Challenges and solutions for collecting data in health research : Experiences of Australian doctoral and early career researchers

Book chapter


Hamiduzzaman, Mohammad, Taylor, Alan, Lunnay, Belinda, Kuot, Abraham, Wechkunanukul, Hannah, Smadi, Omar, Pillen, Heath and Shifaza, Fathimath. (2021). Challenges and solutions for collecting data in health research : Experiences of Australian doctoral and early career researchers. In In Islam, M. Rezaul, Khan, Niaz Ahmed, Ah, Siti Hajar Abu Bakar, Wahab, Haris Abd and Hamidi, Mashitah Binti (Ed.). Field guide for research in community settings : Tools, methods, challenges and strategies pp. 11-24 Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800376328.00008
AuthorsHamiduzzaman, Mohammad, Taylor, Alan, Lunnay, Belinda, Kuot, Abraham, Wechkunanukul, Hannah, Smadi, Omar, Pillen, Heath and Shifaza, Fathimath
EditorsIslam, M. Rezaul, Khan, Niaz Ahmed, Ah, Siti Hajar Abu Bakar, Wahab, Haris Abd and Hamidi, Mashitah Binti
Abstract

Inappropriate or poorly conducted data collection methods can reduce the validity or trustworthiness of research findings, which has implications for early career researchers trying to disseminate their work and for participants who have volunteered their time and personal information. In Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council stipulates a governance process that covers standards of ethical practice and the legal responsibilities of researchers in respecting privacy and maintaining confidentiality and dignity of participants. However, data collection in clinical and community settings remains challenging for doctoral and early career researchers due to the complexities of research governance systems and issues with the involvement of participants in research activities. This chapter aims to report on the governance and fieldwork challenges encountered by the Australian doctoral and early career researchers during data collection. The content for this chapter comes from three doctoral and five early career researchers who each provided a summary of their data collection experiences and participated in virtual group discussions. A thematic analytical framework was used to synthesize and interpret the identified challenges and how researchers addressed them. The major challenges were related to the processes involved in research governance, expertise of researchers, health literacy of participants, fieldwork settings, approaching and designing questions, and research fatigue. In addressing the challenges, researchers drew upon personal qualities of persistence and resilience, a clear understanding of the study’s scope and duration, contextual knowledge about the research setting and study participants, piloting of data collection instruments, and relationships with participants. These findings have implications for how future doctoral researchers might anticipate and address challenges in the data collection, and for Australian supervisors in mentoring national and international doctoral researchers.

Page range11-24
24
Year2021
Book titleField guide for research in community settings : Tools, methods, challenges and strategies
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing Limited
Place of publicationCheltenham, United Kingdom
Northampton, Massachusetts
ISBN9781800376311
9781800376328
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800376328.00008
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online07 May 2021
Print2021
Publication process dates
Deposited10 Feb 2025
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/91506/challenges-and-solutions-for-collecting-data-in-health-research-experiences-of-australian-doctoral-and-early-career-researchers

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 6
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

The stunting scorecard for early prevention : Development and external validation of a novel tool for predicting stunting risk in children under 5 years of age
Mardiyana, Enung, Ambarwati, Rini and Shifaza, Fathimath. (2022). The stunting scorecard for early prevention : Development and external validation of a novel tool for predicting stunting risk in children under 5 years of age. International Journal of Advanced Health Science and Technology. 2(3), pp. 137-144. https://doi.org/10.35882/ijahst.v2i3.2