An integrated and collaborative approach to developing and scripting questionnaires for longitudinal cohort studies and surveys: experience in Life Study
| Autor: | Suzanne Walton, Gareth Williams, Nicola Firman, Stelios Alexandrakis, Duncan Peskett, Peter Elias, Nicholas Gilby, Carol Dezateux |
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| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
SQL
Data collection Syntax (programming languages) Computer science business.industry media_common.quotation_subject computer.software_genre Data science Automation World Wide Web Metadata Documentation Scripting language Quality (business) Life-span and Life-course Studies business computer computer.programming_language media_common |
| Zdroj: | Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. 8 |
| ISSN: | 1757-9597 |
| DOI: | 10.14301/llcs.v8i4.434 |
| Popis: | Efficient development of questionnaires for longitudinal surveys and cohort studies as computer-assisted survey instruments usually entails close collaboration between scientific and fieldwork teams. We describe a system based on the use of a Structured Query Language (SQL) database established to maximise efficiency, minimise error and ensure clear communication of requirements across teams for ‘Life Study’, a UK-wide cohort study designed to recruit mothers, their babies, partners and non-resident fathers, with whom further contacts were planned at the outset. The use of the SQL database enabled construction and integration of different elements of the study, initially through creating a master copy of each variable. This supported swift and accurate creation of a range of outputs enabling, for example, review and approval of successive drafts and final specifications of questionnaires, efficient implementation of changes to variables, re-use of metadata specified at the outset, reduction of ambiguities for survey programmers, and efficient and accurate automation of questionnaire scripting. The SQL database was also used to generate the syntax to transform pilot data into formats specified for data archiving and for associated publication quality questionnaires. This innovative use of an SQL database for questionnaire development and scripting, and subsequent data processing and documentation, highlights the value of this approach in improving the quality and efficiency of longitudinal surveys. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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