Data Collection and Management

Book excerpt: 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.