Session 20

G2 Strategies of Data Collection, Storage and Access in Psychology and Related Discipline

Empirical work in psychology and related disciplines involves three essential steps, i.e., data collection, storage and access. The traditional method of data collection focuses on a qualitative or quantitative methodology. The data collection methods are mostly observation (direct or indirect), self-report assessment, physiological, imaging, etc. Data collected using the quantitative methodology in psychology is mainly behaviour frequencies, error, decision making, reaction time, etc. Psychologists have been concerned about the optimized data collection methodology, sampling and source of the data. It is noteworthy that validity and reliability are also significant concerns for psychologists cross-culturally. Hence, it has been discussed and proposed to keep the experimental protocol similar along with the necessary resources. A well-documented observation may ease the researcher in interpretation, replication, and collaboration. Hence, the researcher must store data systematically. This way, the stored data can have plenty of usages. The researcher can form a repository which may serve as a secondary data set. This stored data can be used beyond borders and may benefit collaboration. It may also be used for policymakers, entrepreneurs, engineers, etc. In psychology, not to mention, standardized tools and techniques have been of prime importance. In the modern world, where the advancement of technology is shaping society tremendously, it is indirectly moderating the strategies of data collection, storage and access in psychology. Today, researchers may collect data without fieldwork, and any amount of data can be stored and accessed from any part of the world at any time. No more traditional practice has been followed in psychology for data collection, storage and access. The world of digitization has augmented the stages of data collection, repositories and access. In recent decades psychologists have seen many transformations in their empirical work. Today they prefer mixed-method techniques to enhance the analytic power of the data. The simple reason for such implementation is that human behaviour is complex. Hence, it may require multiple processes to understand the mechanism of human behaviour. Despite such understanding, little attempt has been made to adapt the mixed-method approach. This session welcomes papers on modern data collection, storage and access strategies in psychology or related disciplines. It addresses the researchers from various fields interested in the strategy of data collection, storage, and access. Reports on cross-cultural data collection, storage, and access beyond borders are also welcomed. In addition, the implementation of various methods in data collection, storage and access will also be given attention.