Information Needs and Data Harmonization-Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Abstract

This article reports on a quality improvement project aimed at supporting the Community Firearm Violence Prevention (CFVP) network at the University of Michigan in the U.S. We examine the information and data needs of researchers in public health, medicine, and criminal justice. Semi-structured interviews with CFVP affiliates and researchers confirm the existence of significant limitations in existing datasets and resources to conduct firearm-violence prevention research. Study participants discussed (1) the infrastructure and research support that would improve their productivity; (2) benefits of using and combining datasets, (3) challenges when accessing data, and (4) data collection and harmonization strategies that increase research impact. We present findings highlighting data-related challenges in this space that concern researchers, data scientists, and policymakers. We conclude that researchers' information needs and data harmonization initiatives are interrelated phenomena. Our observation carries implications for large-scale data harmonization efforts in the social and behavioral sciences.