Primary Data Collection

Methods
Learning Development Unit
Ina Stan
Introduction
• This lecture will discuss:
• The types of quantitative data collection methods,
focusing on questionnaires
• Threats to the validity of surveys
• Qualitative data collection methods, focusing on
interviews, focus groups and participant observations
• Questionnaire construction (in the seminar)
Data collection methods
• ‘Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring
information on variables of interest, often through methods such as
interviews and surveys’ (Sage Research Methods, 2019).
• Date collection methods are the tools used to collect the data.
• The choice of methods depends on the purpose of the study,
resources available and the skills of the researcher (Kumar, 2010).
Types of Quantitative Methods
• Surveys and questionnaires
• Systematic observations
• Record reviews
• Longitudinal studies
• Case studies
• Experiments
Surveys and questionnaires
• These two terms appear to be used interchangeably,
however they are quite different:
• Surveys are methods in which data is gathered through
oral or written questioning.
• Questionnaires represent the written questioning part of
the survey. (Oral questioning is interviewing).
(Sarantakos, 2005)
Types of surveys
• There are many different types of surveys:
• The household questionnaire survey
• The street survey
• The telephone survey
• The mail survey
• E-surveys
• User/on-site/visitor survey
• Captive group survey
The household questionnaire surveys
• They are generally representative of the community, as the samples
include all age-groups, and all occupational groups.
• They generally represent a complete geographical area, e.g. a whole
country, a county or region, a local government or a neighbourhood.
• They are designed to provide information on the community as a
whole.
• They are normally interviewer-completed by face-to-face interview.
• They can be left at respondent’s home and collected later.
The household questionnaire surveys
• Being home-based, they can involve lengthy questionnaires and
interviews (20-30 minutes).
• Because they are lengthy and wide-spread geographically, they are
usually the most expensive to conduct per interview.
• Omnibus surveys are types of household surveys that include various
questions on behalf of different clients.
• Time-use surveys are designed to collect information about people’s
use of time, and they can be part of a house-hold survey.
National surveys
• They are typically large-scale house-hold or telephone surveys.
• They are used for comparison with locally conducted surveys.
• The aim is to establish if the local community is above or below the
national average on some participation measure.
• The local survey must be conducted in a similar way and the
comparison questions must be similarly worded.
The street survey
• It involves a relatively short questionnaire and is conducted on the
street.
• As it involves stopping people in the street, there are certain
limitations on the interview process.
• As it is generally shorter (around 5 minutes), the range of topics
covered is restricted and this must be taken into account when
designing the questionnaire.
• Another limitation is the representativeness of the sample, as certain
types of people may not be included.
The telephone survey
• It reaches a wide spread sample in a quick and easy way.
• It excludes non-telephone subscribers.
• The length of the interview may be a limitation (10-15 minutes).
• Sampling can be an issue, normally people are randomly chosen from
the phone directory.
• In order to be representative, they would have to be conducted in the
evening or at weekends to reach those who work.
• Respondents cannot be shown lists or images, which can be a serious
limitation.
The mail survey
• The mail survey has the advantage that a large sample can be
included.
• The biggest problem with this type of surveys is the low response rate
(only 25-30%).
• This raises questions around their validity, when 70% of the target
sample is not represented.
Influencing factors on low response rates of
mail surveys
• The interest of the respondent in the survey topic
• The length of the questionnaire
• Questionnaire design / presentation / complexity
• Style, content and authorship of the accompanying letter
• Provision of a postage-paid reply envelope
• Rewards for responding
• Number and timing of reminders/follow-ups.
