Data collection procedures

Presentation template for adaptation and use in medicine prices and availability survey training workshop for survey personnel

Review all slides carefully for applicability to your survey before use!

Medicine prices and availability survey

Training workshop

Location, dates

Preparing for data collection

Key activities for area supervisors:

1. Schedule data collection visits

2. Prepare Medicine Price Data Collection forms needed for field visits

3. Prepare information materials and tools for data collectors

4. Arrange for regular communications

1. Planning data collection visitsWho? Area supervisors

• Contact (ideally in person, or by phone) each sample outlet and back-up facility to seek permission for data collection– Introduce the survey and its objectives

– Use the letters of endorsement and introduction provided by the survey manager

– Stress that individual medicine outlets will not be identified in the results

• If medicine outlet refuses to participate, alert survey manager who will contact the outlet directly, and if necessary, provide you with a alternative outlet – Luckily, this rarely happens

Planning data collection visits (continued)Who? Area supervisors

• Make appointments for data collection visits, avoiding peak hours of activity

• Plan for 1-2 hours for each data collection visit, plus travel time

• Prepare a schedule for each pair of data collectors, including:– Date and time of each visit– Name, number, sector, and contact person for each medicine outlet– Address and location of each medicine outlet– Contact information for back-up facility to be visited if < 50% of

medicines are available

• Call each facility and confirm appointment the day before

Date and time of appointment

Name of medicine outlet

Contact person

Location Sector Number Back-up outlet name and contact details

March 23rd, 13h00

ABC Pharmacy

Mrs. Nguyen

45 Main Street

private 01 Main St.

Chemist

59 Main

Street

Eastern

City

Mr. Shah

Survey Area: Eastern Region

Sample schedule for data collection team

2. Preparing Medicine Price Data Collection formsWho? Area supervisors

• Medicine list and data collection form will be finalized by survey manager after pilot test

• Make enough copies of the data collection form for each sample facility, back-up facility, and validation visit

• Data collection forms should preferably be colour-coded by sector

• Complete front page of each form

To be completed by area supervisors before data collection visit

3. Prepare materials for data collectorsWho? Area supervisor

1. A list of data collection teams and contact information2. The contact details of their area supervisor, including a mobile phone

number to call in case of difficulty in the field3. A schedule of visits to survey sites4. The contact details of the sites to be visited5. Details of back-up facilities to be visited if scheduled visits are not

possible, or less than 50% of the medicines are available6. Copies of letter(s) of endorsement and letter of introduction7. Relevant handouts or instruction sheets 8. A Medicine Price Data Collection form for each sample medicine outlet to

be visited that day9. A Medicine Price Data Collection form for each back-up site that may

need to be visited that day10. A calculator for calculating the unit price of medicines 11. Pens (pencils should not be used to record data), a clipboard and other

supplies12. A notebook to record any significant events or findings13. Field allowance for local expenses

4. Arrange for regular communicationsWho? Area supervisors

• Provide data collectors with a mobile phone and phone number where they can contact you during data collection

• Arrange to meet with data collectors at the end of each day of data collection

Data Collection Who? Data collectors

Before going out to collect data each day:• Check that you have all necessary materials for data collection

On arrival at the medicine outlet:• introduce yourself and present the letter(s) of endorsement and

the letter of introduction. • Check that information about the medicine outlet on Page 1 of

the data collection form is correct • Enter the following information on Page 1 of the data collection

form: – Date– Name(s) of the person(s) who provided information– Names of data collectors

To be completed by data collectors during data collection visit

Data Collection (continued)Who? Data collectors

• Collect data with the aid of the person in charge at the facility• Fill in the Medicine Price Data Collection Form (1 per outlet)• If customers arrive, pause the survey and let them be served

Never leave the local data collection form at a medicine outlet to be filled in later!

Before leaving the facility:• Check that data collection form is legible, accurate and complete • Check whether less than 50% of medicines were available at the outlet. If

so, contact the area supervisor who will instruct you on visiting a back-up facility

At the end of each day of data collection:• Meet with your area supervisor• Submit completed data collection forms and report back on your activities

At the end of each day of data collectionWho? Area supervisors

• Meet with data collectors to collect completed forms and resolve any problems encountered

• Review each data collection form completed that day:– to make sure they are complete and legible– to verify missing or suspicous information– to make sure that a back-up facility has been visited if fewer than 50% of

medicines were available in a sample outlet

• Uncertain or illegible data should be checked with data collectors, may need to re-contact medicine outlet to clarify

• Sign the first page of each form to record that it has been checked, but only once you are sure that data is complete, legible and there are no obvious mistakes

Validation of data collectionWho? Area supervisors

• Validate data by re-conducting the survey in 20% of public and private sector outlets. If there are 5 public outlets and 5 private outlets per survey area, conduct validation in:– one public medicine outlet per survey area– one private medicine outlet per survey area

• Select medicine outlets for validation at random• Conduct the validation visits on the same day as the visits to

these outlets by data collectors• After collecting data, compare your results to those of data

collectors. Resolve any mistakes and discuss with data collectors

Calculation of unit pricesWho? Data collectors and area supervisors

• Unit price is the price per cap, tab, ml, dose, gram, etc. oral: price per capsule or tablet, NOT per box or strip inhalers: price per dose, NOT per inhaler

liquids: price per ml, NOT per bottle

• Unit price = price of pack / pack size • During data collection, data collectors may need to calculate

unit prices of some medicines to identify the lowest priced generic

• Area supervisors calculate unit prices for all medicines after data collection

• Any unit prices calculated by data collectors should be double checked by the area supervisor

• For each product, divide the Price of Pack Found (Column H) by the Pack Size Found (Column G).

• Retain at least four digits after the decimal point.• Enter the calculated unit prices in Column I and double-check the calculations.

E.G: Unit price for lowest price generic amitriptyline = 3.80 /110 = 0.0345

Amitriptyline Cosmos

No

Yes 110 0.0345

Out of stock

3.80

Storing completed data collection formsWho? Area supervisors

• Completed forms should be copied and stored in waterproof plastic bags in the field

• Originals should be stored in a separate location from copies

• All original data collection forms, including those for validation visits (label clearly!), should be transferred to the survey manager upon completion of fieldwork

• Area supervisors should retain the copies for use in the event that the originals become lost or damaged