Chapter 4. Planning and associated data: Databases, metadata, and integrated data management.

Abstract/Summary

One end goal of a study is to analyze and synthesize the data collected in an effort to understand their meaning. Most data from field studies are analyzed in an electronic format, using modern software packages for models and statistics. Consequently, how the data are stored is important and should be considered simultaneously with protocol development. Data definitions and data storage should reflect how the data are collected in the field and how they ultimately will be analyzed.