Concluding remarks

As has been suggested previously by Guzman (22). and as stated repeatedly in this chapter, the processing and analysis of data must be a continuous undertaking. Procedures should be carefully defined in the study standard operating protocol (SOP). which defines activities from the day the field operations start and concludes only when all reports have been completed. It is not easy to describe in detail the handling of data without reference to a specific study, the corresponding research design and the particular set of circumstances. Accordingly, in this chapter we have presented the sequence of events and described in general terms some of the basic procedures that, through experience, have been found to be essential components of a successful data management system. With proper adjustment, the illustrative examples might serve as a guideline for effective data recording and processing procedures in a specific study. In a recent book, Cosley and Luny (23) describe additional examples of procedures and present a more extensive treatment of this subject.