Data Collection and Management : A Practical Guide

This indispensable tool for proposal writers, research students and project coordinators involved in large-scale data collection offers practical information on managing research projects.

The book places emphasis on: applying good standards for data collection and processing; planning research activities; making budgetary decisions and budget control; hiring, training and supervising field interviewing staff; and ensuring high participant acquisition and retention rates, including techniques for locating lost participants. In addition, readers are shown the use of computerized information systems for the tracking of data collected and the data-management process.

Tired of a trial-and-error approach to collecting and managing data? Data Collection and Management offers helpful information on managing research projects. By stressing how to use good standards for data collecting and processing, the authors cover such important how-tos as planning research activities; making budgetary decisions and keeping the budget under control; hiring, training, and supervising field interviewing staff; establishing whether interviewers are ready to start interviewing; and ensuring high participant acquisition and retention rates. The book also covers using computerized information systems for tracking data collected and the data management process. Proposal writers, principal investigators, graduate research students, and project coordinators of research requiring large-scale field data collection will find the book to be an indispensable tool.