Topic 6: Methods of Data Collection

What is data?

• Is any information collected, stored, and

processed to produce and validate original

research results.

• Data might be used to prove or disprove a

theory, bolster claims made in research, or to

further the knowledge around a specific topic

or problem.
What is data collection?

• is the process of collecting and

evaluating information or data
from multiple sources to find
answers to research problems.

• is a process of gathering
information from all the relevant
sources to find a solution to the
research problem.
What are data collection methods?
• Data collection methods are techniques
and procedures used to gather information
for research.

• Data collection methods are techniques

and procedures for gathering information
for research purposes.

• The research method is a description of the

process within which the instruments or
tools will be used.
What are Research instruments?

• Research instruments are tools used

for data collection and analysis

• The common tools/instruments for

data gathering are: Document
reviews/analysis, Interviews, Focus
group discussion, Questionnaires,
Observation, Checklists, Diaries, Field
notes, Schedules, Audio,
Photograph/video.
What is the difference between method and tool of data collection in Social Science
Research?
Note: Methods are techniques or procedures that are used by researchers and scientists for
collection, analysis and interpretation of data in a study. They include techniques that are
used in sampling the elements of study from the population (e.g. simple random,
systematic, stratified, quota sampling), timeframe of study (e.g. longitudinal, cross-
sectional), decisions on types of data to gather (qualitative, quantitative or mixed),
decisions on instruments to use to gather data (questionnaire, interview, focus group
discussion, experiment, observation), dealing with constraints of the study (limitations and
delimitations), strategies for data analysis (descriptive/inferential statistics, thematic
analysis), and ethical considerations. Methods are quite broad and their application is
heavily dependent on the nature of study that is being undertaken. Tools commonly refer to
the instruments that are employed to collect data from participants (e.g. interview
schedule, questionnaire, focus group discussion schedule, observation sheet, checklist).
Tools complement methods, for example, if the method of data collection is an interview,
then the tool is an interview schedule.
1. Surveys / questionnaires

• Questionnaire is a tool of collecting both quantitative and qualitative data from

people by asking questions (Walliman, 2011).

• In this case, close-ended questions are used to get quantitative data while open-
ended questions are used to collect qualitative data.

• Researchers design structured questionnaires or surveys to collect data from

individuals or groups.

• These can be conducted through face-to-face interviews, telephone calls, mail, or

online platforms.
Advantages

• Can reach a large population.

• Many possible variations in their design

and use.

• Can be completed anonymously.

• Can be made easy to complete.

• Can be used to gather quantitative and

qualitative data
Disadvantages

• Can be difficult and time consuming to develop.

• Influenced by education (reading level) and

culture.

• Can become annoying when not focused or too

long.

• Requires follow up to get a good response rate.

• Often can’t check incomplete or problematic

answers.

• Often ignored when overused.

2. Observation

• Researchers observe and record behaviors,

actions, or events in their natural setting.

• This method is useful for gathering data on

human behavior, interactions, or phenomena
without direct intervention.

• They can be highly structured and use check

lists, for example, to rate what is observed,
confirm the procedure followed or tools used.
Advantages
• Allows investigating work under real
conditions.
• Can be discreet and conducted without
disrupting work.
• Allows seeing actual performance rather than
what is reported.
• Allows uncovering unexpected issues that
must be addressed.
• Takes interaction, collaboration or team work
into account.
Disadvantages
• Time consuming with larger groups.
• Observers must be trained and use good
instruments to record what they observe.
• The results of one observation cannot be
generalized to other observations (individual
performances).
• More observations are therefore needed to
confirm how more employees perform.
• Being observed can change how some perform so
that what is observed does not reflect typical
performance.
• Some may refuse to be observed or be
uncomfortable and resistant.
3. Interviews
• Interviews involve direct interaction between the researcher and the
respondent.
• They can be conducted in person, over the phone, or through video
conferencing.
• Interviews can be structured (with predefined questions), semi-
structured (allowing flexibility), or unstructured (more
conversational).
• Regardless of the approach used, it is essential to take good notes
that truly reflect the interview.
• Interviews are particularly useful to,
✓ Investigate issues in depth.
✓ Explore ideas, opinions and attitudes.
✓ Explore sensitive topics that some may not want to discuss in
public.
Advantages
• Allows for face-to-face contact and
observing behavior.

