Behavioural Surveillance Surveys - The Wisdom of Whores

Step 12 : Data collection and
supervision
Actual data collection should begin only
after all of the above steps have been completed.
Supervisors should remain vigilant
throughout the survey, especially when
interviewer fatigue begins to take its toll.
Supervisors should spot-check questionnaires
for completeness and accuracy. They can also
begin the work of coding open-ended responses.
If there is a principle investigator, he/she should
coordinate this process, and ideally all the
coding should be done by one person.
Certainly no more than three different people
should be involved in this process. If the work
is to be done by more than one supervisor,
they should agree ahead of time on exactly
how the coding is to be done. In some
instances it may be possible to begin the work
of data entry in the field, while data collection
is still ongoing. If not, the questionnaires
should be transported to a central location
where data entry can begin.
Step 13 : Data management
Once the survey data have been gathered,
they need to be entered into a computer data
file and checked for errors and inconsistencies.
Time-consuming, but absolutely necessary.
The failure to exercise care at this stage of
the survey can cause difficulties at the analysis
stage. Several types of data checks are
advised prior to beginning analysis. First, data
entry should be checked by verifying the
accuracy of a sample of completed survey
questionnaires. If resources permit, the data
should be entered twice and the two entered
data sets compared to detect data entry errors.
Some research groups are now beginning to
use a scanner to enter data. This practice is
designed to help increase accuracy.
Steps in the survey
process : a summary
Step 1 :
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Step 15 :
Building partnerships
Building agreement on the
BSS process
Choosing sub-populations for
behavioral surveillance
Defining measurement objectives
Operationalizing definitions
of populations of interest
Site selection and mapping
Constructing a sampling frame
Develop the sample design
Develop the survey protocol
Pretest and adapt survey
instruments
Train interviewers and pilot
survey procedures
Data collection and supervision
Data management
Data analysis
Using the data to improve
HIV prevention efforts
Once data entry errors have been
reconciled, the data should be checked for
values that are “out of range” (i.e., values that
are implausible or impossible) and/or are
inconsistent with other information gathered
in the survey interview (e.g., males reporting
having become pregnant, information on
condom use having been gathered for respondents
reporting not having been sexually
active, etc.). The data should also be checked
for “missing” items — that is, items that should
have been completed during the course of the
survey interview but were not, either because
of respondent inability/refusal or interviewer
error. Decisions will need to be made as to
whether to insert values for missing data items
(a process known as “imputation”) or to simply
disregard missing data items during analysis.
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C H A PTER 2 B EHAV I OR A L S U R V EI L L A NC E S U R V EY S