collection and comparisons across quitlines, and make it easier to answer questions critical to improving quitline practices, yet are impossible to answer by a single quitline. The MDS offers a standard approach to evaluating tobacco cessation quitlines. It facilitates performance monitoring, makes learning from other quitlines and comparisons between quitlines possible and does not impose undue resource burdens on quitlines. It helps to inform quitline operations, facilitate comparative evaluation studies and enhance research opportunities. The MDS Intake and Follow-up question sets and related documentation are available here.

Annual Survey of Quitlines

Since 2004, each year NAQC conducts a survey of quitlines in North America. The information collected in the survey advances our understanding of quitline operations and services. By sharing information about quitline financing, counseling interventions, medication provision, utilization, staffing and evaluation, quitlines contribute greatly to the field. Aggregate results are shared with the quitline community and partners and help achieve NAQC’s mission of promoting evidence based quitline services across diverse communities in North America.

For information about each year’s survey, including survey instruments and results, click here.

NAQC also seeks to make survey data available to researchers and students to advance knowledge about cessation through secondary data analysis, graduate student projects, etc. Researchers or students requesting data must be members of NAQC. To view the protocol for requesting NAQC survey data, or for a list of approved requests, please click here.

Research Guide

NAQC has developed a Guide for conducting Quitline Research. The purpose of this Guide is to expedite the relationship-development process between quitlines and researchers, and to assure that issues likely to arise within the context of conducting research studies are anticipated by all parties. To engage in studies with quitlines, researchers, quitline funders and quitline service providers will need to develop both an understanding of the context in which each works as well as working relationships that may anticipate and address issues likely to arise. This Guide is geared towards all parties associated with quitlines such as funders, service providers, and evaluators, as well as researchers who currently work with or are interested in working with quitlines. It aims to educate the quitline community about the research process and practices, and to educate researchers about the complex nature of quitlines. To view the Guide and related documents, click here.
Additional resources have been created to serve as companion pieces to this Guide. These resources are provided below:
  • Appendix A provides a glossary of terms often used by researchers and/or quitlines.
  • Appendix B includes sample text and paragraphs that were gathered from existing quitline data use agreements and contracts. It was developed to provide additional assistance with quitline research.
  • A one-page checklist, The Basics for Quitlines: Questions to Ask of Researchers who Request Data, was developed as a guide for quitlines when they are asked to provide quitline data. The checklist is intended as a guide for initiating and continuing discussions with researchers who are interested in quitline data. This one-page checklist is also included in Section III.


NAQC Membership

NAQC offers organizational and individual memberships to individuals and organizations who are committed to and play a significant role in supporting quitlines and other tobacco cessation efforts and activities. NAQC provides members with access to top-notch training and technical assistance, informative communications, quality standards and benchmarking data, a voice in moving quitlines forward through voting rights and participation in working groups and more.

  • evidence-based training and technical assistance from industry experts
  • community-based quality standards and benchmarking data
  • real-time, peer-to-peer and partner collaboration
  • connections to quitlines and other researchers
  • assistance with research project development
  • access to NAQC annual survey data
  • timely updates on important funding opportunities and events in the quitline community
  • member-only sections of the NAQC Web site
  • in-depth reports, case studies, and issue papers

According to NAQC members, key benefits of membership include the opportunity to network with colleagues, share experiences, and learn from others in the field. NAQC continues to enhance membership benefits based on member needs.

Please visit NAQC’s membership page to learn more about membership criteria and benefits. Feel free to contact our membership department at membership@naquitline.org or 800.398.5489 ext 707.

Available Networking Resources

NAQC offers a variety of networking resources to non-members:
  • Subscribe to receive a copy of the monthly issue of Connections and stay current on important information about tobacco control, research, and upcoming events in the quitline community.
  • Visit the research section of the NAQC Newsroom on a regular basis for research announcements, articles, and funding opportunities.


Promoting Objectivity in Research – Financial Conflict of Interest Policy

This policy addresses the responsibilities of the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) for ensuring objectivity in research in accordance with 42 CFR Part 50 Subpart F “Promoting Objectivity in Research.” It governs the disclosure of financial interests and the management and reporting of individual financial conflicts of interests in research performed on behalf of the NAQC.