Although our examples of IDA employ a secondary analysis framework, IDA may also be a useful methodological framework for primary data collection; that is, novel data collection with the explicit intention of using IDA. Because data may be used in ways not originally envisioned by the contributing studies, the initial data management task faced by researchers using IDA within a secondary data analysis is often daunting and adequate resources are needed to support the creation of a reliable integrative database for subsequent analysis. At least a trimmed down version of this database is often required to determine feasibility of an IDA application, tantamount in effort to conducting a pilot study to establish feasibility for an original data collection. Planning for IDA at the stage of primary data analysis has the potential for a more efficient use of resources and greater likelihood that commensurate measures may be derived given a pre-planned core item set across studies.
