I would like to share about a bi-annual study we did a few years back called : The People’s Health in Southeastern Myanmar: Results from a Household Survey and the Way Forward

– Purpose of data collection: The purpose of data collection was to monitor and evaluate a strategic purchasing project that aimed to improve health service delivery and cooperation with ethnic health organizations in conflict-affected areas in Southeastern Myanmar. The data collection also provided information on the health status and needs of ethnic minority populations living in those areas.

– Primary or secondary data collection: The data collection was primary, as it involved gathering data directly from the source, i.e., the households and clinics involved in the project.

– Methods used for data collection: The methods used for data collection were: Automated data collection functions built into the strategic purchasing project’s monitoring and evaluation system, which recorded the number of visits, blood pressure measurements, and types of services provided by the clinics.

– A household survey conducted in March 2019, which reached 486 households containing 2,167 individuals. The survey asked questions on various topics such as socioeconomic status, health-seeking behavior, reproductive health, and satisfaction with the clinic services. The survey also measured blood pressure for some respondents. The survey was conducted using android tablets and phones, and the questions were asked in Kayin language and recorded in Myanmar into computers which later translated to English for data analysis.

– Problems that occurred regarding data collection: Some of the problems that occurred regarding data collection were:
– Data quality issues, such as errors, inconsistencies, and missing values in the raw data. Some staff just didn’t fill some field correctly or skip it.
– Finding relevant data, as there were a wide range of systems and sources to navigate, and some data was not available or accessible due to security or logistical reasons.
– Deciding what data to collect, as there were trade-offs between the scope, depth, and feasibility of data collection.
– Dealing with big data, as there were challenges in storing, processing, and analyzing large amounts of data.

I would like to share my experience in data collection during the “Human User Interface” study which I enrolled in during my bachelor’s degree. The subject is related to the design of graphic user interfaces (GUI). The data collection was performed during the project development which me and my team need to develop a GUI in mobile application.

Purpose of Data Collection: For the purpose of the data collection, I and my team need to let the user use the application and gather feedback, comments, and suggestion in order to use those feedback to improve the GUI.

Type of Data Collection: The information gathered during this study was considered primary data as the questionnaire of feedback was pre-defined and gathered directly by me and my team.
Method used for data collection: The data is collected through the paper-based approach administrated by the interviewer. The interviewer will introduce the application to the user, let the user test the application, and read out the list of questionnaires for the user. Lastly, the interviewer will fill in the feedback from the user.
Problem occurred during the data collection : During the data collection there were a few problems occurred such as:
– The questionnaire was quite open that lead to diverse types of the answer which is hard for data management
– The interview took some time which lead to the difficulties in appointment
– Many of the users are afraid of getting scammed and refuse to take the survey

I would like to share my experience on data collection during my researches; one was a randomized controlled trial in comparing 2 regimens of anti-retroviral therapy for occupational post-exposure prophylaxis, the other was a retrospective study in comparing 30-day mortality of patients who had in-hospital cardiac arrest during admission between in a monitoring ward versus a non-monitoring ward.

1. Purpose of data collection of both studies was for research.

2. The data collection of both studies was primary data collection.

3. For methods used for data collection, the RCT study used the paper-based case record form because the data had to be collected during follow-up visit. The case record form consisted of study ID, clinical data about adverse effects, laboratory findings. I used log book to link between hospital number and study ID to maintain confidentiality of patients. In the retrospective study, I used electronic-based case record form. I prepared the form using Microsoft excel that was set-up for data checking. I accessed the electronic medical record and filled in the case record form.

4. There were some problems occurred during the data collection. For the RCT study, there may be interviewer bias. Participants who assigned to receive one regimen of medication would be asked for the side effects of such medication. Besides, most of the participants were health care worker so that they had knowledge about the common side effects of such medication. For the retrospective study, there was a problem of some operational definition that might not cover all of the possibility of the data recorded in the electronic medical record. In addition, reviewing the electronic medical record which the data were unstructured took time.