• Allows exploring and clarifying opinions,

or dealing with the unexpected.

• Helps engage participants in the Training

Needs Assessment (TNA) process.

• Helps explore / confirm other data /

information (for example, the information
obtained from documents).
Disadvantages
• Can be time consuming

• Individuals can’t always identify or express

true needs.

• Some may use this opportunity to vent

frustrations or discuss other issues.

• Interviewers must be skilled and well

prepared.

• Interviewing many can be expensive.

• Requires careful sampling when dealing

with a large population.
4. Focus group discussion (FGD)

• Focus groups bring together a small group of

individuals who discuss specific topics in a

moderated setting.

• The FGD usually has four to ten participants.

• They are structured and led differently than

interviews, but yield similar data.

Advantages.

• Allow interviewing more individuals

within a limited amount of time.

• Allows participants to discuss important

issues with their peers.

• Helps with team building by shifting the

focus from the individual to the group.

• Allow comparing and sifting through ideas

towards consensus
Disadvantages

• Time consuming and subject to the

availability of individuals.

• Can lead to conflict (if not well facilitated)

or affected by existing conflicts between
individuals or groups.

• Not everyone wants to discuss issues with

others (or share information).

• Requires a skilled group leader to manage

group dynamics and achieve good results
5. Document review/analysis

• This method involves finding and

reviewing documents ranging from
letters of complaint, industry
reports, policy documents or more
strategic ones, to better understand
the problem.

• For example, reports about

accidents or emergencies.
Advantages

• Uses existing information.

• Less influenced by changes or

unforeseen circumstances.

• Unobtrusive: no need to disrupt work

underway.

• Can provide leads to explore (people

to interview, for example).

• Can provide a historical perspective to

better understand current events.
Disadvantages

• Available documents are not always

good sources of information.

➢ Better documents may not be

available (or shared)

• Can be time consuming to review all

documents.
6. Experiments
• Experimental studies involve the manipulation of variables
to observe their impact on the outcome.
• Researchers control the conditions and collect data to draw
conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships.
• An experiment is a data collection method where you as a
researcher change some variables and observe their effect
on other variables.
• The variables that you manipulate are referred to as
independent while the variables that change as a result of
manipulation are dependent variables.
Advantages

1. Researchers have firm control over variables

to obtain results.

2. The results are specific.

3. Post results analysis, research findings from

the same dataset can be repurposed for similar
research ideas.

4. Researchers can identify the cause and effect

of the hypothesis and further analyze this
relationship to determine in-depth ideas.
Disadvantages of the experimental
method

• Results are subject to human error and

subjectivity, e.g. researcher bias, social
desirability bias, order effects, etc. and
so it can be difficult to strictly adhere to
the experimental method.

• The procedure of the experimental

method can be time-consuming and
costly.
Checklist

• A checklist is a form that is used for

quickly and easily recording data or
identifying actions or requirements.

• It is usually easy to extract data in a

useful manner from a checklist.

• It is particularly effective at
registering the occurrence of
incidents, events, tasks, or
problems..
Advantages
Reading assignment

• Diaries.

• Field notes.

• Schedules.

• Audio.

• Photograph/video.
Two types of data according to source

• Primary and secondary methods of

data collection are two approaches

used to gather information for

research or analysis purposes.

A. Primary Data Collection

• Primary data collection involves the collection of original data directly from the
source or through direct interaction with the respondents.

• This method allows researchers to obtain first hand information specifically

tailored to their research objectives.

• There are various techniques for primary data collection, including: Surveys and
Questionnaires, Interviews, Observations, Experiments, and Focus Groups.
2. Secondary Data Collection:

• Secondary data collection involves using existing data collected by someone else

for a purpose different from the original intent.

• Researchers analyze and interpret this data to extract relevant information.

• Secondary data can be obtained from various sources, including: Published

Sources, Online Databases, Government and Institutional Records, Publicly

Available Data, and Past Research Studies.

 Types of data
▪ There are different types of data in Statistics, that are collected, analysed,
interpreted and presented.
▪ In this section, we are going to discuss the different types of data in statistics in
detail.
There are two major classifications of data.
A. Qualitative Data
• Qualitative data, also known as the categorical data, describes the data that fits
into the categories.
• Qualitative data are not numerical.
• The categorical information involves categorical variables that describe the
features such as a person’s gender, home town etc.
• Sometimes categorical data can hold numerical values (quantitative value), but
those values do not have a mathematical sense.
• Examples of the categorical data are birthdate, favourite sport, school postcode.
• Here, the birthdate and school postcode hold the quantitative value, but it does
not give numerical meaning.
• There are two main types of qualitative data: Nominal data and Ordinal data.

