Data Collection methods

The data required for a research can be primary or secondary in nature. Primary data, by
definition is the date that has been collected first hand by the researcher specially for addressing
the population at hand. A survey research can be objectivist or subjectivist in nature. An
objectivist approach is a more rigid and scientific approach. In this the hypothesis is tested using
publicly standard procedure. There is little or no latitude available to deviate from the stated
procedures or questions. A subjectivist approach, requires a hypothesis test, but is not that rigid
in following the procedures. The researcher is allowed to use unstructured methods, at his
discretion, to record data. The research data can be classified as follows:

Primary Data Collection:

Interview

A form of communication approach to collecting data from respondent's interview is to oral or

verbal questioning. Bingham and Moore have described interview as 'conversation with a
purpose.' Lindsey 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.

It is thus clear that interview is a verbal conversation between two people with the objective of
collecting research relevant information from the respondent. Interview can be classified into
various types' viz., personal interview, telephone interview, focus group interview, depth
interview and projective techniques also called as indirect interviewing.

Type of Interview
The interview techniques can be grouped in the following categories:

Personal Interview

A Personal interview is a face to face way communication between the interviewer and the
respondent. Generally the personal interview is carried out in a planned manner and is referred to
as 'structured interview'. The personal interviews can be conducted in many forms e.g. door to
door interviewing where the respondents are interviewed in their home, or as planned formal
executive meeting, most commonly used to interview officials and business persons, or as a mall
intercept survey where respondents are interviewed at select places where the chances of finding
respondents is maximum.

Method of Conducting an Interview

A personal interview involves a lot of preparation. Generally an interview should go through the
following stages.

1. Rapport Building - The first reaction of a respondent on being asked to give interview is
to say 'No'. Hence in the initial stage the interviewer should increase the receptiveness of
the respondent by making him believe that his opinions are very useful to the research,
and the interview is going to be a pleasure rather than an ordeal. It is important that the
interviewer should convey his confidence to the respondent and satisfy his mental
reservations if any. Wherever possible an appointment should be sought.

2. Introduction - An introduction involves the interviewer identifying himself by giving

him his name, purpose and sponsorship if any. An introductory letter goes a long way in
conveying the study's legitimacy. If the respondent is unavailable, then the interviewer
should ensure that he seeks a reappoint.

3. Probing - In this stage the interviewer collects data by asking questions from an
interview schedule which contains questions in prearranged sequence. Generally the
questions should be asked the way they are worded in order to avoid bias, but if they are
not understood or heard properly they may be repealed. An advantage of interview is that
it allows for probing. Probing is the technique of encouraging the respondents to answer
freely, completely and relevantly. Some of the frequently used probing styles are use of
comments like "I understand", "Uh-huh", repeating the respondents reply to incite him to
rethink his reply, give an expectant out pause to convey interest etc. However probing
should be used carefully and should not bias the respondent's reply.

4. Recording - The last stage in an interview, is recording responses. The interviewer 'can
either write the response at the time of interview or after the interview. Normally, the
recording should take place side by side. The interviewer can use short hand and
abbreviate responses. Recording response later on has the disadvantage that one way
 forgets what had been said earlier. In certain cases, where the respondent allows for it,
audio or visual aids can be used to record answers.

5. Closing - After the interview is over, the interviewer should thank the respondent and
once again assure him about the worth of his answers and the confidentiality of the same.

Telephone interview

In telephone interviewing the information is collected from the respondent by asking the
questions on phone. The marriage of telephone and computer has made this method even more
popular. Traditional telephone interviews call for phoning a sample of respondents, asking them
questions written on a paper and recording them with a pencil. In case of Computer Assisted
Telephone Interviewing (CATI) uses a computerized questionnaire is used which prompts the
interviewer with introductory statements, and qualifying questions to be asked to the
respondents.

The computer replaces the paper and pen. The computer randomly dials a number from the
sample; upon contact the interviewer reads the questions and diret1y into the computer's memory
bank. Another variant is 'Computer Administered Telephone Surveys (CATS) where the
interviewer is replaced by computer. The questions are voice synthesized and the respondent's
answer and computer timing decide whether to continue or disconnect. The chief disadvantage of
this method is that the rejection of this mode of data collection affects the refusal rate (and thus
non-response bias) because people hang up more easily on a computer than on a human
Telephone interview has the following advantages over personal interview:

1. Low cost

2. Faster collection of data

3. Reduces biases (caused by personal presence of interviewer)

Focus group interview

A kind of unstructured interview. It involves a moderator leading discussion between small

groups of respondents on a specified topic. A focus group interview involves 8 to 12 respondents
having homogeneous characteristics, seated in a comfortable relaxed informal atmosphere. The
interview generally continues for 1 to 3 hour during which the respondents develop a rapport and
share their views. The proceedings are recorded on an audio or visual device. The moderator
keeps the discussion going and probes the respondents whenever necessary to elicit insightful
responses. These responses are better analyzed to derive conclusive results. Focus group
interview results in advantages summed up as following 10 "S"

 Synergism - When group of people produce better insight into a problem than individual.
  Snowballing - One person's response initiates a chain of responses.

