Chapter 5 | Phase 1: Before Data Collection

A. Identifying Data Owners and Obtaining Authorization

Before beginning data collection, you must obtain necessary authorizations from data owners. This involves preparing and sending a Request Letter and Data Use Agreement (DUA) to each identified data owner.

Step 1.1: Identifying Data Owners

To begin the data collection process, you must first identify the data owners. These are individuals or organizations that have control over the data sources needed for data collection. We have pre-identified data owners for each level of data collection (Table 5.1). 

Once you've identified the data owners, send them a joint document containing a Request Letter and Data Use Agreement.

Step 1.2: Crafting a Request Letter and Communicating with Data Owners

The Request Letter acts as the cover letter for the DUA, in which you, as the data collector, will introduce yourself and formally address the data owner. The Request Letter introduces the purpose of the data collection, its potential benefits, and the resources required to conduct the data collection. This letter provides an introduction to your intent for collecting data, so that data owners are given context as to why they should permit you to collect data, and in doing so, sign the DUA. Appendix B contains the template that you may use for the letter. 

Step 1.3: Completing the Data Use Agreement

The Data Use Agreement is the document that authorizes data collection through written informed consent from the data owner’s signature, name, and date signed. It will allow you permission to conduct field visits, meet the data collection sources, and access the needed data. If data owners experience more difficulty in understanding the data collection phase, you may schedule introductory meetings as deemed necessary with the data owners to provide clear communication about the goals and expected outcomes of the data collection to enhance collaboration and ease data collection logistics (e.g., transport, turnaround time). You may find the DUA template in Appendix B, alongside the request letter. 

B. Generating the Field Data Collection Plan 

Before data collection, you will need a plan for collecting data on the field that will effectively organize: (1) who is in-charge of what, (2) where and when will data be collected, and (3) the contact information of stakeholders involved. By the end of this section, you will be able to produce a concrete Field Data Collection Plan to guide you.

Step 1.4: Establishing Personnel Roles and Responsibilities

Each data collection team will have (1) a data collection trainer, (2) a data collection team lead, and (3) field enumerators. The personnel assigned and responsibilities for each role is found below:

To further delineate and understand the roles of Public Health Pharmacists at the regional and provincial levels, you may review the organizational chart in Figure 5.1. 

Step 1.5: Planning a Data Collection Work Schedule and Gantt Chart

Once you have established roles and responsibilities, you can start creating a Data Collection Work Schedule using the template below (Table 5.3): 

Below is a description of each header:

1. Task to be Performed: data collection deliverables that need to be accomplished (e.g., KII with a health officer, Document Analysis with a health facility, etc.).

2. Assigned Personnel/s: who is assigned to perform the task.

3. No. Person-Days: total amount of work to be completed by personnels over a period of time, expressed in days (# of People × # of Days of Work = # of Person-Days).

4. Date/s to be Executed: when should the task be performed.

5. Location: where will be the task performed.

Creating the Data Collection Work Schedule Step-by-Step

1. List all tasks and their corresponding assigned personnel/s, no. person-days, and location.

2. Fill out the date/s to be executed based on the person-days for each task.

3. Adjust all person-days and date/s based on when you need to start and end your data collection.

4. Make sure to consider how feasible it is for your team to accomplish each task within the set date/s of execution.

You may also use a Gantt Chart to help you in timelining all your tasks, as shown below (Table 5.4): 

Using a Gantt Chart Step-by-Step

1. List all tasks to be performed based on the work schedule. 

2. Fill out the year and month/s based on your data collection timeline. Adjust the template as needed depending on how long your timeline is.

3. Color-code the small boxes on the row of each task under what month and week it should be performed. 

4. Adjust the tasks and their date/s to be executed as needed to fit within your timeline. 

5. Make sure to consider how feasible it is for your team to accomplish each task within the set date/s of execution.

Step 1.6: Creating a Contact List

The next step is to create a Contact List for all stakeholders (e.g., participants, key informants, health facilities, etc.) that will be involved in your data collection. A template can be found below  (Table 5.5):

The contact list should include stakeholder details on:

1. Full Name

2. Organization/Institution

3. Role/Relevance to Project

4. Phone Number/s (office, mobile, satellite phone if applicable)

5. Email Address

6. Physical Address (if relevant)

7. Best Time to Contact

8. Preferred Method of Contact

9. Languages Spoken (if working in multilingual areas)

10. Any Special Notes or Instructions

Step 1.7: Route Planning

After the contact list, you can start on Route Planning for all locations you need to visit for data collection using the template below (Table 5.6): 

Route Planning Step-by-Step

1. List all tasks and their corresponding location/s and personnel assigned based on the Work Schedule.

2. Refer to the Contact List and fill in the name, availability, and contact number of stakeholders involved for each task-location.

3. Group locations and their respective tasks in similar areas and categorize them into specific areas.

4. Input these specific areas per task-location.

5. Check the availability of each stakeholder involved for each area and group tasks with similar stakeholders’ availability.

6. Input what date/s to visit for each task based on the area and availability groupings.

Step 1.8: Finalizing the Field Data Collection Plan

Once you have finished route planning, you can finalize your Field Data Collection Plan by:

1. Checking Task Feasibility: Double-check whether the timeline and schedule for tasks in specific areas are realistic and feasible.

2. Verifying the Contact List: Make sure that all stakeholder information, such as names, role/relevance to the project, and contact details, is up-to-date and correct.

3. Reviewing the Route Plan: Ensure that all locations, tasks, and personnel assignments are accurate, and stakeholders’ availability has been confirmed.

C. Attending Data Collection Training Sessions 

Step 1.9: Attending Data Collection Training Sessions

Apart from the aforementioned activities, one of the most important tasks you have as a data collector is attending and actively participating in your team’s data collection training sessions. Led by an assigned National Drug Policy Compliance Officers (NDPCO) and a public health pharmacist representative, these sessions ensure that you and your fellow data collectors are aligned on the protocols, methods, and ethical standards provided in this Field Guide. The ultimate objective is to minimize errors when you go out on the field.    

While the details of each training plan may look different, you can expect an interactive, hands-on, training approach that combines in-depth lectures with practical applications through group activities and hands-on exercises. Here, your trainers will treat you as adult learners who are self-directed, motivated by knowing the “big picture”, and can draw from their previous data collection experiences on the field. The specific training curriculum, learning objectives, and key teaching-learning materials that your trainer will use are found in the Training Manual for Trainers.