STANDARDS FOR EDUCATION DATA COLLECTON AND REPORTING

2.0. Introduction to Design

Once an information need has been established, the project staff can begin to explore ways to
gather the required data. Design is the process of formulating the study questions and developing and
describing a plan for conducting the collection, processing, analysis, and reporting of data. If the data
collection activity is well designed, the time and resources expended during the design phase will prevent
costly mistakes later in the project. An effective design produces accurate and useful information, thus,
increasing the credibility and generalizeability of the findings. An effective design also promotes timely
and efficient data collection and provides methods for resolving both expected and unexpected problems
that may arise during data collection and analysis. The study design should incorporate methods and
procedures established in advance to control and resolve inaccuracies in the data.

The development of the design should be guided by the type of information to be collected, the
unit of analysis, the types of analyses planned, and the purposes for which the data will be used. For
example, the need to obtain highly personal or sensitive information will have an impact on the data
collection methodology, instrument design, nonsampling errors, and virtually every other aspect of the
activity. The design also depends, to some extent, on whether there is a need for descriptive, comparative,
or cause-and-effect analyses.

In developing a design, decisions made at one stage may require reconsideration of decisions made
at an earlier stage in the design process. Decisions about sampling may influence the formulation of the
study questions and issues. For example, program compliance issues concerning participants may require
data collection from all recipients. Thus, although these standards are presented chronologically, not every
data collection activity proceeds in exactly this order. In fact, many of the steps or tasks described in this
section occur simultaneously. Standards for certain steps can greatly enhance preceding or subsequent
stages.

Words in italics are defined in the glossary.

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