Using your thoughts about your research study and the references from the Field Types for Data Collection, you should be ready to start planning out how you will accomplish your data collection using WordPress and the Directories Pro plugin.
Simple Approach for Planning Data Collection
For example, in a spreadsheet you could make one column for the research data types that you need for your data collection. In another column you could make a list of the corresponding field types in Directories Pro. A short example of this approach is shown below.
| My Research Data Type | Field TYpe in Directories Pro |
|---|---|
| My Numeric Data Type 1 | Number field type using decimals. The field suffix will be ‘mg’ for my measurements in milligrams. |
| My Text Data Type 2 | Paragraph Text will be used for a rich text (HTML) description. |
Once you have the one to one mapping between your research data types and the field types in Directories Pro, then you should be ready to move on the the next step – Setup for Your Data Collection.
Mapping Research Data Types to Directories Pro Field Types
When mapping your research data types to field types in Directories Pro, it is helpful to remember that the Directories Pro plugin focuses primarily on business users. As such, some field types will prove to be more useful than others for research studies, depending on the type of the research being performed. For example, for some sociological research studies, having fields for opening times may be useful. But for many other scientific studies the opening time field type in Directories Pro will probably not be useful.
As an example of how this mapping between commonly used scientific research data types and Directories Pro field types might be accomplished, the table below shows suggestions using the research data types from the protocols.io website.
| ResearCh Data Type | Field Type in Directories Pro |
|---|---|
| Amount | Amount could require up to 2 fields. Amount Value: Number or Range field type using integers or decimals as appropriate. The field suffix can set the units of measurement (e.g., uL, g, cm/s). If a manageable set of fixed values are allowed, then a Choice field type could be used, and then a separate Choice or Single Line Text could be used for the units. Additional Info: Single Line Text |
| Centrifugation or Shaker | Centrifugation or a Shaker measurement would require up to 4 fields. If any field is always the same (e.g., a consistent temperature), then that could be noted in the description for this field and that field would not be needed. Velocity : Number or Range field type with an appropriate unit of measurement. If a manageable set of fixed values are allowed, then a Choice field type could be used, but there is no separate field for units. Temperature: Number or Range field type with an appropriate unit of measurement. If a manageable set of fixed values are allowed, then a Choice field type could be used, but there is no separate field for units. Duration: Number or Range field type with an appropriate unit of measurement. If a manageable set of fixed values are allowed, then a Choice field type could be used, but there is no separate field for units. Additional Info: Single Line Text |
| Citation | Paragraph Text should work, using the URL link to set the DOI of the reference and the rest of text to show the authors and other citation text. |
| Command (Computational) | Single Line Text would be the best option if possible since there are no invisible formatting codes. The number of characters can be large in Single Line Text, but the display is limited to a single line. Alternatively, the Paragraph Text could work so that multiple lines could be displayed, but formatting characters could then be present that might give errors for a set of computational commands (i.e., like scripts that are run on the command line of a computer). |
| Concentration | Concentration could require up to 2 fields. Concentration Value: Number or Range field type probably using decimals. The field suffix can set the units of measurement (e.g., % volume, PPM). Additional Info: Single Line Text |
| Cost | Price should work well for this and allows multiple currencies if needed. |
| Dataset | Paragraph Text should work, using the URL link to the Dataset and the rest of text to show the name and description of the dataset. |
| Document | File should work. |
| Duration | Number or Range should work if only one measurement units type is involved (e.g., minutes). Alternatively, if a manageable set of fixed values are allowed, then one or more Choice field types could be used with a separate Choice field for units. |
| Equipment | POST Reference should work if a CPT has been created with the fields needed to describe equipment. Alternatively, a Paragraph Text could be used to describe the particular piece of equipment. |
| Expected Result | Paragraph Text could be used to describe the expected result |
| Geo-coordinates | Location should work if a more complete description of Geo-coordinates is desired or Map should work if only the latitude and longitude coordinates are used. |
| Note | Paragraph Text could be used for any note. |
| pH | Number or Range field type, probably in decimal format. No units are needed. |
| Pressure | Number or Range field type with appropriate measurement units for the suffix (e.g., Bar, Pa) |
| Protocol | POST Reference should work if a CPT has been created with the fields needed to describe protocols. Alternatively, a Paragraph Text could be used to describe the protocol. |
| Reagent | POST Reference should work if a CPT has been created with the fields needed to describe reagents. Alternatively, a Choice field type could be used if the researcher wanted to list out the reagents of interest. Another alternative is the Single Line Text if the researcher wanted to type the name of the reagent. |
| Relative Humidity | Number or Range field type with integer or decimal values. Suffix will probably be %. |
| Safety Information | Paragraph Text could be used to describe safety information. Alternatively, a POST Reference could be used if a CPT has been created for different choices of safety information. |
| Smart component | This is a Key-Value pair. The best implementation of this from the Directories Pro fields would be a pair of Single Line Text fields. |
| Software | This can be a reference to a software package like MatLab or to a programming language like R. Probably the best option in this case would be Paragraph Text and the use of appropriate hyperlinks to the appropriate website(s). Alternatively, if this field was widely used, a CPT could be set up for Software and then the POST Reference field could be used. |
| Spectral Data | Spectral Data could require up to 2 fields. Image field type for an image of the spectra URL field type for a hyperlink to the location of the data or image |
| Temperature | Number or Range field type with appropriate measurement units for the suffix (e.g., C, F, K) |
| Thickness | Thickness could require up to 2 fields. Thickness Value: Number or Range field type using integers or decimals as appropriate. The field suffix can set the units of measurement (e.g., cm, in, mm). If a manageable set of fixed values are allowed, then a Choice field type could be used, but there is no separate field for units. Additional Info: Single Line Text |
Summary
As can be seen in these examples, with the use of some creativity it is usually possible to map one or more field types in Directories Pro to a data type in a research study. This approach is arguably more customizable than many other options for ELNs – commercial or free. For example, in the Directories Pro plugin the numerical values in the Number and Range field types can always have custom labels and custom units as designated by the researcher to go with the numerical value. Similar customizations can be made for several other fields in the Directories Pro plugin, offering significant flexibility when designing the plan for data collection in research studies. It also should be noted that the field types can be altered as needed in order to accommodate changes in data collection needs, thus adding another dimension to the flexibility of this approach.
Some field type mappings are more straightforward to use than others, especially if easy data extraction from a field is needed, e.g., for automated analysis. For example, the research data type of Duration only maps to Directories Pro in a straightforward manner when there is one consistent Number or Range field type or if multiple Choice field types are used. In other words, for Duration the options would be to always use a Number or Range field type with a consistent unit like minutes or to set the duration in hours, minutes, and seconds using separate Choice field types. It would be important to take situations like this into consideration if further data analysis will be performed.