Starting a Research Project - What type of data to collect?
An obvious and essential consideration when beginning a research project is how the data will be obtained. Will the research involve an evaluation of pre-existing data, will new data be collected as part of routine clinical practice, or will new data be collected that is not directly related to the individual's treatment or health condition?
The answer to these questions will depend not only on the research question, but also on the funding and time constraints of the study, ethical issues and experience of the researcher.
Research using information collected as part of routine clinical practice
Those working in clinical practice within the NHS often have a wealth of important and highly valuable data at their fingertips. Conducting a research project using information that is collected as part of routine practice can be a useful way of exploring
- the characteristics of individuals who are using your service,
- the symptoms of ill-health that they are experiencing,
- the impact of ill-health on their lifestyle and feelings of physical and mental well-being,
- and as a way of evaluating the effectiveness of the health service you are providing in both the short and long term.
The use of data that is collected as part of routine clinical practice means that pre-existing information can often simply be collated, routine procedures for data collection do not need to be modified and the ethical considerations of the research project are likely to be simplified.
Research using information not collected as part of routine clinical practice
Of course, it will often be necessary to collect information that is not part of the routine client assessment, especially if the researcher is interested in a particular characteristic that is not obviously associated with the condition under investigation. Such research might elucidate a previously unexplored or misunderstood issue and might lead to improvements in procedures for treating the health characteristics under investigation.
However, the collection of new data will necessarily entail a more comprehensive exploration of ethical considerations and constraints, may require additional research funding and will probably be more time-consuming. A guide to research ethics and governance can be found here.
Research using pre-existing survey data
Another possible avenue for NHS employees to begin research that is rarely considered is to use pre-existing survey data. Every year, many large-scale surveys of those living in the UK are conducted which examine a multitude of health and lifestyle factors, including
- demographics
- the use of health services
- health and ill-health
- use of prescription and recreational drugs
- and smoking and drinking habits
These surveys are usually conducted using face to face interview with all adult members of the household. They are sometimes followed up with a nurse visit to the home, during which blood and saliva samples and anthropometric measures are taken.
Some of the advantages of using pre-existing survey data are that these are usually conducted using fairly large and representative samples of the population, the data is already collected, thus waiving the requirement for the researcher to collect the data themselves (often the most time-consuming aspect of conducting research) and there is rarely a need to obtain NHS ethics approval for the study.
Another advantage of conducting a study in this way is that the study is 'mobile' - that is, if the individual conducting the research changes jobs or moves to another area, the study can easily continue as it is not dependent on any ethical or research and development trust approvals within the local area.
Survey data can also often be used for exploratory or pilot analyses and to inform future research. The conduct of large-scale surveys results in a multitude of data, which is rarely fully explored. Such survey data is freely available to other researchers through the UK Data Archive (http://www.data-archive.ac.uk) which is housed at the University of Essex and is available over the internet following a simple registration process.
The UK Data Archive
The UK Data Archive houses quantitative and qualitative survey data from over 5000 datasets. The website contains an area for searching for surveys by factors such as keyword, year or geographic area. Each survey contains a summary of the type of data collected, sample size, description of the methodology and sampling procedures, list of related studies and a link to the study data. For some of the larger repeated surveys there is a link to the survey website, which contains additional information.
Many of the surveys contained in the UK Data Archive contain information pertinent to the seven priority areas for UK health research. The priority areas identified in 2003 include Ageing and Older People, Cancer, Coronary Heart Disease, Diabetes, Genetics, Mental Health and Public Health. Two of the biggest surveys conducted in the UK are the Health Survey for England and the General Household Survey. For more information please follow the links below: