At the end of this section, you will be able to:
‹ Identify factors that should be considered when planning for data collection
‹ Discuss reasons for piloting data collectionCollecting Evidence
Jan Dougherty
10.1 Data Collection: Planning and Piloting
Data collection is a key component in all research studies. Just as it is essential to use a theoretical or
conceptual model to ask the important research questions, there must be a solid plan for collecting and
managing the data to study and ultimately to answer research questions. Many nurses may be intimidated
as they read the methods section of a research article. Words describing study designs, such as double-blind,
quasi-experimental, and ethnography, can be overwhelming for those with limited research background.
Additionally, terms discussing reliability, validity, and level of significance may further intimidate or over-
whelm nurses (Granger et al., 2013). Many readers may be tempted to skim this information or to bypass
it completely. However, because practice decisions will be made based on the findings of the data, it is
important for nurses to be able to understand and critically evaluate methods used by researchers. Accu-
rate data collection methods are more likely to yield valid findings. These findings provide or support the
evidence that nurses can trust when making evidence-based practice (EBP) decisions. In EBP, quantitative
studies are considered to produce the strongest evidence. Yet, in health care, many clinical and cultural
phenomena are better studied using qualitative research. Many nursing and health research studies draw
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