DATA COLLECTION METHODS AND PROCEDURE

Definition of data
• Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.
• The quantities, characters, or symbols on which operations are performed by a computer, being
stored and transmitted in the form of...
• Factual information (as measurements or statistics) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or
calculation
• Data collection refers to the gathering specific information aimed at proving or refuting facts.
o In data collection, the researcher must have a clear understanding of what they hope to obtain and how
they hope to obtain it.
o The researcher must have clear vision of the instruments to be used, the respondents and the selected
area.
Purpose of Data Collection
o To stimulate new ideas. Data collection helps in identifying new areas that needs improving and further
evaluation
o To highlight a situation and therefore create awareness and improvement.
o To influence legislative policies and regulations o To provide for justification for an existing programme
or illustrate a need for a new programme o Provides the only way to evaluate the responsiveness and
effectiveness of the study o Promotes decision-making and resource allocation that are based on solid
evidence rather than isolated occurrence, assumption, emotion, politics.

Sources and Types of Data

There are two major sources of data used by researchers. These are:

o Primary sources o Secondary sources

Primary sources: this is the gathering of data directly from the respondents. This is through
questionnaires, interviews, focussed group discussions, observation and experimental studies.

Advantages of primary data

• Basic data/ timely data/
• Un biased information
• Original data/first-hand experience/ most reliable form of data
• Data from the primary market/ direct interaction with customers
• Data direct from the population.

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• Clearly demarcated interest could be identified based on age, style of living, Disadvantages of
primary data
• Large volume of data.
• Huge volume of population.
• Time consuming
• Direct and personal intervention has to be there/ surveyors influence
• Raw data.
• Possibility of improper selection of field leading to wrong results and conclusion
• Usually expensive
• Comprehension potential of the respondents a major issue
• Will create false results if, not conducted properly
• Skill and expertise of researcher matters a lot Secondary sources/ desk research:

It involves gathering data that has already been collected by someone else. Secondary research
includes collecting information from third-party sources such as company websites, sales and
accounting records, magazine articles, marketing research reports, Government publications,
personal records, client histories, service records etc.
Advantages:

Ease of Access: There are many advantages to using secondary research. This includes the
relative ease of access to many sources of secondary data. In the past secondary data
accumulation required marketers to visit libraries,.

Low Cost to Acquire: The use of secondary data has allowed researchers access to valuable
information for little or no cost to acquire.

Clarification of Research Question: The use of secondary research may help the researcher to
clarify the research question.
May Answer Research Question: The use of secondary data collection is often used to
help align the focus of large scale primary research.
May Show Difficulties in Conducting Primary Research: In many cases, the originators of
secondary research include details of how the information wascollected.
Disadvantages:
Quality of Research: The originators of the primary research are largely self-governed and
controlled by the marketer. Therefore, the secondary research used must be scrutinized closely
since the origins of the information may be questionable.
Not Specific to Researcher’s Needs: In many cases, secondary data is not presented in a form
that exactly meets the researcher’s needs.

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 Incomplete Information: In many cases, researchers find information that appears valuable
and promising. The researcher may not get the full version of the research to gain the full value
of the study.

Not Timely: When using secondary research, one must exercise caution when using dated
information from the past.
Steps in data collection
The following are essential steps that a researcher should follow in data collection

1. Defining the sample: the researcher needs to define the likely respondents and their accessibility
2. Reflect on the research design: the researcher needs to be clear on the methodology to be used.
This helps the researcher select sample in such a way as to obtain results that have acceptable
precision and accuracy.
3. Ensure research instruments are ready: the key data collection instruments to be used in the
study, for example questionnaires, interviews, observations, focus group discussions and
experimental treatments should be in order.
4. Define the data to be collected. The nature of the data to be collected must be known.
5. Request permission to collect data from the relevant authorities: the request must be granted
from the point of data source.
6. Pre-testing. Before collecting data, the researcher must pre-test the data collection instrument.
When pre-testing the researcher must ensure the following.
a. That the questions are measuring what they are supposed to measure. The researcher
must analyze each response to see if its providing the right information.
b. Ensure that the wordings are clear
c. Ensure that the questions provoke a response. If some responses have been omitted.
The researcher should find out why
d. Ensure that there is no researcher bias
TYPES OF DATA
• Primary data
• Secondary data
• Qualitative data
• Quantitative data
Data Collection Instruments/ Research instruments
Research instruments include the following

• Questionnaires: mailed or self-administered

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• Interview schedules: structured or unstructured
• Observation: participant or non- participant or passive
• Focus group discussions

