Table I.

 “What Makes Life Good?” Study Phase I: components and activities

Component	Collaborative activities
Trust building	Constant communication via: scheduled meetings and impromptu visits at RSS email updates and check-ins Engagement in community and campus activities
Project development	Project meetings and workgroups to: inform project logistics and methods create and pilot-test materials and processes
Capacity building	Opportunities for student involvement included: open planning meetings pre-study focus group workshop interactive focus groups( 1 – 2 ) post-focus group workgroup sessions3
Data collection and analysis	Interactive focus group processes: word association activity1 all on the wall activity2 Post-focus group workgroup sessions
Measurement creation	Post-focus group workgroup sessions
Member checking	Interactive findings forum4

¹Word association activity: On sheets of flipchart paper, students shared words/phrases they associated with “Life”, “Quality” and “Quality of Life”.

²All on the wall activity: Independently, students listed (on sticky-notes) factors that contribute to their QOL at college. Students shared their notes and posted them on a blank wall. Students worked together to group the factors into conceptual domains (29).

³Post-focus group workgroup sessions: Students and researchers synthesised focus group findings and developed draft QOL survey.

⁴Interactive findings forum: Students, RSS staff and researchers gathered to discuss focus group findings and provide feedback about the draft QOL survey (30).