I don’t have experience of clinical or public health data collection. However, during my bachelor degree study, I did have to collect data for medical formulation ratio in drug formulation experiments which didn’t involve personal data, yet some processes related to the study of data management.

1. The medical formulation involved repeated experiments to find the best formulation to carry medicinal substances. Therefore; there were many names of substances and numbers, of which some numbers were decimals and therefore very small.

2. It was the primary data collection because I had to perform the experiment and record the results for this purpose of study.

3. Paper record was used as the data collection method.

4. I have re-considered my data processing, and there are three major issues where I could have applied better management.
Firstly, I didn’t have proper records of all the data, the number and name of substances were quickly recorded by hand during the experiment. This was a problem when I had to transfer data to the electronic file for the analysis. Hand written records were hard to be read and data was randomly recorded on pieces of paper without a clear format. Therefore, it took time to transfer the precise data. Moreover, if I had lost the paper, this would result in the need to repeat the experiment.
Secondly, I was the only person who recorded and transferred data so it could have had mistakes without checks from others.
Lastly, my lab partner and I didn’t set up a sharing database, we collected our own parts on our individual laptops. Therefore, there was a risk of misplaced data and we needed to keep sending data and waiting for each other to communicate.

I don’t have experience direct primary data collection experience but I would like to share my experience on data collection when I was a pharmacy student.

– Purpose of data collection – I was doing a seminar/project for Network meta-analysis (NMA).

– Was it primary or secondary data collection – a secondary data collection.

– Methods used for data collection – databases will be used to search for original research articles including Medline (PubMed), Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Control Trials, Web of science, and Scopus. By combining terms of medical subject headings (MeSH) and key words in the search strategy. After the abstracts were screened, Excel Sheet was used for data collection.

– Were there any problems that occurred regarding data collection? – yes, some of articles that appeared after searching are not eligible for the project (due to inclusion and exclusion criteria). Some articles don’t have all the variables we need to be analyzed or we cannot get through full text for some articles. In addition, NMA needs a second independent reviewer in order to screen title and abstract for second time. Any conflict that occurred must be resolved through a team discussion.

Could you share your experience on data collection?

My purpose of data collection was for research that was a primary data collection. The method to collect the data was done by paper-based. According to the subjects were old participants at remote areas, the interviews-administrated were used. There are many problems occurred because my data was collected from four provinces that my team have to communicate with local staff to manage the participants and also collect the data following my research objective. The wrong communication often occurred leading to data drop out.

I would like to share my experience during studying Bachelor Degree in Dentistry in my country. I was in fourth year of study, had to go field trips with groups of 20 students and collected data for dental health care and rate the dental health in that area.
1. Purpose of data collection was to know dental health status in that area and to get experience in data collection for the students
2.Data collection was primary data collection.
3. For the methods, it was paper-based, the University gave printed paper sheets with numbers of teeth. All the students went to houses, and checked and counted the numbers of teeth.
4. The problem with data collection was that all of us were students and not properly trained. Most of the locals were afraid to show their tooth suddenly, they were uncomfortable and surprised. People were not gathered in some places like hospitals or monastery, we went to their houses and I felt like they got some pressure and worried and they told us to let them brush their teeth first. It was awkward but luckily, most of locals were friendly.

From my two years of work in the clinical research field, I gained experience in the data collection process when I was a study monitor. Please allow me to share one of the clinical research studies that I worked on, which was a vaccine study. The subject data was mainly recorded in electronic data capture (EDC), and one method used in data collection was the subject diary. This is considered primary data collection. The subjects would self-record their symptoms in the diary by rating the severity of each solicited symptom, such as fever (body temperature), myalgia, or injection site pain/redness, etc. (using a closed-ended question with a rating scale). The instructions for measuring each symptom were clearly written in the diary paper, and the instruments for measuring, such as an infrared thermometer and ruler, were provided.

Most subjects were able to record the data of their symptoms completely. However, when it came to other symptoms (unsolicited reaction), the subjects have difficulty to record the data properly since the instruction and the example are much details and quite unclear. At that time, as the subject could not write their symptoms directly in the diary, the site staff has retrained the subjects and consulted with them to ensure that all information was gathered completely. However, we also need to concern about the interviewer’s bias with this process.

