Kumar AM, Chinnakali P, Shewade H, Gupta V, Nagpal P, Harries AD.Short EpiData course: do participants use the data entry tool two years post-training?
Public Health Action. 2015 Dec 21;5(4):261-5. PMID: 26767181
Dr Ajay Kumar, the first author of this article, shared this study with us, since lots of it was relevant to the scenarios we faced with training. The study describes how the authors conducted workshops on the use of the tool EpiData for data entry of research data, and then studied the impact two years later. They discuss how accuracy in data entry is vital for research, but making students aware of this importance is not done routinely. Much emphasis is given to data analysis, but unless the data is accurate, it is flawed!. And again – how tools like EpiData (free to download) are not taught to ensure that the process of data entry is accurate and can be double checked. The two year follow up results were interesting. Since the authors had a carefully selected group of trainees, several of them not only used the tool, but have also taught the use of the tool to others! We at QMed are excited about this, and are hoping to learn how we can follow such a model.