When formulating research instruments, the researcher must consider the following the
following

• Clarity of the study objectives. This helps to anticipate information needed

• Population sample: some instruments are suitable for some population while others are
unsuitable due to factors such as literacy level, profession and culture.
• Geographical distribution: the span of the geographical area of study determines the
instrument to use. Countrywide study would call for use of postal questionnaire or postal
interviews
• The nature of the questions he/she asks.
Questionnaires
A written list of questions, the answers to which are recorded by respondents. In it the
respondents read the questions, interpret what is expected and then write down the answers.
Important things to observe or consider when constructing a questionnaire

• The questions need to be clear and easy to understand

• The lay out of the questionnaire should be such that it’s easy to read and pleasant to the eye
• Sequence of questions should be easy to follow
• Should be developed in an interactive style i.e. instructions should be clear
• Should not be very long
• Questions are focused and are limited to single idea
• Each item included has a specific purpose, and contributes to the study
• Balanced as per the topic
Kinds of questions to avoid in questionnaires
• Complex jargons
• Ambiguous questions; a question with more than one possible interpretation: to treat this,
avoid words or phrases with multiple meanings, specify the context of the question, and be
direct about what is being asked about. o Who are you? Name, job, personality o Where have
you come from? birth place, where I have just come from or my mothers’ womb
• Double barrelled questions: a question that touches on more than one issue.

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 o "How satisfied are you with your pay and job conditions?" o "How often and
how much time do you spend on each visit to a hospital?" o "Does your department
have a special recruitment policy for men and women?

Leading questions: A type of question that implies or contains its own answer. Are you worried
about the danger of war?

Do you approve of the President’s oppressive immigration policy?

Ways of administering questionnaire

• Through mail
• Collective administration: may be self
• In public places

Steps in formulating questionnaire

• Reflecting on the aims and objective of the study.
• Formulation of questions. The researcher writes questions related to each of the study
objectives. The researcher should begin with few interesting questions and not threatening
questions. Only include questions that are relevant to the study.
• Pilot. Trying it out on a small sample of the population. Done for the following reasons o
Check if the questions are measuring what they were supposed to measure o Check if the
wordings are clear o To check if the questions are provoking response o To check researcher
biasness.

• Evaluation, done after the correction of results of pilot study. Types of questions found in a
questionnaire

• Open ended questions

• Closed ended questions Dichotomous Questions

Dichotomous Questions
When a question has two possible responses, we consider it dichotomous. Surveys often use
dichotomous questions that ask for a Yes/No, True/False or Agree/Disagree response. There are
a variety of ways to lay these questions out on a questionnaire:

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• Multiple Choice Questions
What purpose do you visit the library? (Multiple choices)
Advantages

o Confidentiality is upheld o Time saving o No opportunity for interviewer biasness o

Practical o Large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of
people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way

o Can be carried out by the researcher or by any number of people with limited effect
to its validity and reliability
o The results of the questionnaires can usually be quickly and easily quantified by
either a researcher or through the use of a software package
o Can be analysed more 'scientifically' and objectively than other forms of research
o When data has been quantified, it can be used to compare and contrast other
research and may be used to measure change The disadvantages of questionnaires

• Level of response is sometimes low

• No opportunity for the researcher to ask further questions
• Is argued to be inadequate to understand some forms of information - i.e. changes of
emotions, behaviour, feelings etc.
• The researcher asks only a limited amount of information without explanation
• Lacks validity
• There is no way to tell how truthful a respondent is being
• There is no way of telling how much thought a respondent has put in
• The respondent may be forgetful or not thinking within the full context of the situation
• People may read differently into each question and therefore reply based on their own
interpretation of the question - i.e. what is 'good' to someone may be 'poor' to someone else,
therefore there is a level of subjectivity that is not acknowledged

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 • There is a level of researcher imposition, meaning that when developing the questionnaire,
the researcher is making their own decisions and assumptions as to what is and is not
important...therefore they may be missing something that is of importance

Interview Method of Data Collection

Definition: Interview is verbal questioning. In research, Lindzey Gardner has defined interview as “a
two-person conversation, initiated by the interviewer for the specific purpose of obtaining research-
relevant information and focused by him on the content specified by the research objectives of
description and explanation”.
Two major Functions in an Interview
Description: The information received from the respondent provides insight into the nature of social
reality. Since the interviewer spends some time with the respondents, he can understand
their feelings and attitudes more clearly, and seek additional information wherever necessary and make
information meaningful for him.