I would like to share fun experience of data collection from the group projects that I’d joined. Since we had a couple research studies related the pediatric orthopedic diseases and their risks (such as ADHD, obesity, joint hyperlaxity, limb unequal and deformity, Perthes disease) that need information for control group of healthy children subjects. So, we merged all the needs and conducted the musculoskeletal (MSK) screening project for around 400 kids at the elementary school nearby the hospital.

1.Purpose of data collection : for research study

2.Was it primary or secondary data collection? : primary data source collection

3.Methods used for data collection
The research setting is field-based with a setup environment at the school. This screening project includes (1) Self-administered questionnaire for the parents and (2)for the teachers and (3)physical examination by us (5 physicians; orthopedic staffs and residents). For the questionnaires, we sent the short survey document to the school at the time we sent a consent form, each classroom teacher will distribute a consent form with a short survey to the parents. On the field day, we set up the admin station (teacher gave us a list of students that had parents’ consent and our admin then put the study ID on the list and sticker study ID to the subject) and physical examination station (we use paper-based CRF to record the clinical data)

4.Were there any problems that occurred regarding data collection?
There are several issues for consideration for this project;
(1) Material cost; since all parts we use paper-based CRF and also the cost for setting up a field for on-site collection
(2) Require data entry; we have to entry all the data from CRF into the database(excel sheet)
(3) Low response rate and missing data; some of the survey from parents were missing, since it self-administered they returned only the consent but not the questionnaire or incomplete information.
(4) We trained investigators clearly for step examination and it was interviewer-administration, so, this part is quite completed. But some kids are not well-cooperated, some information of physical examination might not be accurate.

I’d like to share my past experience about data collection while I was in medical school. I was part of a research group and we conducted research with our assigned advisor, a gynaecologist. The research was about the prevalence of GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease) in pregnant woman in Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital.

1. Purpose of data collection
For research purpose.

2. Was it primary or secondary data collection?
Primary data collection directly from data sources (patients visited at OB-GYN department)

3. Methods used for data collection
A paper-based case record form (questionnaire) was used. There was previous study which utilised GERD-Q score to evaluate symptoms of GERD quantitatively. It was originally in English. We translated them and had the translated version of questionnaire verified and validated by three experts in OB-GYN field.

4. Were there any problems that occurred regarding data collection?
There sure are. Mostly about the data quality obtained. First, and I believe this is the most common problem found in almost every research, was a missing data. Incomplete questionnaires were returned, and there were plenty of them. Some subjects may omitted some part of the question, or skipped them. Second, some of our subjects needed clarification and we need to spend extra time to explain every single one of the questions provided despite our limited manpower. (we had only four members, and around 20 patients took the test simultaneously). Cooperation was one of the problems we encountered. Fortunately, there were not so many patients who denied to take the questionnaire.

Could you share your experience on data collection?
A few years ago, I participate in the data collection for a research study on diabetes type 2 patients.

1.Purpose of data collection: For research, for public health surveillance, or others
For research purposes to explore the safety and effectiveness of new insulin injections. Data collection included the most recent HbA1c and laboratory-measured fasting plasma glucose (FPG) value.

2. Was it primary or secondary data collection?
It was a primary data collection. Data was collected from study participants at each visit during the study and recorded in eCRF.

3. Methods used for data collection
Electronic Case Report Form was used in data collection. A paper diary was provided to each participant at the study entry; they were asked to return the diary at each site visit. Participants recorded blood glucose values, doses, any episodes of symptomatic hypoglycemia, and information on meal intake.

Additional data collected included the physician-recommended dose and other antihyperglycemic medications (doses and timing of doses) and changes in lifestyle habits (e.g., working hours, sleeping duration, smoking, and physical activity).

4. Were there any problems that occurred regarding data collection?
There were a few challenges to encourage participants to complete the diaries and record hypoglycemia events. The site investigators had to transfer the data recorded in the paper diary to eCRF which took a long time and required verification of the data entry.