Data Collection | Definition, Methods & Examples

Published on June 5, 2020 by Pritha Bhandari. Revised on June 21, 2023.

Data collection is a systematic process of gathering observations or measurements. Whether you are
performing research for business, governmental or academic purposes, data collection allows you to gain
first-hand knowledge and original insights into your research problem.

While methods and aims may differ between fields, the overall process of data collection remains largely
the same. Before you begin collecting data, you need to consider:

• The aim of the research

• The type of data that you will collect

• The methods and procedures you will use to collect, store, and process the data

To collect high-quality data that is relevant to your purposes, follow these four steps.

Table of contents

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Step 1: Define the aim of your research

Before you start the process of data collection, you need to identify exactly what you want to achieve.
You can start by writing a problem statement: what is the practical or scientific issue that you want to
address and why does it matter?

Next, formulate one or more research questions that precisely define what you want to find out.
Depending on your research questions, you might need to collect quantitative or qualitative data:

• Quantitative data is expressed in numbers and graphs and is analyzed through statistical
methods.

• Qualitative data is expressed in words and analyzed through interpretations and categorizations.

If your aim is to test a hypothesis, measure something precisely, or gain large-scale statistical insights,
collect quantitative data. If your aim is to explore ideas, understand experiences, or gain detailed insights
into a specific context, collect qualitative data. If you have several aims, you can use a mixed methods
approach that collects both types of data.

Examples of quantitative and qualitative research aimsYou are researching employee perceptions of their
direct managers in a large organization.

• Your first aim is to assess whether there are significant differences in perceptions of managers
across different departments and office locations.

• Your second aim is to gather meaningful feedback from employees to explore new ideas for how
managers can improve.

You decide to use a mixed-methods approach to collect both quantitative and qualitative data.
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Step 2: Choose your data collection method

Based on the data you want to collect, decide which method is best suited for your research.

• Experimental research is primarily a quantitative method.

• Interviews, focus groups, and ethnographies are qualitative methods.

• Surveys, observations, archival research and secondary data collection can be quantitative or
qualitative methods.

Carefully consider what method you will use to gather data that helps you directly answer your research
questions.

Data collection methods

Method When to use How to collect data

Experiment To test a causal relationship. Manipulate variables and measure their effects on others.

Survey To understand the general Distribute a list of questions to a sample online, in person or
characteristics or opinions of a group of over-the-phone.
people.

Interview/focus To gain an in-depth understanding of Verbally ask participants open-ended questions in individual
group perceptions or opinions on a topic. interviews or focus group discussions.

Observation To understand something in its natural Measure or survey a sample without trying to affect them.
setting.

Ethnography To study the culture of a community or Join and participate in a community and record your
organization first-hand. observations and reflections.

Archival research To understand current or historical Access manuscripts, documents or records from libraries,
events, conditions or practices. depositories or the internet.

Secondary data To analyze data from populations that Find existing datasets that have already been collected, from
collection you can’t access first-hand. sources such as government agencies or research
organizations.

Step 3: Plan your data collection procedures

When you know which method(s) you are using, you need to plan exactly how you will implement them.
What procedures will you follow to make accurate observations or measurements of the variables you
are interested in?
For instance, if you’re conducting surveys or interviews, decide what form the questions will take; if
you’re conducting an experiment, make decisions about your experimental design (e.g.,
determine inclusion and exclusion criteria).

Operationalization

Sometimes your variables can be measured directly: for example, you can collect data on the average
age of employees simply by asking for dates of birth. However, often you’ll be interested in collecting
data on more abstract concepts or variables that can’t be directly observed.

Operationalization means turning abstract conceptual ideas into measurable observations. When
planning how you will collect data, you need to translate the conceptual definition of what you want to
study into the operational definition of what you will actually measure.

Example of operationalizationYou have decided to use surveys to collect quantitative data. The concept
you want to measure is the leadership of managers. You operationalize this concept in two ways:

• You ask managers to rate their own leadership skills on 5-point scales assessing the ability to
delegate, decisiveness and dependability.

• You ask their direct employees to provide anonymous feedback on the managers regarding the
same topics.

Using multiple ratings of a single concept can help you cross-check your data and assess the test
validity of your measures.

Sampling
You may need to develop a sampling plan to obtain data systematically. This involves defining
a population, the group you want to draw conclusions about, and a sample, the group you will actually
collect data from.

Your sampling method will determine how you recruit participants or obtain measurements for your
study. To decide on a sampling method you will need to consider factors like the required sample size,
accessibility of the sample, and timeframe of the data collection.

Standardizing procedures

If multiple researchers are involved, write a detailed manual to standardize data collection procedures in
your study.

This means laying out specific step-by-step instructions so that everyone in your research team collects
data in a consistent way – for example, by conducting experiments under the same conditions and using
objective criteria to record and categorize observations. This helps you avoid common research
biases like omitted variable bias or information bias.

This helps ensure the reliability of your data, and you can also use it to replicate the study in the future.

Creating a data management plan

Before beginning data collection, you should also decide how you will organize and store your data.

• If you are collecting data from people, you will likely need to anonymize and safeguard the data
to prevent leaks of sensitive information (e.g. names or identity numbers).

• If you are collecting data via interviews or pencil-and-paper formats, you will need to
perform transcriptions or data entry in systematic ways to minimize distortion.

• You can prevent loss of data by having an organization system that is routinely backed up.

Step 4: Collect the data

Finally, you can implement your chosen methods to measure or observe the variables you are interested
in.

Examples of collecting qualitative and quantitative dataTo collect data about perceptions of managers,
you administer a survey with closed- and open-ended questions to a sample of 300 company employees
across different departments and locations.

The closed-ended questions ask participants to rate their manager’s leadership skills on scales from 1–5.
The data produced is numerical and can be statistically analyzed for averages and patterns.

The open-ended questions ask participants for examples of what the manager is doing well now and
what they can do better in the future. The data produced is qualitative and can be categorized
through content analysis for further insights.

To ensure that high quality data is recorded in a systematic way, here are some best practices:

• Record all relevant information as and when you obtain data. For example, note down whether
or how lab equipment is recalibrated during an experimental study.
 • Double-check manual data entry for errors.

• If you collect quantitative data, you can assess the reliability and validity to get an indication of
your data quality.

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Other interesting articles

If you want to know more about statistics, methodology, or research bias, make sure to check out some
of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Statistics

• Student’s t-distribution

• Normal distribution

• Null and Alternative Hypotheses

• Chi square tests

• Confidence interval

• Kurtosis

Methodology

• Cluster sampling

• Stratified sampling

• Data cleansing

• Reproducibility vs Replicability

• Peer review

• Likert scale

Research bias

• Implicit bias

• Framing effect

• Cognitive bias

• Placebo effect

• Hawthorne effect

• Hindsight bias
 • Affect heuristic

Frequently asked questions about data collection

What is data collection?

What are the benefits of collecting data?

What’s the difference between quantitative and qualitative methods?

What’s the difference between reliability and validity?

What is operationalization?

What is mixed methods research?

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