Techniques of data collection

INTRODUCTION
 Research is “Search of knowledge”- It is a
scientific and systematic search for pertinent
information on specific topic”
 According to Oxford Dictionary, “A careful inquiry
specially through search for new facts in any
branch of knowledge”
 According to Clifford Woody research comprises
defining and redefining problems, formulating
hypothesis or suggested solution; collecting,
organizing and evaluating data; making
deductions and reaching conclusion; and at last
carefully testing the conclusions to determine
whether they fit the formulating hypothesis.

What is Research
Methodology?
 Is defined as a highly intellectual human
activity used in the investigation of nature and
matter and deals specifically with the manner
in which data is collected, analyzed and
interpreted

What Constitutes a Research
Topic?
 Unanswered question
 Unsolved question
 Concern
 Query
 Statement of inquiry

Objectives of the Research
Study
Objectives identified to answer the research
questions have to be listed making sure that
they are:
a) numbered, and
b) statement begins with an action verb.

Methods of Data Collection
There are two types of data
 Primary Data— collected for the first time
 Secondary Data—those which have already
been collected and analysed by someone
else.

Methods of Primary Data
Collection
OBSERVATION METHOD:
Commonly used in behavioural sciences It is the
gathering of primary data by investigator’s own
direct observation of relevant pe o ple , actio ns and
situatio ns witho ut asking fro m the re spo nde nt.
e.g.
 A hotel chain sends observers posing as guests into its coffee shop to check on
cleanliness and customer service.
 A food service operator sends researchers into competing restaurants to learn
menu items prices, check portion sizes and consistency and observe point-of
purchase merchandising.
 A restaurant evaluates possible new locations by checking out locations of
competing restaurants, traffic patterns and neighbourhood conditions.

Types of Observation
 Structured – for descriptive research
 Unstructured—for exploratory research
 Participant Observation
 Non- participant observation
 Disguised observation

SURVEY METHOD
Approach most suited for gathering descriptive information.
 Structure d Surve ys: use fo rm allists o f q ue stio ns aske d o f all
re spo nde nts in the sam e way.
 Unstructure d Surve ys: le t the inte rvie we r pro be re spo nde nts
and g uide the inte rvie w according to their answers.
Survey research may be Direct or Indirect.
 Direct Approach: The researcher asks direct questions about behaviours and
thoughts., e.g. Why don’t you eat at MacDonald’s?
 Indirect Approach: The researcher might ask: “What kind of people eat at
MacDonald’s?”
From the response, the researcher may be able to discover
why the consumer avoids MacDonald’s. It may suggest
factors of which the consumer is not consciously aware.

CONTACT METHODS
Information may be collected by
Mail
 can be used to collect large amounts of
information at a low cost per respondent.
 respondents may give more honest answers to
personal questions on a mail questionnaire.
 no interviewer is involved to bias the respondent’s
answers.

CONTACT METHODS
Telephone
 quick method.
 more flexible as interviewer can explain
questions not understood by the respondent.
 depending on respondent’s answer they can
skip some Qs and probe more on others

CONTACT METHODS
Personal interview
 It is very flexible and can be used to collect large
amounts of information. Trained interviewers are can
hold the respondent’s attention and are available to
clarify difficult questions.
 They can guide interviews, explore issues, and probe
as the situation requires. Personal interview can be
used in any type of questionnaire and can be
conducted fairly quickly.
 Interviewers can also show actual products,
advertisements, packages and observe and record
their reactions and behaviour.

Personal interview
This take s two fo rm s-
 Individual- Inte rce pt inte rvie wing
 Gro up - Fo cus G ro up Inte rvie wing
Intercept interviewing:
 Widely used in tourism research. Allows researcher to reach
known people in a short period of time.
 Only method of reaching people whose names and
addresses are unknown. Involves talking to people at homes,
offices, on the street, or in shopping malls.
 involves the use of judg m e ntalsam pling i. e . inte rvie we r has
g uide line s as to who m to “intercept”, such as 25% under age
20 and 75% over age 60

Personal interview
Focus Group Interviewing:
It is rapidly becoming one of the major research tool to
understand people’s thoughts and feelings. It is usually
conducted by inviting six to ten people to gather for a few
hours with a trained moderator to talk about a product,
service or organization.
The meeting is held in a pleasant place, and refreshments
are served to create a relaxed environment. The moderator
needs objectivity, knowledge of the subject and industry, and
some understanding of group and consumer behaviour.
The moderator starts with a broad question before moving to
more specific issues, encouraging open and easy discussion
to bring out true feelings and thoughts. At the same time, the
interviewer focuses the discussion, hence the name fo cus

EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
Also called Em piricalRe se arch o r Cause and Effe ct
Me tho d, it is a data-base d research, coming up with
conclusions which are capable of being verified with
observation or experiment.
Experimental research is appropriate when proof is
sought that certain variables affect other variables in
some way.
e . g . , Te nde rise rs ( inde pe nde nt variable ) affe ct
co o king tim e and te xture o f m e at( de pe nde nt
variable ).
The e ffe ct o f substituting o ne ing re die nt in who le o r in
part fo r ano the r such as so ya flo ur to flo ur fo r m aking
hig h pro te in bre ad.

METHODS FOR SECONDARY
DATA
Secondary data can be either published or
unpublished data such as;
 Publication from government
 Foreign government, international bodies.
 Technical and trade journals.
 Reports prepared by research scholars.

