Ethics & safeguarding
Informed consent in the respondent’s language, confidentiality of personal data, and extra care with women, children and vulnerable groups.
Our Approach
From Research Questions to Reliable Evidence
Every Thinkndata study moves through seven disciplined stages. Each stage has defined outputs, reviews, and quality gates before the next begins.
01
Research Planning
We work with clients to clarify research questions, define indicators, select methodologies, and plan sampling, timelines, and field strategy.
02
Tool Development
Questionnaires, discussion guides, and digital instruments are designed, translated, and programmed to fit the study context.
03
Training and Piloting
Field teams are trained on protocols, ethics, and tools, and every instrument is piloted and refined before full deployment.
04
Data Collection
Trained enumerators and qualitative researchers collect data using CAPI, CATI, PAPI, and in-person qualitative methods.
05
Quality Assurance
Real-time monitoring, back-checks, spot-checks, audio audits, and GPS and timestamp validation run throughout fieldwork.
06
Data Cleaning and Analysis
Data is cleaned, validated, coded, and analysed through documented, reproducible processes.
07
Reporting and Insights
Findings are delivered as clean datasets, dashboards, and clear reports that support evidence-based decision-making.
Our data quality system
Problems are caught the same day, not at the end of fieldwork
Data is uploaded every evening and run through automated checks. Supervisors receive a short flag log the next morning and resolve each issue with the enumerator while the team is still in the village.
- 1Evening
Data uploaded
Every completed interview is synced from the field each evening.
- 2Overnight
Automated checks
The day’s data runs through automated high-frequency checks.
- 3Next morning
Flag log shared
Supervisors receive a short flag log of issues to resolve.
- 4Same day
Fixed in the village
Each issue is resolved with the enumerator while the team is still in the village.
- 5Always
Traceable record
Every correction is recorded in a cleaning script, so the final dataset can be traced back to the raw data.
What we check every day
10automated checks on every day’s data
- 01Duplicate respondents
- 02Consent and identifiers
- 03Skip-logic errors
- 04Impossible values
- 05Inconsistent answers
- 06Outliers in amounts
- 07Interview duration
- 08Straight-lining
- 09“Other – specify” text
- 10Progress vs. sample
Local field teams
Enumerators recruited from the study region, with women interviewers for women respondents wherever needed.
Secure data
Encrypted forms, restricted access and personal identifiers kept apart from response data.
8Quality checks
in every study
in every study
Quality-Assurance Systems
Quality assurance at every step
Thinkndata’s quality-control system combines technology-enabled validation with human review — before, during, and after fieldwork.
- ✓Daily field monitoring
- ✓GPS and timestamp validation
- ✓Audio audits, where authorised
- ✓Back-checks
- ✓Logic and consistency checks
- ✓Enumerator performance monitoring
- ✓Secure data transfer and storage
- ✓Corrective feedback and refresher training
Work with us
Planning a study? Let’s build reliable evidence together.
Tell us about your research requirements and Thinkndata will respond with a clear, methodical plan.