Advanced Data Collection and Management with REDCap

Course Level: Advanced

About this Course

REDCap is a web application for building and managing surveys and databases. REDCap supports both online and offline data collection.

This training course delineates many of the broader technical aspects of REDCap, such as the REDCap specific terms and vocabulary, infrastructure and third-party software required to host REDCap, details of its data storage model, user privileges, authentication options, logging and audit trails, data interoperability options with other systems, protective security measures, and best practices for hosting REDCap at your local institution.

REDCap is essentially a web application consisting of a set of tools that are used for field data collection either online or offline using web browsers or smartphone devices (android, iPad and iPhones) and allows data submission to an online cloud server.

These tools include REDCap Server, Data dictionary, online designer, and REDCap web-based data collection tool for online data collection using a web browser, among others.

This training course will teach learners how to author surveys, digitize survey data collection forms (including how to enhance data security), and submit data to an online REDCap server for storage, analysis, and further usage.

This training course equips you with the skills to collect, manage, visualize, and analyze data using REDCap.

Course Duration

10 days

Who should attend?

This course is suitable for people who want to learn how to:

• Apply best practices in survey data collection setup and administration
• Set up a REDCap account
• Familiarize themselves with the REDCap platform
• Author/Digitize surveys using REDCap
• Set up, manage, and administer mobile data collection using REDCap
• Collect data on Mobile devices using the REDCap mobile app
• Collect data via instruments (forms) using a web browser
• Conduct case management using REDCap
• Manage enumerators
• Manage, visualize, and analyze data on the REDCap platform
• Extract/export data from REDCap server in useful formats such as XML, CSV, Stata, JSON, and others for analysis
• Learn how to consume the REDCap API via external applications.
• Learn about other similar mobile data collection tools and technologies

Requirements

This training is designed for participants who are reasonably proficient in English and have an understanding of basic ICT concepts.

Course objectives

• This course will teach learners how to implement mobile data collection systems using the REDCap platform.
• At the end of the course, learners will be able to set up, implement, manage, and administer a mobile data collection system using the REDCap platform.
• Learners will also learn how to analyze data in REDCap and export data to data analysis software such as Stata and others.
• Additionally, learners will be exposed to other available mobile data collection platforms.

Course content

Module I

Introduction to the course

• ICT refresher
• Introduction to mobile data collection systems architecture, their benefits and challenges
• Introduction to common mobile-based data collection tools, techniques, and platforms.
• Introduction to the REDCap terminologies
• REDCap Best Practices
• Development vs Production mode

REDCap infrastructure

Module II

• Survey Authoring/Digitization (instrument development)
• Field types in REDCap
• Instrument development using the Online designer
• Adding fields
• Customizing instrument fields
• Moving questions to a different instrument
• Branching logic
• Instrument development using the Data dictionary
• Downloading the data dictionary (XLS file)
• Modifying the dictionary

Uploading the dictionary

Advanced Survey Authoring

• Testing the data entry process
• Grouping
• Repeating a group of questions
• Calculation fields
• Branching logic (skip logic)
• Enforcing constraints
• Select_one and select_multiple
• Matrix questions
• Preloading data into your survey forms
• Test REDCap reports and exports

Hands-on Exercise

Module III

• Types of REDCap projects
• Classical project
• Single-survey projects
• Longitudinal projects
• Longitudinal projects with scheduling

Case management in REDCap (longitudinal projects)

• Assigning longitudinal arms
• Records in longitudinal study
• Instruments in longitudinal study
• Defining events in longitudinal projects
• Designating instruments for events in longitudinal projects
• Repeating instruments and events
• Instances
• Deleting particular instances

Hands-on Exercise

Module IV

REDCap Mobile App (online and offline data collection)

• Enabling data collection using the REDCap mobile app
• Installing and setting up the application
• App users
• User responsibilities
• Data entry
• Synchronization
• Preloading data

Data Collection

• Data collection using REDCap mobile app (offline and online)
• Getting blank forms from the REDCap server
• Editing saved forms
• Deleting saved forms
• Filling and submitting forms
• Data collection using web browser (online)
• Enabling web data collection
• Sharing the web form URL
• Sending invitations to enumerators via email

Data Management and Monitoring

• Managing users and user roles
• Managing data
• Logging and audit trails
• Viewing and exporting project’s audit trail
• Filtering the audit according to activity
• Filtering the audit according to user
• Tracking data manipulation and user activity
• Case management in REDCap
• Automated quality checks
• Reviewing and correcting incoming data
• Configuring external authentication

Hands-on Exercise

Module V

Data export and de-identification

• Exporting data in various formats (eg xls, pdf, Stata…)
• Filtering fields for data export
• Using de-identification to prevent sensitive data from being exported
• Downloading survey data for further visualization and analysis with tools such as Stata

Advanced REDCap features

• Locking records and instruments
• Data resolution workflow
• The REDCap calendar
• Scheduling module
• Data access groups for multisite projects

Utilizing the REDCap API

Hands-on Exercise