Mail and user/site/visitor surveys combos
• A common practice is to conduct brief face-to-face interviews in a
particular site and ask respondents to complete a mail survey (or e-
survey).
• This shortens the time taken to conduct the on-site interview, but
offers the opportunity to the respondents to give their views on the
site/event when their visit has been completed.
E-surveys
• They are conducted via the Internet.
• They have become increasingly popular due to the high costs and low
response rates of telephone and mail surveys.
• They can range from simply using an email to send out a traditional
questionnaire, to fully online questionnaires.
• An e-survey can be combined with a user/site/visitor survey.
• They are low cost and can be conducted very quickly.
• They are very user-friendly.
• They can include images, audios, videos.
Disadvantages of e-surveys
• They are confined only to those with access to the Internet.
• Low response rate may still be a problem (junk mail).
• The possibility of data corruption via virus transmission.
• The possibility of bogus replies (hackers).
Interviewer-completed questionnaires
• They are structured interviews, they are rigid in the order of question
framing and in the choice of question responses.
• Questions are generally closed to remove researcher bias, however
open ended questions may be asked too.
• The respondent does not have to write anything down, which makes
it less intrusive.
• Visual images can be used.
• Face-to-face interaction can contribute to increased participation.
Interviewer-completed questionnaires
• There is a higher response rate.
• Clarification may be given regarding language problems or terms
used.
• Longer surveys may be used due to the personal engagement
between the respondent and interviewer.
• Observation may be included in the data collection.
• The costs are very high.
• Difficult to ensure anonymity and confidentiality.
Pilot studies
• They enable the researcher to determine that the categories provided
for questions are valid and reliable measures, the terms are
understandable, the question order flows and how long it takes, as
well as the suitability for analysis.
• Pilot studies are not included in the analysis.
Threats to validity
• Non-respondents may be significantly different from respondents,
thus resulting in a biased sample.
• The lack of clarity of the questionnaire, e.g. leading questions, results
in inaccurate data.
• Respondents’ desire to impress may result in exaggeration of good
points and down-playing of bad points.
• People may be reluctant to provide private/sensitive information,
which results in incomplete/inaccurate information.
• Respondents may have difficulty with the language.
Threats to validity
• Long interviews may lead to incomplete responses.
• The environment where the interview takes place may be
distracting/noisy, resulting in inaccuracies or incompleteness.
• The quality of the interviewer may affect the accuracy and
completeness of responses.
• Respondents have difficulty in understanding questions, or in writing
answers for the open-ended questions.
Types of Qualitative Methods
• Participant Observation
• Open-ended interviews
• Reflexive diaries
• Focus groups
• Hermeneutics (interpretation of texts)
• Photographs, drawings, collections
What is an interview?
• A straightforward method for extracting data from a meeting
between two or more people.
• A situation in which one person controls questions asked and topics
to be covered and at least one other person provides answers to
those questions.
• They seek to find out people’s perceptions of things in their own
words.
• Everything the interviewee (and interviewer) says is recorded for
future analysis.
Levels of structure in interviews
 Semi-structured interviews have a small amount of structure
◦ Pre-determined themes/topics for exploration and some set questions (a ‘shopping list’ of
things to be explored through the interview)
◦ The interviewer has control, but allows the interviewee considerable freedom to talk
◦ Depending on how the conversation goes, the interviewer can choose to omit planned
questions or add new ones
 Unstructured interviews have minimal structure (but despite the name, they do have some
structure)
◦ Only a general area of interest or concern is pre-determined
◦ The interviewer and interviewee are equals in the conversation
◦ To be avoided unless you are an experienced researcher and conversationalist