Exploration: Interview provides insight into unexplored dimensions of the problem.

Characteristics of interview:

• Equal status: The status of the interviewer and the interviewee is equal.
• Temporary relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee.
• Considerable flexibility in the format of the interview.
• Types of interviews: a) Unstructured: There are no specifications in the wording
of the questions or the order of the questions. The interviewer forms questions as
and when required.
• Structured: Is based on the structured interview-guide which is little different
from the questionnaire. It is a set of specific points and definite questions prepared
by the interviewer.
• Standardized: In standardized interviews, answer to each question is standardized
as it is determined by a set of response categories given for this purpose. The
respondents are expected to choose one of the given options as the answer.
• Unstandardized: Is one in which the responses are left open to the respondent.
This is used mainly in qualitative research.
• Individual: Where the interviewer interviews only one respondent at a time.
• Group interview: More than one respondent are interviewed simultaneously. The
group can be small, say, of two individual (e.g., husband and wife, or two co-
workers in a factory) or large, say, of 10 to 20 persons (say students in a class).
• Self-administered: The respondent is supplied a list of questions along with
instructions for writing answers in the appropriate place on the interview form.

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 • Other-administered: The interviewer himself writes answers to questions on the
response sheet.
• Unique: Is one which the interviewer collects entire information in one interview.
• Panel interviews: The interviewer collects information from the same group of
respondents two or more times at regular intervals. If different respondents are
involved in various stages for asking the same question, it is called Trend Study.
• Soft interview: Here the interviewer guides the respondents without putting any
pressure on them.
• Hard interview: Here, the interview resembles a police interrogation. The
interviewer questions the validity and completeness of the answers obtained,
often warning the respondents not to lie and forcing them to give an answer when
they hesitate.
• Personal interviews: There is face to face contact between the interviewer and
the interviewee.
• Non-personal interviews: No face-to-face contact, but the information is collected
through telephone, computer or some other medium.

Conditions for a successful interview: Collecting data through the interview

technique may be easy, yet its adequacy, reliability and validity pose important
problems. Interviewers differ in interest and skill; respondents differ in ability and
motivation. Gardner has pointed out three conditions for successful interviewing:

Accessibility: For giving information to the interviewer, the respondent must have
access to the information.

Understanding: The respondent sometimes is not able to understand what is

expected of him. Unless he understands the significance of the research, the
concepts and terms used, the nature of answers which the interviewer expects from
him, his answers mightbeout-of-track.

Motivation: The respondent needs to be motivated not only for giving information
but also giving accurate information. The fear of consequences, being suspicious
about the interviewer, and dislike of the subject are some of the factors which
decrease the level of respondents’ motivation. The interviewer, therefore, has to try
to reduce the effect of these factors.
Reasons for using interviews
Interviews are a useful method to:

• investigate issues in an in depth way

• discover how individuals think and feel about a topic and why they hold certain opinions
• investigate the use, effectiveness and usefulness of particular library collections and services

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• inform decision making, strategic planning and resource allocation
• sensitive topics which people may feel uncomfortable discussing in a focus group
• add a human dimension to impersonal data
• Deepen understanding and explain statistical data.
Advantages of interviews
The main advantages of interviews are:

• they are useful to obtain detailed information about personal feelings, perceptions and opinions
• they allow more detailed questions to be asked
• they usually achieve a high response rate
• respondents' own words are recorded
• ambiguities can be clarified and incomplete answers followed up
• precise wording can be tailored to respondent and precise meaning of questions clarified (eg for
students with English as a Second Language)
• interviewees are not influenced by others in the group
• Some interviewees may be less self-conscious in a one-to-one situation.
Disadvantages of interviews
The main disadvantages of interviews are:

• they can be very time-consuming: setting up, interviewing, transcribing, analysing, feedback,
reporting
• they can be costly
• different interviewers may understand and transcribe interviews in different ways.
Interview process
Stage 1: Determine what information is required. What do you want to find out?
Stage 2: Decide on the method of data collection and the audience for the interviews eg
students, library staff, academics.
Interviews can be conducted face-to-face, by telephone or using chat messaging.

Interviewees might be contacted by email, posters or flyers or, if particular individuals are to be
targeted, by individual invitations sent by post or email. Tutors may be useful to help to recruit
students. Invitations should describe:

• the purpose of the interview

• the participants' role and what is expected of them
• how long the interview will last
• any rewards which will be provided.

