Table of Contents

• In Brief 
• Services and Technical Resources
• Example Past and Current Projects
• Contact Information
• Resume
• Research Resources Links to sites, 'How to document research data' outline, bibliographies -- goodies I've been collecting to make research easier
• Return to Carol's Home Page

In Brief

This Service Overview focuses on research data services, working with information technology and supporting resources to collect, manage, analyze and report on data gathered during a research project. Projects may involve collecting data from an original source (survey, patient research), abstracting from a secondary source (chart review), or pulling data from an existing computerized data set (billing or claims data).

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Services and Technical Resources

• Project Management: Work with you to plan the scope and schedule of your data management needs. For projects in early stages, collaborate in writing the grant proposal.

 
• Resources: Software and hardware needs specification, evaluation, acquisition and setup

 
• Data Collection: Survey and data collection form design or evaluation of proposed forms.

 
• Databases: From design through development and documentation, all the steps needed to create a system for capturing and managing your research data. Work with you to ensure your data is clean and organized in a manner most useful for analysis and reporting.

 
• Data Set Creation: Data frequently is not organized in a format that makes analysis possible. Your data may be chopped up between multiple computers, software packages and operating systems. I can create your consolidated data set by moving data between packages, such as a research database, spreadsheet and a statistics package, and between platforms (i.e. UNIX minicomputer data set download and Mac or PC).

 
• Statistical Programming and Report Production: Using SPSS, a full-featured statistical package, I can: Select random samples. Prepare data as needed, such as recoding items, selecting subsets of respondents, and calculating new variables. Produce descriptive statistics as well as comparative tests as appropriate for your data.

 
• Graphics: Create charts to amplify your data.

 
• Data Tables: Compile data into tables. Highlight significant relationships for comparative data. Flag items needing further review, such as possibly erroneous data, outliers, or non-normal distributions. Create word-processed tables or coach your staff in how to create tables using your own software.

 
• Writing and Editing: Draft brief descriptions of results to enhance your understanding. Review, proofread and comment on draft reports.  Collaborate on papers for publication in scholarly journals.

 
• Documentation and Organization: Create project notebooks to organize your statistical reports and programs. Record sources for each table and graph so that process can be repeated.

 
• Training and Support: Training and ongoing support for you and your staff, from data entry through learning how to do the work yourself.

Example Projects

New York Dementia Study -- Practice Guideline Development, Dissemination and Evaluation: This multi-year project aimed to improve neurologists' treatment of patients with dementia through development and dissemination of practice guidelines endorsed by a medical specialty society. As part of a national team, I provided data management and analysis services plus ensured that numbers reported in the final manuscript were accurate.  Neurolgists' treatment methods were evaluated via a survey where clinicians are asked to 'diagnose' and give a 'treatment plan' for three patient vignettes.  We checked reliability of this self-reported behavior through an extensive chart review of the neurologist's patients, comparing aspects of how the neurolgist treated actual patients with the comparable paper patient.  With project members on both coasts and I and the grant manager are here in the Twin Cities, we stayed in touch via e-mail and the weekly phone calls. From my home office, I am able to send reports either via fax or as an attachment to an e-mail document. Our manuscript has been accepted by a major medical journal (Annal of Internal Medicine, August, 1999).

Immunization Outreach: A local family doctor working on a master's thesis wanted to send reminder letters to parents regarding immunizations needed during a measles epidemic. Services provided included: Assessment of project needs. Evaluation and recommendation of database software. Creation of database (Paradox) using data downloaded from a billing service bureau via hospital's mainframe computer. Coached project staff in basic DOS skills, plus data entry, reporting and ad hoc queries.

Survey Research: A national medical professional society surveys its membership periodically to develop a profile of their practices. Services provided include: Creation of databases in StatPac Gold for both original data entry and for data downloaded from internal member database and an outside service bureau. Create numerous statistical reports, both batch and interactive. Coach project manager in forms processing, organization and initial interpretation of reports.

Longitudinal Patient Study: Created dataset for statistical analysis via complex restructuring of an R:Base database used to capture strength data as part of a longitudinal study of patients with ALS. Collapsed to a single table with one record: one patient from a multi-table, mutli-record per patient relational database. Wrote programs to repeat process and coached project staff in both checking data integrity and in creating data set in the future.

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Contact Information

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