Gathering Information

• Survey


  A way of collecting information that you hope represents the views of the whole community or group in which you are interested
• Interview


  Involves oral questions and getting answers from participants in a study
• Interview stages


  1. Pre-interview stage

  2. Warm-up stage

  3. Main interview stage

  4. Closing stage
• Observation


  Requires an interaction of the researcher with the phenomenon to be studied
• Questionnaire


  A well organized series of questions written to elicit responses from respondents or research informants
• Experiment


  A procedure done scientifically to establish a discovery usually conducted in a laboratory or in the natural setting
• Report


  A major form of technical/business/professional communication. It can be the description of an event by a person who witnessed it to somebody else who was not actually present on the scene.
• Types of report


  • Informal report
  • Formal report
  • Informational report
  • Analytical report
  • Recommendation report
• Informal report


  Usually takes the form of a memo, letter, or a very short international document like a monthly financial report, monthly activities report, research and development report
• Formal report


  Is the collection and interpretation of data and information. Subject matter include new technologies, the advisability of launching a new project line, results of a study or experiment, an annual report, or a year-old review of developments in the field.
• Informational report


  Present information on the status of current research or of a project. Present an update of the operation in your division. Present the results of a questionnaire or research.
• Analytical report


  Explain the potential results of a particular course of action. Suggest which option, action, or procedure is best.
• Recommendation report


  Advocates a particular course of action. Identical to analytical report.
• Survey report


  A formal piece of writing based on research. It is a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group. It has an advantage that it creates an immense of data to be gathered quickly and inexpensively.
• Survey method


  A technique of gathering data by asking questions to people who are taught to have a desired information
• Guidelines in writing a survey report

  • Basic qualities of good report
  • Modes of ordering
  • Value communicated
• Group frequency table


  When there is a big range in the data gathered, it is more useful to use data
• Tips in conducting a successful survey

  • Asks direct questions
  • Speaks your respondent's language
  • Use response scales whenever possible
• What are you going to do with the data or information collected after conducting a survey? It should be properly documented before it could be disseminated.
• In reporting the result of a survey, the figures gathered should be given in the form of data and graph.
• Case study


  Describes as method of descriptive research in which behaviors could be test only one-time occurrences
• Experiments impose treatment on the subjects; observational study cannot.
• Observation


  Is a method of research where the researcher carefully and systematically observes and records behavior without interfering; is a method of research that the behavior observed in the subject/s natural environment to be more natural, spontaneous, and varied than that observed in a laboratory
• Participant (Type of Observation)

  Interaction among subjects and the researcher's for a specified duration
• Non-Participant 


  Participants are not informed about the observation