Field work at CRECE with quality: National leaders in the production of raw material for research
Did you know that CRECE has 30 years of experience carrying out fieldwork in Colombia?
“During this period we have established ourselves as a research center that directly collects, manages and analyzes primary information for its projects.”
Field work is one of the most important research phases. It refers to the set of actions necessary to directly obtain information from primary sources, that is, people in the place and time in which the events of interest for the investigation take place. Our experience shows that to carry out quality field work, proper planning is required. Figure 1 shows the four stages of field work in CRECE:
a) Design;
b) Preparation;
c) Field work;
d) data processing.
The fieldwork design stage includes, as its name suggests, the design of the sample and the collection tools. Subsequently, a pilot test is carried out in order to review and adapt these collection tools. The result is a definitive design of the appropriate data collection system.
Subsequently, the planning of the field work is carried out. In the field work preparation stage, the ideal field work team is selected according to the characteristics of the project. The team is normally made up of interviewers and supervisors, who will receive training and socialization of the particular needs of the project.
The third stage corresponds properly to the field work. The data collection begins, a first quality control filter is carried out led by the supervisors in order to determine if the information collected is correct, and, once approved, the information is transferred, which will be submitted to a second filter by the investigative team, which will determine if the information is correct.
Finally, in the fourth stage of data treatment, the data entry process begins, which will be subjected to a third filter, in order to establish the quality of the data, and once the quality of the They proceed with the construction of the databases, which will allow processing and analysis of the information of the research project.
For CRECE, a methodological and systematic work of each of the field works of the research projects is fundamental. We guarantee that the analyzes from which recommendations and decision-making are formulated are based on reliable field information.
Rafael Isidro Parra-Peña S.
Executive Director GROW.
