38: Data Interrogation and Management

Guidelines and best practices have been commonly discussed and proposed by transport survey researchers for the conduct of quality travel surveys. This includes guidelines for sample design, survey design, data collection, methodology, and data processing. Many national survey organisations and associations have likewise produced useful standards for the conduct of surveys, including the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO) and the American Association of Public Opinion Researchers (AAPOR). In spite of the extensive consideration given to the areas of survey conduct and treatment of data, considerably less emphasis has been placed on the treatment of data following the collection and production of a final dataset or product. Although large monetary investments are made to collect the data, quite often only minimal resources are allocated for documenting and preserving the data. Likewise, there is a diminished focus on making these data more useable for potential users. While transport survey researchers agree that these activities are necessary and add tremendous value, they still go neglected or minimised. The purpose of this workshop was to examine standards for maximising the use of travel survey data as they relate to the: