7. Collect and collate the data

Issues to consider

• Beware of biases: yours and/or other researchers’
• Seek statistical advice if necessary

Conduct Issues

• Researchers bear the day-to-day responsibility for the conduct of research in terms of:
  • Ensuring that research follows the agreed protocol (or proposal).
  • Making sure that participants receive appropriate care while involved in research.
  • Protecting the integrity and confidentiality of clinical and other records and data generated by the research.
  • Reporting any failures in these respects, any adverse drug reactions and other events or suspected misconduct through the appropriate systems.
• Data collected in the course of research must be retained for an appropriate period to allow further analysis by the original or other research teams subject to consent, and to support monitoring of good research practice by regulatory and other authorities.
• When conducting your research take steps to seek feedback from your participants. This will help you overcome practical problems you could not have foreseen and will help to ensure your project runs well and meets its objectives.

Data Protection and Confidentiality

• Data Protection Act stipulates that the appropriate use and protection of patient data is paramount in the research setting.
• All those involved in research must be aware of their legal and ethical duties, particularly in terms of ensuring confidentiality of personal information about living or deceased participants.
• When collecting and storing data on human participants, the following should be considered:
  • Identities should be disguised by use of codes (do not use initials!)
  • Any details should be anonymised
  • Use of patient-identifiable information should be avoided unless absolutely necessary
  • If unavoidable, only minimum necessary patient-identifiable information should be used
  • Access to patient-identifiable information should be on a strict need to know basis.
  More information can be found on Department of Health Data Protection page and in the document  Confidentiality - NHS Code of Practice.  

Further help

• Take a look at material from Section 3 of this flowchart -- sampling and statistical issues
• Visit RDDirect for a database of web sites containing relevant information on statistics
• Consult your supervisor

Suggested Reading

• A reading list provided by The University of Leeds’ School of Medicine’s Health Research course MEDR 5110 Module 3: Handling Data for Research provides information about books useful to the researcher when collecting and handling data.