Introduction
Data collection refers to the systematic process of gathering and measuring information on various variables of interest, which enables one to answer research questions, test hypotheses and eventually evaluate outcomes (Weimer, 2010).
Examples of organizations that collect health care data include; the Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality, The Alliance for Health Reform, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Health and Public Policy Studies and Center for Health Improvement among others (Sapsford & Jupp, 2012).
Data collection is important in various ways. For instance, data collection in a work institution provides us with a summary of the overall health and well-being of an organization’s workforce. Otherwise, without data, worksite health practitioners would spend ages trying to guess and speculate on the actual health and productivity problems existing within the working population. Similarly, data collection guarantees a longitudinal account of the overall workforce’s health status. Continuous and consistent data collection helps an institution develop a rich data repository, which gives a direct reflection of the overall well-being of the workforce over time. Data collection also ensures that senior level managers are constantly updated on what is happening on the wellness arena and how it directly or indirectly affects employees’ health status. Besides, data collection also ensures unquestionable and transparent health management process (Weimer, 2010).
Organizing and evaluating data is important in that it makes it easy for data analysis to be conducted, which ensures eventual quality of the outcome. Evaluating data also enables identification of the possible errors during data collection and thus gives a room to correct it an confirm consistency before analysis begins. Organizing data also ensures that qualitative data is separated from quantitative data and that their respective analyses are conducted differently to ensure their outcome is well interpreted and used appropriately (Sapsford & Jupp, 2012).
References
Sapsford, R., & Jupp, V. (2012). Data Collection and Analysis. New York: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Weimer, J. (2010). Research Techniques in Human Engineering. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