• Let us understand qualitative data with some examples given below.

➢ What is the colour of your shirt?

➢ Will you go to school today?

➢ Are you happy?

• These data are recorded in non-numerical form. Hence, they are known as
qualitative data.
1. Nominal Data
• Nominal data is a type of qualitative data that is used to represent data into labels
based on different categories.
• They do not have any specific order or numerical significance.
• Let us understand it better with a few real-world examples.
✓ Colours ( red, blue, green, orange, etc)
✓ Fruits ( Apples, Bananas, Grapes, strawberries)
✓ Gender (Male, Female, other)
✓ Marital Status ( Single, married, divorced, widowed)
✓ Blood type (A, AB, O, B)
• Days of the week (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday)
2. Ordinal Data
• This is also a type of qualitative data where only non-numerical data is
considered.
• It is almost similar to nominal data.
• However, there is just one major difference, ordinal data are arranged in a
meaningful order, unlike nominal data, which does not follow any specific order.

• Let us understand ordinal data with some examples.

✓ Reviews ( excellent, good, fair, poor)

✓ Educational Qualification (high school, undergraduate, postgraduate)
✓ Grades in exam ( A, B, C, D)
✓ Economic background ( below poverty, middle class, rich)
• These are some of the most common examples of ordinal data. It follows a
specific order.
Differences between nominal and ordinal data in the table given below

Nominal Data Ordinal Data

Ordinal data follows a specific sequential
Nominal data does not follow any ordering.
ordering.
It cannot be compared on a scale. It can be compared on a scale.
It is generally considered to be between
It is a type of qualitative or categorical data.
qualitative and quantitative data types.
They do not present any numerical form, and we
They provide a general ordering based on which
cannot perform any arithmetic operations on
we can perform some arithmetic operations.
them.

These data types are not used in comparison. These data types are also used in comparison.

Example: grades, reviews, educational

Examples: Gender, colour, marital status, etc.
qualifications, etc.
B. Quantitative Data
• This is a type of data that represents numerical information that we can count and
measure.
• They are also known as numerical data.
• It generally gives answers to “how many”, “how much”, etc.
• This data can be represented in graphical and chart forms such as bar graphs,
histograms, pie charts, etc.
• Let us understand quantitative data with some examples.
✓ Marks in a test
✓ Temperature
✓ Weight
✓ Sales figure
• It will always represent information in numerical form.
• There are two major types of quantitative data: Discrete and Continuous.
1. Discrete Data
• It is used to represent distinct or separate numerical values.
• They are discrete because they can be presented in the form of whole numbers
which cannot be divided into smaller parts.

• However, the discrete data can be counted and is not infinite.

• They can be easily represented by various graphs and charts, such as bar graphs,
number lines, etc.
• Let us understand with a few examples given below.
✓ Total number of students in college
✓ Number of cars in parking area
✓ Number of members in a family
✓ Number of wheels in a car
2. Continuous Data
• It is a data type that deals with an infinite range of numerical data.
• It can be easily divided into smaller fractional or decimal values unlike discrete,
which uses only whole numbers or integers.
• The main difference is that discrete data cannot be presented in decimal or
fractional form, while continuous data can be presented in fractional form.
• Let us understand it with some common examples.
✓ Height of a person
✓ Temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit
✓ Weight in pounds or kilograms
✓ Distance in meter or kilometers
✓ Share price of market
• The examples given above can easily be presented in decimal or fraction form,
hence known as continuous data.
Differences between discrete and continuous data
Discrete Data Continuous Data
Continuous data are measurable and cannot be
Discrete data are finite and countable.
counted.
Discrete data consists of integers and whole
Continuous data consists of fractional values.
numbers
Any value cannot be taken between a specific
Any value can be taken within a specific range.
range
They can be represented by histograms, line
They are generally represented by bar graphs.
graphs, etc.
It is generally represented using probability It is represented using probability density
density functions. functions.
Example: Number of students, number of
Example: Height of a person, temperature,
children in a family, number of cars in a parking
weight of a person or object, time, etc.
lot, etc.