 Stimulation - As the interview progress respondents are more and more encouraged to
give responses.

 Security - Since an individual generally finds somebody in the group who might endorse
his opinion, he feels secure in answering.

 Spontaneity - Since there are no pre designed questions being asked, responses are
spontaneous.

 Serendipity - Often new ideas are generated.

 Specialization - Since response is being sought from large numberof respondents, the
interviewer or moderator is a highly trained person.

 Scientific Scrutiny - Since the proceedings are being recorded, they can be analyzed in a
great detail scientifically.

 Structure - It allows for topic to be discussed flexibly and in great depth.

 Speed - Since a large number of respondents are being interviewed simultaneously, data
is collected quickly.

However, like the two sides of a coin, focus group interview suffers from certain disadvantages
like; the results can be wrongly interpreted since the response is not to any specific question.
Focus group interviews make coding and analysis of data also very difficult. Most importantly, it
is difficult to find a moderator who can conduct these interviews successfully.

Depth interviews

Like the focus group interview in an unstructured type of interview used to collect qualitative
data. However it is involves a one to one interaction between the interviewer and respondent.
The depth interview can be 'non directive in nature where the respondent is given freedom to
answer within the boundaries of topic of interest.' The other form of depth interview is
'semistructrured' in nature where the interviewer covers a specific list of topics although the
linking, the sequence and the wording of each question is left to the interviewer's discretion.

In depth interviews, the interviewer asks the initial question and thereafter it is the response of
the respondents from which further questions may be generated. The interviewer using probing
techniques looks for more elaboration.

The interviewer only follows a rough outline of questions. The depth interviews have the
advantage of uncovering much uncovering much deeper feelings and insights than focus group
interviews, since they are dealing with just one respondent. However it suffers from the
drawback of being expensive, time consuming and demands skilled interviewer.

Projective Techniques

The techniques involve highly unstructured and indirect form of questioning. The central feature
of all projective techniques that is the presentation of an ambiguous, unstructured object, activity
or person that to respondent is asked to interpret and explain. These techniques are best suited in
situation where the respondent is not sure of his feelings and hence cannot express his answers
directly. The projective techniques can be classified as construction techniques, association
techniques and completion techniques.

In projective techniques, the respondents are asked to interpret the behavior of others and this
way they indirectly reveal their own behavior in the same situation. Some of these techniques are
discussed below.

1. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) - The respondent is shown a set of pictures and
then asked what he perceives of these pictures. e.g. he might be shown a picture of
students holding protest banners and his perception of what he interprets from the picture
is sought.

2. Item Substitution Test. This test involves creating two groups of respondents, the test
group and the control group. The stimulus, presented as a list of items, is given to both
the groups which is similar in all respect except for the substitution of items relevant to
the study e.g. a shopping list is given to both the groups with one list having Maggie
noodles which gets substituted by 'Top Ramen' noodles and the shopper's characteristics
can be judged.

3. Word Association Test - Respondents are presented with a list of words one at a time
and they are asked to respond immediately with the first things that come to their mind e.
g. in a study on TV viewing habits the respondents can be presented with words like
'discovery', 'soap', 'idiot', 'star' etc. This method allows respondents to reveal their inner
feelings on the topic.

4. Rorschach Test - It consists of ten cards that have print of ink blots that are although
symmetrical but defy all meaning. The respondents are asked to interpret these
cards/inkblots and their responses are interpreted on the basis of some predetermined
framework.
 5. Cloud Picture Test - This shows two or more characters conversing with each other and
cloud of one character is left empty as a response to be filled by the respondent according
to his interpretation of what the other characters are saying. It could even be a single
character with an empty cloud overhead indicating his would be response to a particular
situation.

6. Sentence Competition Test - It is similar to a word association test where instead of a

word, a sentence is left incomplete and the respondent is asked to fill it with the first
thought that comes to his mind e. g.

o People who enter politics are...................................................................

o A person who gives money to a charity is.................................................

Analysis of the response helps a researcher in concluding about the attitudes of people to various
objects or subjects.

7. Story Completion Study - A step further to sentence completion is the story completion
study: Under this a story is created by the researcher which defines the topic of research
and the respondents are asked to complete the story.

Secondary Data Collection Methods:

A researcher can obtain secondary data from various sources. Secondary data may either
be published data or unpublished data.

Published data are available in :

a. Publications of government
b. technical and trade journals
c. reports of various businesses, banks etc.
d. public records
e. statistical or historical documents.

Unpublished data may be found in letters, diaries, unpublished biographies or work.

Before using secondary data, it must be checked for the following characteristics –

1. Reliability of data – Who collected the data? From what source?, Which methods?
Time?, Possibility of bias?, Accuracy?

2. Suitability of data – The object, scope and nature of the original enquiry must be
studies and then carefully scrutinize the data for suitability.
3. Adequacy – The data is considered inadequate if the level of accuracy achieved in data
is found inadequate or if they are related to an area which may be either narrower or
wider than the area of the present enquiry.