title: Data collection and study implementation.
abstract: Every step of the research process involves decisions that must be made. In almost all cases, there are many possible choices, and none of them is wrong. However, it is up to the researcher to consider all of the options and systematically eliminate possibilities based on a theoretical framework, previous findings and methods described in the literature, or circumstances specific to each research question. When the methods used are less than ideal for some reason, the researcher should identify the problems as limitations to the study. Sometimes the limitations restrict the population to which the data can be generalized. In other instances, the limitations identify new areas of study that the current investigation did not address, but for which the current data provide support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah Winders
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D018579:Patient Selection; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design