 Semi-structured and unstructured interviews are often referred to as in-depth or qualitative

interviews.
Semi-structured interviews
• They usually make use of an interview guide or an interview schedule.
• An interview guide is a series of topics/broad interview questions used by the
researcher to freely explore and probe the interviewee (Patton, 1990).
• An interview schedule is an interview format consisting of a detailed set of
questions and probes.
• Preparing questions in advance is recommended for beginning researchers.
• During the interview the researcher will discover what is important for the
interviewee, within the broad boundaries of the questions, and pursue these new
discoveries (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994).
Focus groups
• They utilise semi-structured or unstructured approach to interview, but with two or more
interviewees.
• Sometimes they involve the interviewees performing a task of some kind (becomes an
observational technique as well as an interview) – ‘true’ focus group
Positives:
• Can allow for a greater sample size
• Can counter reticence issues
• They may make the interview situation less strange for interviewees, encouraging them to be
more forthcoming (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995).

Negatives:
• Can influence opinion of individuals
• Notoriously difficult to transcribe (video recording rather than audio is preferred)
Foundations of qualitative interviewing
• It requires:
• intense listening
• a respect for and curiosity about what people say
• a systematic effort to really hear and understand what people tell you (Rubin
and Rubin, 1995)
• Building rapport with the interviewee is essential (Walford, 2001).
• Persistent involvement with interviewees will allow for a deeper
understanding of their perceptions (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994).
Qualitative interviews
• Conversation with a purpose (Berg, 1989; Dexter, 1985)
• The art of focussed sociability (Fontana and Frey, 1994)
• Interviewee informs rather than responds (Powney and Watts, 1987)
• Flexible in design... your research objectives can be formed or modified
depending on what appears to be important/significant to the interviewee
• Seeks a lot of rich, in-depth data from a small number of people.
When do we use interviews
• To find out what people think, to learn about the world of others
(Rubin and Rubin, 1995).
• To gain participant perspectives, the language and meanings
constructed by individuals (Bogdan and Biklen, 1982).
• In combination with observations, they allow for a different
perspective on what is going on in the research setting (Delamont,
2002).
Preparing for qualitative interviews
Qualitative interviews normally require less up-front preparation than quantitative
techniques, but some preparation is necessary.

• Think critically about the interviewing skills that you have and what you may need
to work on beforehand or pay special attention to during the interview:
interviewers need particular skills.
• Create a shopping list of topics to cover using your aim/question/objectives (a
clear vision of what you want to achieve)
• Write down any specific, important questions you definitely want an answer to... if
they are not answered ‘naturally’ in the conversation, then you can ask these at
the end of the interview
• Think carefully about the time and setting for each interview
• Think carefully about how you will present yourself (e.g. first contact, attire etc)
• Think about what you need to inform the interviewee of before or during the
interview, and how you will inform them
 Skills of the interviewer
Interviewers must be:
• Knowledgeable – familiar with the topic area
• Clear – uses concise, short questions with minimal jargon
• Gentle – lets people finish, gives time to think and tolerates pauses
• Sensitive – listens intently and is empathetic
• Steering – keeps the interview on-topic
• Critical – is prepared to challenge what is said
• Remembering – is able to connect what is said to previous responses and previous
interviewee responses
• Balanced – talking too much vs too little
• Interpretive – deciphers meaning in responses and able to link them to research
objectives
• Ethically sensitive – is open about the purpose of the interview and demonstrates
knowledge of and sensitivity to the interviewee’s needs
(Kvale, 1996)
 Participant observation
• It is a method of qualitative data collection developed by
anthropologists.
• It requires listening carefully and observing keenly what goes on to
acquire a deep understanding of the people in the social situation,
organisation or culture (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994).
• It involves making records of the phenomena witnessed or of the
situations one is part of, in field notes or in the fieldwork diary.
 What Are Field Notes?
• ‘The qualitative researcher’s field notes contain what has been seen
and heard by the researcher, without interpretation’ (Maykut and
Morehouse, 1994, p. 73).
• Without a written record the keen observations and important
conversations one has in the field cannot be used.
 Example 1
• Dan: Is this your bird?
• Gary: Yeah, Izzy, this is Dan.
• Izzy: Bird?
• Gary: Sorry, my girlfriend.
 Example 2
• Dan: Is this your bird?
• Gary: Yeah, Izzy, this is Dan.
• Izzy: (aghast) Bird? (turns away from them both. Daniel walks away
laughing).
• Gary: (biting his bottom lip) Sorry, my girlfriend (puts his hand on her
shoulder apologetically).
 Example 3
• Dan: Is this your bird?
• Gary: Yeah, Izzy, this is Dan.
• Izzy: (aghast) Bird? (turns away from them both. Daniel walks away
laughing). [Izzy seems offended]
• Gary: (biting his bottom lip) Sorry, my girlfriend (puts his hand on her
shoulder) [apologetically]
References
Kumar, R. (2010) Research methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners.
4th edn. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Sage Research Methods (2019) Data collection. Available at:
http://methods.sagepub.com/Search/Results (Accessed: 25 January 2019).
Sarantakos, S. (2005) Social research. 3rd ed. Melbourne: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sparks, B., Bradley, G. and Jennings, G. (2009) Derived customer value
project: conceptualisation and measurement of derived customer value: an
application to the timeshare industry. ARC Linkage Research Programme.
[online] www.griffith.edu.au. [Accessed 11 November 2013]
Veal, A.J. (2011) Research methods for leisure and tourism: a practical guide.
4th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Yin, R. (2009) Case study research, design and methods. 4th ed. Thousand
Oaks: Sage.
Seminar
 Reading Log

