Resources for Planning New Data Collections
When planning for new data collections, there are many factors to consider including:
- Purpose of project and data collection
- Potential secondary use of the data
- Distributions of contaminant
- Sources of variability
- Chemical/physical properties
- Information about the area/process (size/breadth of area, temporal components, geography)
- Tolerance for potential decision errors and/or precision requirements
- Sampling/analysis constraints (instrument performance, analytical methods, sample's physical size and shape)
- Budget
- Regulatory requirements
The following are some additional resources specific to new data collections that supplement the resources described on Systematic Planning page.
- Designing a New Data Collection
- Sampling Designs
- Software for Estimating Sample Sizes and Locations
- Training
Designing a New Data Collection
- Chapter 2 of the Guidance for Quality Assurance Project Plans (G-5) identifies elements to consider when designing new data collection.
Sampling Designs
- Guidance on Choosing a Sampling Design for Environmental Data Collection (G-5S) contains guidance on applying standard statistical sampling designs (such as simple random sampling) and more advanced sampling designs (such as ranked set sampling, adaptive cluster sampling) to environmental applications.
Software for Estimating Sample Sizes and Locations
- Visual Sample Plan (VSP) is a simple, defensible tool for defining an optimal, technically defensible sampling scheme for site characterization. VSP is applicable for any two-dimensional sampling plan including surface soil, building surfaces, water bodies, or other similar applications.
Training
- Introduction to Data Quality Objectives - This course teaches participants the basic elements of the Data Quality Objectives Process. Participants learn the elements of this process, how the process applies to a regulatory program at EPA, and how to interpret the consequences of potential decision errors.