ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on data collection and processing. Historically, investigators and research teams have relied heavily on procedures from previous studies, available tools, or personal experience to design data collection and processing operations for their research. However, in addition to the fundamental types of data, there are fundamental aspects of how, when, and where data originate, move, change, and grow that should inform decisions about if not determine data collection and processing methods. Categorization of the research design as prospective or retrospective has sometimes come to be associated with the corresponding intuited impression of data accuracy. Accuracy is conceptually defined as the intrinsic property exhibited by a datum (a data value) when it reflects the true state of the world at the stated or implied point of assessment. It is more informative to consider the relative timing of events of interest, the original recording of the events, data collection, and data cleaning.
