The first step in protocol translation is identifying the information required to answer each objective.
Consider the following example.
Study Objective
To determine whether Drug A reduces fever within 48 hours among children aged under five years.
To answer this objective, researchers need data such as:
- Participant age
- Treatment allocation
- Baseline temperature
- Follow-up temperature
- Time of assessment
- Clinical outcome
From this objective, a data manager can identify variables that must be collected.
| Objective Component | Required Variable |
| Child age | age_months |
| Treatment group | treatment_arm |
| Baseline fever | temp_baseline |
| Follow-up fever | temp_48hr |
| Outcome | fever_resolved |
This process is known as variable identification.