Planning for Data Collection

Master the basic concepts, tools and tips you need to create a stellar data collection plan for your organization in this course. Learn how mobile-based data collection can help you save time, reduce costs and optimize resources in your next data collection exercise. 

Reviews by professionals who collect data regularly:

• “This course provides great information on preparing for field data collection. I would strongly recommend it to anyone who collect data or is involved in planning for data collection.” - Wahdat Adil, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at ChildFund International
• "Clear, direct and easy to understand - this course is excellent! The use of real-life examples, case studies and video recaps made learning a breeze." - Ronald Wanyama, Livelihood Coordinator at The Lutheran World Federation
• "This course is really useful! It helped me revisit the nuances of data collection and strengthened my experience on the subject."- Ashutosh Sundaram, Partner at Augmented Understanding

Build a robust data collection plan to which helps you capture data about your program, monitor its performance and measure its impact!

• Understand what data you need to collect
• Measure the cost of your data collection exercise
• Learn about the benefits of mobile-based data collection
• Choose between different mobile-based data collection tools
• Evaluate budgetary, technology and logistical factors for data collection

Learn how mobile-based data collection leads to better, richer and more accurate data!

By understanding the fundamentals of data collection, such as distinguishing between the information which is needed, the information which is available and the information which is useful, you can create an effective strategy to capture the exact data point you need for administering a baseline survey, conducting a market research study, implementing development initiatives or getting feedback about your services. 

With mobile-based data collection, you can capture data in various shapes and formats, such as audio, video, photo, geolocations, etc. Automatic database collation and real-time flagging reduces data entry and data loss errors, while increasing the quality and reliability of your data.  

Content and Overview 

Suitable for independent researchers, field managers and program officers in nonprofits, philanthropies, governments and business organizations, this online course — with the help of video based lectures, exhaustive reading resources and real-life examples from the field — will introduce you to the basics of building a data collection plan by thinking critically about the following:

• What data and information should I collect?
• What data collection tools should I use?

These basics will cover the different kind of data points you will need, such as identifiers and subject-related information, followed by an understanding of how easy or difficult it will be to capture certain kinds of data and how to judge the utility of the information captured. 

We will then move on to learning about the opportunities and benefits offered by mobile-based data collection as compared to paper-based data collection, such as better speed, higher accuracy, lower costs and lesser resources. This will be followed by diving deep into the different mobile-based data collection technologies, such as Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), SMS or interactive SMS (iSMS) and smartphone based data collection apps, and evaluate the different advantages and disadvantages of each technology. 

The last section will talk about the different considerations to keep in mind while collecting data, such as the budgetary costs, technology factors and logistics around data collection. We will also learn about things to keep in mind while choosing a data partner to aid and assist in your data collection efforts. 

About SocialCops

SocialCops is a data intelligence company. Our platform brings the entire decision-making process to one place — from collecting primary data, accessing secondary data, and merging internal data to visualizing data via easy-to-use dashboards. Our data intelligence platform has powered the collection of over 250 million primary data points and aggregated over 600 data sources. 

Our platform has been used in various settings. For example, we work with India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to track 50 million beneficiaries and pinpoint the exact locations for 1,0000 new LPG centers across India that will maximize profitability and impact. We also work to optimize strategic investments with Gates Foundation and Unilever, and handle real-time monitoring and tracking by Niti Aayog, BASF, World Bank, and others.