The value of a study relies heavily on the quality of data collection and analysis. No matter the skill level of the researchers or what journal the study is published in, poor collection and management of data result in a poor study. Our personal experiences and impressions of collecting, storing, protecting, and retrieving data for a U.S. government-funded grant are shared in this case study. We hope our perspectives acquired during our work on a longitudinal research project that generated copious amounts of qualitative and quantitative data will help inform others about possible issues that may arise when working on grants and/or using large-scale, longitudinal data sets. This case study was supported by a U.S. Department of Education Investing in Innovation (i3) grant (no u411c110102). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Education