Schedule Method
 Schedule defined; May be defined as a Proforma that
contains a set of questions which are asked and filled by
interviewer in face to face situation.
 Objective Schedule; The main objective of the schedule is
always about a definite item enquiry.
 Types of Schedules;
# Observation schedule – In this the observer records the
activities of the individual or group.
# Rating schedule – are used to assess the attitudes,
opinions, perceptions and other elements of respondent.
# Interview Schedule;
# Institution Survey schedule

How to Draw Conclusions from
Data?
 Use of graphical presentations
 Use of statistical analyses
 Sharing data among colleagues and receiving
constructive feedback
 Critically analyzing data and results

DETERMINING SAMPLE
DESIGN
A Sample is a segment of the population
selected to represent the population as a
whole.
Ideally, the sample should be representative
and allow the researcher to make accurate
estimates of the thoughts and behaviour of
the larger population.

DETERMINING SAMPLE
DESIGN
Designing the sample calls for three decisions:
Who willbe surve ye d? ( The Sam ple ).
 The researcher must determine what type of information is
needed and who is most likely to have it.
Ho w m any pe o ple willbe surve ye d? (Sam ple Siz e )
 Large samples give more reliable results than small
samples. However it is not necessary to sample the entire
target population.
Ho w sho uld the sam ple be cho se n? (Sam pling )
 Sample members may be chosen at rando m fro m the e ntire
po pulatio n ( pro bability sam ple ).
 The researcher might se le ct pe o ple who are e asie r to o btain

Types of Samples
Probability samples
 Sim ple rando m sam ple : Eve ry m e m be r o f the
po pulatio n has a kno wn and e q ualchance of
being selected.
 Stratifie d rando m sam ple : Po pulatio n is divide d
into m utually e xclusive g ro ups such as age
groups and random samples are drawn from
each group.
 Cluste r(are a)sam ple : The po pulatio n is divide d
into m utually e xclusive g ro ups such as blocks,
and the researcher draws a sample of the group
to interview.

Types of Samples
Non-probability samples
 Co nve nie nce sam ple : The re se arche r se le cts the
e asie st po pulatio n m e m be rs fro m which to obtain
information.
 Judg m e nt sam ple : The re se arche r use s his/he r
judg e m e nt to se le ct po pulatio n members who are
good prospects for accurate information.
 Quo ta sam ple : The re se arche r finds and
inte rvie ws a pre scribe d num be r o f people in each
of several categories.

TOOL FORDATA COLLECTION
(RESEARCHINSTRUMENTS)
The construction of a research instrument or
tool for data collection is the most important
aspect of a research project because
anything you say by way of findings or
conclusions is based upon the type of
information you collect, and the data you
collect is entirely dependent upon the
questions that you ask of your respondents.

Guidelines to Construct a Research
Tool
The unde rlying principle be hind the g uide line s
sug g e ste d be lo w is to e nsure the validity o f yo ur
instrum e nt by m aking sure that yo ur q ue stio ns re late
to the o bje ctive s o f yo ur study.
# Ste p I: Cle arly de fine and individually list allthe
spe cific o bje ctive s o r re se arch Que stio ns fo r yo ur
study.
# Ste p II: Fo r e ach o bje ctive o r re se arch q ue stio ns,
list allthe asso ciate d q ue stio ns, that yo u want to
answe r thro ug h yo ur study.
# Ste p III: Take e ach re se arch q ue stio n liste d in ste p
IIand list the info rm atio n Re q uire d to answe r it.
# Ste p IV: Fo rm ulate q ue stio n(s) to o btain this
info rm atio n.

The Questionnaire
 Aq ue stio nnaire co nsists o f a se t o f q ue stio ns
pre se nte d to a re spo nde nt fo r answe rs. The
re spo nde nts re ad the q ue stio ns, inte rpre t
what is e xpe cte d and the n write do wn the
answe rs the m se lve s.
 It is called an Inte rvie w Sche dule whe n the
re se arche r asks the q ue stio ns (and if
ne ce ssary, e xplain the m ) and re co rd the
re spo nde nt’s re ply o n the inte rvie w sche dule .

The Questionnaire
There are three basic types of questionnaire:
1.Closed –ended Questionnaire: Closed ended questions
include all possible answers / prewritten response
categories, and respondents are asked to choose among
them.
2. Open-ended Questionnaire: Open-ended questions allow
respondents to answer in their own words. Questionnaire
does not contain boxes to tick but instead leaves a blank
section for the respondent to write in an answer.
3. Combination of both: This way it is possible to find out how
many people use a service and what they think of the
service in the same form.

How to construct
questionnaires
 Deciding which questionnaire to use; - clo se d
o r o pe n e nde d / se lf o r inte rvie we r
adm iniste re d
 Wording and structure of questions.
 Questions should be kept short and simple--
avoid do uble barre lle d i. e . two questions in
one –ask two Qs rather than one.
 Avoid negative questions which have no t in
the m as it is co nfusing fo r re spo nde nt to ag re e
o r disag re e .

Piloting the Questionnaire
Once you have constructed your questionnaire,
you must pilot it.
 This means that you must test it out to see if it is
obtaining the result you require.
 This is done by asking people to read it through
and see if there are any ambiguities which you
have not noticed.
 They should also be asked to comment about the
length, structure and wording of the
questionnaire.
 Alter the questions accordingly

Techniques of data collection

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