Any large-scale data collection effort is bound to encounter some unexpected challenges and difficulties. While researchers planned thoroughly and aimed to anticipate obstacles, the complex real-world dynamics of collecting information from thousands of diverse human participants introduces uncertainties that are hard to foresee completely.
In this project, our team of 30 researchers worked diligently for over six months to comprehensively survey 10,000 individuals across the United States. We developed robust protocols and tested our methods via small pilot studies, but inevitably still faced surprises as we scaled our efforts nationwide. Some challenges came from the inherent messiness of interacting with so many people, while others reflected broader societal trends that subtly influenced responses.
A major hurdle stemmed from achieving adequate survey completion rates. Despite offering monetary incentives and reminders, we found it difficult to motivate some to fully answer our lengthy 100-question survey. This was compounded by technical difficulties like spotty internet access in certain rural areas preventing survey launches. We had to implement additional follow-up phone calls to improve response rates, which required extra time and costs. We only received completed surveys from 65% of our targeted participant pool, much lower than our optimistic 90% projection.
Reaching intended demographic groups across diverse regions proved tough. Our participant sample leaned somewhat older, whiter, and more affluent than the general U.S. population profile we sought. Certain populations proved remarkably difficult to recruit in enough numbers, like Hispanic, Black, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Even with culturally competent outreach strategies, recruitment was an uphill battle in some minority communities distrustful of outsider data requests due to historical exploitation. Our final dataset underrepresented certain perspectives.
Another dilemma came from unforeseen world events influencing participant mindsets and responses during the multi-month survey period. For example, a mass shooting occurred midway, after which answers to questions involving gun control shifted noticeably more liberal. Similarly, political tensions rose substantially as elections neared, and we witnessed a stark increase in polarized or emotionally charged responses across many issue topics compared to initial pilot studies. Major crises emphasized the difficulty controlling for real-world contextual factors when running long-term social studies.
We faced incidental technological and logistical problems disrupting data integrity. Periodic bugs crashing our online survey platform resulted in some participants’ work being lost, hurting motivation to re-start lengthy submissions. Additionally, improper data formatting in a small fraction of returned surveys necessitated extensive cleaning to remedy formatting irregularities prior to analysis. Such issues were perhaps inevitable at our large scale but lowered overall data quality.
Evolving privacy and IRB standards also introduced compliance challenges mid-project. For instance, tighter regulations emerged regarding identification and outreach to potentially vulnerable populations like pregnant people and those under 18. Compliance demanded time-consuming protocol revisions that pushed back our original deadlines. International transfer regulations likewise impacted our ability to outsource transcription work and forced costlier domestic alternatives.
Looking back, while our pre-study planning anticipated many methodical issues, the fluid interactions of collecting social data proved messy in practice. No strategy can fully prepare researchers for unpredictable real-world societal dynamics, technical difficulties, and changing standards impacting such massive data collection initiatives involving thousands of diverse human participants. Though our team learned invaluable lessons that will strengthen future work, unexpected challenges highlighted both the difficulty and necessity for nimble, adaptive research designs capable of reacting to surprises while preserving high scientific integrity. The experience demonstrated that even with robust preparation, numerous complexities lie beyond researchers’ complete control when undertaking large-scale empirical study of human populations.