Collecting and managing multisource and multimethod data in studies of pediatric populations.
OBJECTIVE
To provide recommendations for the collection and management of multisource and multimethod data in studies of children and adolescents with pediatric conditions.


METHODS
We discuss limitations of single-source and single-method data collection strategies. We review strategies for collecting and managing multisource and multimethod data, including coverage of the literature on level of agreement across sources, strengths and weaknesses of various source and method aggregation strategies, and methods of examining discrepancies between sources.


RESULTS
Multisource and multimethod data collection strategies enable researchers to rule out alternative explanations for their findings and pose research questions that would probably not be testable with single-source, single-method data sets.


CONCLUSIONS
We emphasize the utility of multisource and multimethod data and provide recommendations for future work.
Holmbeck
Grayson N
GN
Department of Psychology, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60626, USA. gholmbe@luc.edu
Li
Susan T
ST
Schurman
Jennifer Verrill
JV
Friedman
Deborah
D
Coakley
Rachael Millstein
RM
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002666:Psychology, Child / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012107:Research Design