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Data Collection Methods Series: Part 1: Define a Clear Purpose for Collecting Data

A goal of the journal’s Spotlight on Research is to encourage and support grant activity and research efforts of the members of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Society. To that end, this is the first of a 6-part series of articles on the methods of collecting primary research data, and it builds on Peirce and Doughty’s1 Journal of Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing data collection article on the why, what, where, and how of collecting and handling health program outcome data for management and accountability purposes. The specific aim of this series is to describe a practical process of preparing for and implementing research data collection activities assuming that primary (vs secondary) data are needed; needed data are based on human behavior, health status, attitudes, opinions, knowledge, awareness, satisfaction, and other related concepts, and the study design includes 1 or a combination of 3 traditional methods of surveying humans: (1) standardized questionnaires delivered in person or by mail, telephone, or on-line; (2) semistructured interview schedules used for open-ended qualitative research designs; or (3) structured or semistructured forms used for recording observations or extracting information from documents. The term survey is used here in a broad sense as a verb, as in “survey clinic patients,” and it is often associated with the use of questionnaires, interview schedules, or recording forms as instruments of data collection. In this series, we will not directly cover research design, sampling, or statistical analysis, although we refer to these other important features of research and encourage the reader to seek additional information as needed. The series is divided into separate articles that describe 6 practical steps for collecting quality research data. Although there is a sequential or linear nature to organizing a tutorial in steps, it is not our intention to imply that successive steps are approached only after the preceding step is completed. In fact, the process is iterative and reciprocal as illustrated in Figure 1. Nonetheless, it is useful to describe 6 distinctive aspects of data collection in some logical order. The 6 steps with a brief description are as follows: