Collecting and managing multisource and multimethod data in studies of pediatric populations.

OBJECTIVE To provide recommendations for the collection and management of multisource and multimethod data in studies of children and adolescents with pediatric conditions. METHODS We discuss limitations of single-source and single-method data collection strategies. We review strategies for collecting and managing multisource and multimethod data, including coverage of the literature on level of agreement across sources, strengths and weaknesses of various source and method aggregation strategies, and methods of examining discrepancies between sources. RESULTS Multisource and multimethod data collection strategies enable researchers to rule out alternative explanations for their findings and pose research questions that would probably not be testable with single-source, single-method data sets. CONCLUSIONS We emphasize the utility of multisource and multimethod data and provide recommendations for future work.