With your group or pair:

Talk about one new idea you gained from reading the piece

Note one new word you learnt and tell the others what you think it
means

Reference the source

Questionnaire design
• Every question included must be linked back to the research
questions.
• Avoid jargon.
• Simplify wherever possible.
• Avoid ambiguity.
• Avoid leading questions.
• Ask only one question at a time (i.e. avoid multi-purpose questions).
• Use of ‘negatives’ is free from confusion.
• Be very specific.
Examples
Poor example Good example
• What is your usual mode • How do you travel to
of transportation that you conferences?
utilise to go to a
conference? • Have you ever missed a plane
• Have you been in a connection?
situation when you missed
a plane connection?
• In the last 12 months, how • In the last 12 months, how
often have you travelled to often have you flown to attend
a national conference a national conference?
and/or international • In the last 12 months, how
conference by using air often have you flown to attend
travel? an international conference?
Examples
Poor example Good example
• Do you think that taxes • Should air pollution
for air pollution should taxes be included in the
be included in the ticket ticket price?
price?
• Racial discrimination • Racial discrimination
should not be allowed should be illegal when
when conducting conducting security
security measures at measures at airport.
airports.
Agree or disagree
Agree or disagree
Examples
Poor example Good example
• Do you agree or disagree • Are you aware of the
environmental
with the environmental management charge
management charge policy?
policy? Yes or no
If yes, then ask:
• Do you agree or disagree
with the environmental
management charge
policy?
If no, go to Question…
Examples
Poor example Good example
• How many overnight • How many overnight
business trips do you go business trips did you go
on? on in the last month?
• What is your opinion on
• What is your opinion on using recyclable
using recyclable materials at
materials at conferences?
conferences? Agree, no opinion
Agree or disagree /undecided, disagree
Types of questions included in questionnaires:
• Checklists
• Ranking scales
• Likert scales
• Semantic differential scales
• Scenarios
• Open-ended questions
Checklists/Multiple choice
• They enable the researcher to present a number of categories from which a respondent
can select a limited/unlimited number of categories.
Question 10 How did you find out about this event? (You may tick more than one answer)
a) Personal knowledge…………………………………( )
b) Work place …………………………………………( )
c) Newspapers………………………………………( )
d) Brochures…………………………………( )
e) Acquaintances…………………………………………( )
f) Radio programmes ……………………………… ( )
g) Radio ads ……………………………………………( )
h) Internet sources……………………………………( )
i) Other___________________________________
Ranking scales
They ask the respondents to rank an entire list or to select and rank a limited
number from a list.
Question 15 Please identify the top five aspects you most enjoyed about
this event. (Use each of the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 only once. 1 indicates
the most enjoyed aspect and 5 indicates the fifth most-enjoyed aspect).
Aspects enjoyed
a) Friendliness of staff
b) Quality of speakers
c) Quality of presentations
d) Timetabling of presentations
e) Food
Likert scales
• This is a rating scale that measures attitudes.
• It involves the generation of a number of items related to a research topic.
• Initially, a large number of items are generated in relation to the topic.
• Statements using those items are then prepared with five-point response
sets using, for instance, strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, strongly
disagree.
• A pilot test of the statement is then constructed to determine their
unidimensionality and their internal consistency (Sarantakos, 2005).
• Those statements are then used to build a questionnaire.
Example of Likert scale
(Sparks, Bradley and Jennings, 2009)
I feel that I receive value out of the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
use of timeshare ownership Strongly Disagree Slightly Neutral Slightly Agree Strongly
disagree disagree agree disagree
It could force me to take a regular, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
restful holiday
It is cheap compared to other 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
holidays
I can/could meet and socialise with 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
new people whilst on my holiday
The resorts are very consistent in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
quality
It is simple to arrange timeshare 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
holidays
I get lots of new experiences 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
through my timeshare holidays
I could meet new people on my 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
timeshare holidays
Semantic differential scales
• They can be used to determine independent and comparative
measure of concepts.
• The scale itself is made up of two opposites.
Active 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Passive

