However, I quickly realised that different disciplines use different terms to essentially describe the same concepts. For example, the method known to sociologists as ‘event history analysis’ in epidemiology is more commonly known as ‘survival analysis’. Luckily for me, the health researchers in our team are very approachable, so it was easy for canada rcs data me to ask for clarification when required. They are also very patient in rephrasing their points, which I appreciate greatly!
We had several challenges in terms of the data too. Most of the studies that we rely upon in this project conducted their own questionnaires as part of the rapid response to the pandemic, but c co-ordinate and harmonise these questionnaires at the time. For example, some studies asked about alcohol consumption levels before and during the pandemic, while other studies only asked about change in the quantity or frequency of drinking. This meant that the challenge of finding commonalities across the datasets and deriving harmonised variables came at the analysis stage.
Fortunately, researchers in our team are experienced in working with the specific datasets, which meant that we were able to conduct coordinated analyses that were then pooled together and analysed centrally by the team of lead authors for the given research questions. This was a great way to facilitate efficient and effective collaboration.