Tips for Staying Organized During Data Collection

Hi everyone!

Recently a posted a few tips on how to stay organized during data collection on Instagram, but I wanted to expand a little more on those tips that have worked for me.

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Make a Schedule and Use a Planner/Calendar

Making a schedule for this academic life, among other aspects of our lives, is crucial. Of course, there will be times we don't stick to it but it will help organize your day and week. I block off times of the day where I am unavailable (i.e., work, GA/TA commitments) so I have an idea of the amount of time I have available to schedule time to collect data or anything dissertation-related.

I use two planners, one for my personal life and the other for all things academia. For me, it helps separate school and my personal life but makes it easier for me to make sure I don't commit to something where I already have something scheduled. Speaking on my academic planner, I write down to-do lists for the week and day to make sure I'm making deadlines, especially as I write Chapters 2 and 3. With the things that are scheduled in my planners, I color code as well. For example, anything work-related is in green, school-related is in orange, bills are yellow, anything Jade (my dog) is in purple, and blue is anything that is for me specifically (nail appointments, lunch/dinner dates with friends).

Also, I use dry-erase calendars and iCal to help with organization. I have a 36"x24" dry erase calendar and a 36"x24" black glass dry erase board in my office to put my to-do lists and commitments/events on. I say all this because you don't want to inconvenience your participants, committee, yourself, or others, so seeing what you have planned so far will help you prepare and discuss when to collect your data.

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Stay in Contact with Participants on Their Availability

You do want to make sure you stay in contact with your participants on their availability and if it may have changed. I would send out reminders a few days before we're supposed to meet so they can add it to their calendar. Things happen where someone may lose track of time, so sending a quick reminder a 5-10 minutes after the meeting time is okay. When reaching out to my participants, I will ask if the time is still okay to meet or if we need to reschedule, because life happens and that's a priority.

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Make Folders for Each Participant

Make separate folders for each participant to keep their documents and everything else associated with the specific person separated from the others. Be sure to password-protect the folders as well to protect your participants, as well as yourself, while collecting data.

Name the folders Participant 1 or something similar so that there aren't any identifiers present that could expose the participant's identity.

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Double-Check Scheduling

Finally, I cannot stress this enough, constantly check your schedule and calendar to make sure you are scheduling multiple data collection sessions on the same day and time. I had a panic attack when I thought I scheduled two interviews on the same day and time at the beginning of me conducting interviews, so since that experience, I constantly check my iCal, the email confirmations from participants and myself, the spreadsheet I keep with dates, times, and contact information, and my office dry erase calendar.

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If I had one specific tip, it's to be as organized as possible during data collection to make your research process easier, while making your life and your participants' lives easier.

Hope this helps!

Let me know what other ways you stay organized during the data collection process!

- Candace (@TheStudentForLife)