Sunday, November 29, 2015

Data Collection Problems and Resolutions, part 2


 Questionable data. When you are collecting in-person data, you may have someone act strangely, making you suspect drugs or alcohol use. Another scenario is that someone hands in a “completed” survey in a few minutes, as compared to the 20 minutes others took.  

What to do? First, make sure you are safe in the case of strange behavior (I once had a participant break the chair in which he was sitting from rocking and bouncing the chair due to amphetamine use). If there are any concerns, thank them for coming and get them out the door quietly. Second, mark their data forms, with the behavior that concerns you. Later when you analyze data, check whether their data deviates from the norm. Discuss the issue with your methodologist and make a joint decision about whether to include the data in the analyses.

Next time I will post an updated blog index. Do you have an issue or a question that you would like me to discuss in a future post? Would you like to be a guest writer? Send me your ideas! leann.stadtlander@waldenu.edu


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