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 Stage 3: Draft the interview schedule, considering content, wording, format, structure and
layout
Issues to consider
• Can the question be easily understood?
• Is the question biased?
• Is the question necessary to the evaluation?
• Will interviewees be willing to provide the information?
• Is the question applicable to all interviewees?
• Does the question allow interviewees to offer their opinions/expand on basic answers?
• Are follow up questions likely to be required?
• Will it be straightforward to analyse?
Stage 4: Pilot/test the interview schedule with colleagues or a sample of potential
interviewees and revise as necessary
Stage 5: Conduct the interviews
In the introduction, the evaluator should:

• Confirm that anonymity will be preserved

• Describe the ground rules
• Reiterate the purpose of the research.
• Record interviews if possible to allow greater interaction between the interviewer and
respondent
• Conducting interviews by telephone can reduce the costs and time involved
• Preplanning is important: know who you are going to interview, when and where.
• Keep to time
• Advise interviewees that their confidentiality/anonymity will be respected
• Advise interviewees how you intend to use and make available the results.
Stage 6: Transcribe interviews
Stage 7: Analyse the transcripts
Stage 8: Write up, present and use the findings
Focus groups
A focus group is a group interview of approximately six to twelve people who share similar
characteristics or common interests. A facilitator guides the group based on a predetermined
set of topics. The facilitator creates an environment that encourages participants to share their
perceptions and points of view. Focus groups are a qualitative data collection method, meaning
that the data is descriptive and cannot be measured numerically

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 When should you use focus groups for evaluation?
1. To get more in-depth information on perceptions, insights, attitudes, experiences, or beliefs.
Focus groups are useful for gathering subjective perspectives from key stakeholders.

2. To gather additional information as an adjunct to quantitative data collection methods.

Focus groups, like other qualitative methods, are useful in providing interpretations of data
collected through quantitative methods (quantitative data is numeric and measureable).

3. As part of a mixed method evaluation approach.

Mixed methods approaches are used to increase validity of evaluation findings by using a variety of
data collection techniques. Because focus groups are one of the few methods in which data is
gathered from a group, it is useful as part of a mixed method approach.

What are the advantages focus groups?

1. Quick and relatively easy to set up.
2. The group dynamic can provide useful information that individual data collection does not
provide.
3. Is useful in gaining insight into a topic that may be more difficult to gather through other data
collection methods.
What are the disadvantages of focus groups?
1. Susceptible to facilitator bias.
2. The discussion can be dominated or side-tracked by a few individuals.
3. Data analysis is time consuming and needs to be well planned in advance.
4. Does not provide valid information at the individual level.
5. The information is not representative of other groups What is observation?

Observation is way of gathering data by watching behaviour, events, or noting physical

characteristics in their natural setting. Observations can be overt (everyone knows they are
being observed) or covert (no one knows they are being observed and the observer is
concealed).

The benefit of covert observation is that people are more likely to behave naturally if they do
not know they are being observed. However, you will typically need to conduct overt
observations because of ethical problems related to concealing your observation.

Observations can also be either direct or indirect. Direct observation is when you watch
interactions, processes, or behaviours as they occur; for example, observing a teacher teaching a
lesson from a written curriculum to determine whether they are delivering it with fidelity.
Indirect observations are when you watch the results of interactions, processes, or behaviours;
for example, measuring the amount of plate waste left by students in a school cafeteria to
determine whether a new food is acceptable to them.

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 When should you use observation?
When you are trying to understand an on-going process or situation. Through observation you
can monitor or watch a process or situation that you are evaluating as it occurs.

1. When you are gathering data on individual behaviours or interactions between people.
Observation allows you to watch peoples’ behaviours and interactions directly, or watch for the
results of behaviours or interactions.
2. When you need to know about a physical setting. Seeing the place or environment where
something takes place can help increase your understanding of the event, activity, or situation
you are evaluating. For example, you can observe whether a classroom or training facility is
conducive to learning.
3. When data collection from individuals is not a realistic option. If respondents are unwilling or
unable to provide data through questionnaires or interviews, observation is a method that
requires little from the individuals for whom you need data.
What are the advantages of observation?
1. Collect data where and when an event or activity is occurring.
2. Does not rely on people’s willingness or ability to provide information.
3. Allows you to directly see what people do rather than relying on what people say they did.
What are the disadvantages of observation?
1. Susceptible to observer bias.
2. Susceptible to the “Hawthorne effect,” that is, people usually perform better when they know
they are being observed, although indirect observation may decrease this problem.
3. Can be expensive and time-consuming compared to other data collection methods.
Does not increase your understanding of why people behave as they do.

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