Summary

In this study session you have learned that:

1. Collecting data for a community survey or other purpose needs to be carefully planned.
2. The main methods of data collection are observation, interviews, questionnaires and focus group discussions. Each of these methods has different advantages and limitations.
3. Data may be quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data is appropriate if you want to quantify a health problem or to quantify background information about your community. Qualitative data is appropriate if you want to find out more detail about a particular community health problem.
4. While collecting data it is important to avoid bias. Questionnaires used in a baseline community survey should be used in a standard way to ensure that the data are reliable.
5. Data must be checked for errors and completeness, during and after collection.
6. Data analysis means describing and summarising the findings so they can be presented in a way that is understandable and useful. It should enable you to compare one set of data with another in a meaningful way.
7. Quantitative data can be summarised and presented using methods such as frequency, mean, median, mode, proportion and percentages.
8. Consideration should be given to ethical issues as data is collected.