Educational 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Non-
educational
Flexible 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Rigid

Guided 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Non-guided
Scenarios
• They are used to standardise a context.

You are on an income of £30,000 per annum. You are single, you own your
own home, you have no credit card debts and have been granted a four-
week paid holiday leave two months from now. Which of the following
destinations would you choose?
a) Thailand
b) Japan
c) Italy
d) United States of America
Open-ended questions
• Space on the questionnaire should be provided for the respondent to
write their answer.
• The respondent should also be given enough time to answer.
Why did you choose to attend this particular event?
How to be a successful student?
• Consider the learning partnership agreement and the perspectives of
the following members of staff on how to be a successful student.
The Learning Partnership Agreement
 Student Commitments – how are you committed?
Take personal responsibility for learning and development
Fully contribute to an effective and enjoyable community of learning and growth
Be punctual and well prepared for all scheduled learning activities including examinations

Submit assessed work on time

Work with academic honesty to avoid plagiarism
Understand the responsibility to comply with the University’s rules and regulations, security and safety protocols
and the consequences of not abiding by them
Give notice of any absences
Interact with student representatives and actively engage in feedback processes
Take responsibility for personal and skills development and wider opportunities by using the confidential advice,
guidance, and support services available
Respect the physical environment of the University including Halls of Residence and behave considerately
towards the local community
Pete Eley – Lecturer in Criminology
• Attendance
• at lectures and seminars
• but also use Blackboard
• Communication
• Ask questions - there’s always someone else
wondering the same thing
• E-mail
• Send apologies if unable to attend
• Respond to e-mails from tutors
• Participation
• Join in class discussions
• Working in a group
• Making friends
• Set your own personal goals
• Little and often
• Be excited
Lauren O’Shea – SU Sabbatical Officer
• Preparation
• Don’t write essays the night before
the deadline
• Practice your presentations
• Read recommended material before
a lecture/seminar – makes it easier
to discuss a topic
• Enjoy yourself but mind the
balance between work and study
• A degree may get you a job
interview but everything else
about you will make you successful
• Be passionate
Lauren Staveley – level 6 student
• Planning
• Set targets based around tasks
and work rather than time
• Resources
• Use all the resources available at
Uni
• Especially things like Box of
Broadcasts – watch
documentaries, listen to radio
broadcasts
• Work hard
Group task
In groups of 3-4, design a questionnaire to help you obtain data about
‘How to be a successful student’.
• Consider how will you introduce the research.
• Consider the types of questions you would like to include in your
questionnaire:
• Checklists
• Ranking scales
• Likert scales
• Semantic differential scales
• Scenarios
• Open-ended questions
• Consider how long should your questionnaire be.
• Consider the topics you would like to cover.
Group task
• Pilot your questionnaire with your classmates.
• After you finish, get feedback regarding the clarity of the questions
and how long it took.
• Share your experience with the class.
How did it go?
Reading Log for next week