Methods of Collecting Data

• Data can tell a story about any of these relationships, and with this information, organizations can improve almost any aspect of their operations
• Although data can be valuable, too much information is unwieldy, and the wrong data is useless. The right data collection method can mean the difference between useful insights and time-wasting misdirection
• Marketers, scientists, academics, and others may start a study with a predetermined hypothesis, but their research often begins with the collection of data
• Initially, the collected data is unstructured. Various facts and figures may or may not have context. A researcher's job is to make sense of this data, and the choice of data collection method often helps
• Data collection or data gathering

  The process of gathering and measuring information on variables of interest, in an established systematic method that enables one to answer stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes
• Techniques or strategies for data collection

  • Interviews
  • Questionnaires
  • Observations
  • Tests
• Instruments


  • An important part of the research study is the instrument in gathering the data because the quality of research output depends to a large extent on the quality of research instruments used
  • Instrument is the generic term that researchers use for a measurement device like survey, test questionnaires, checklists, and many others
  • Researchers can choose the type of instruments to use based on their research questions, or objectives
• Categories of instruments

  • Researcher-completed instruments
  • Subject-completed instruments
• Primary data


  Data collected from the original source in a controlled or an uncontrolled environment. Also known as raw data
• Secondary data

  Data obtained from secondary sources such as reports, books, journals, documents, magazines, the internet web and many more
• Data collection methods


  • Interviews
  • Questionnaires
  • Observations
  • Tests
• Interviews


  • The researcher personally interviews the respondents
  • Structured Interview - there is a standard set of questions, follows a specific format with the same line of questioning
  • Face-to-face interview - can be conducted in the respondent's home or workplace, or even simply on the street, yields the highest response rates in survey research
  • Telephone interview - less time consuming and less expensive, has ready access to anyone who has a telephone, response rate is not as high as the face-to-face interview but considerably higher than the mailed questionnaire
  • Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) - a form of personal interview but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer brings along a laptop or hand-held computer to enter the information directly into the database, saves time as well as saving the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of questionnaires
• Questionnaires


  • The main purpose is to help extract data from respondents, serves as a standard guide for the interviews who need to ask the questions in exactly the same way, they are the medium in which responses are recorded to facilitate data analysis
  • Five sections in a questionnaire: the respondent's identification data, an introduction, instruction, information, and classification data
  • Types of Questionnaires: Paper-pencil questionnaire, Web-based questionnaire, Self-Administered Questionnaire
  • Questionnaires often make use of checklist and rating scales
• Observations


  • A way of gathering data by watching behavior, events, or noting physical characteristics in their natural setting
  • Ways of collecting data: Recording sheets, Checklists, Observation guides, Field notes
• Tests


  • Provide a way to assess subject's knowledge and capacity to apply this knowledge to new situations
  • Examples: norm-referenced tests, criterion-referenced assessments and proficiency testing
• Type of questionnaires:

  1. Paper-pencil questionnaires: Can be sent to a large number of people and saves the researcher time and money.
  2. Web-based questionnaire: a new and inevitably growing methodology using the internet-based research, sent through e-mail, often quicker and less detailed.
  3. Self-Administered Questionnaire: Generally, distribute through mail, filled out and administered by the respondents themselves which is returned via mail to the researcher.
• Questionnaires often make use of checklist and rating scales.

  • A checklist is a list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities that the researcher is looking for.

  • A rating scale is more useful when the behavior needs to be evaluated on a continuum. It states the criteria and provides three or more responses to describe the quality of frequency of a behavior, skills strategies or variables.