DATA COLLECTION

By Ashwin Raphel I.G

Jominson A.J
John Suneeth
Sreemohan K.S
 Primary Data
• Data observed or collected directly from
first-hand experience.

• The key point here is that the data you

collect is unique to you and your
research and, until you publish, no one
else has access to it.
 Methods
There are many methods of collecting primary data and the main
methods include:

– QUESTIONNAIRES
– INTERVIEWS
– FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS
– OBSERVATION
– CASE-STUDIES
– DIARIES
– CRITICAL INCIDENTS
– PORTFOLIOS.

The primary data, which is generated by the above methods, may be

qualitative in nature (usually in the form of words) or quantitative (usually
in the form of numbers or where you can make counts of words used).
 Questionnaires
Questionnaires are a popular means of collecting data, but are difficult to
design and often require many rewrites before an acceptable questionnaire
is produced.

ADVANTAGES

• Can be used as a method in its own right or as a basis for interviewing or a

telephone survey.
• Can be posted, e-mailed or faxed.
• Can cover a large number of people or organizations.
• Wide geographic coverage.
• Relatively cheap.
• No prior arrangements are needed.
• Avoids embarrassment on the part of the respondent.
• Respondent can consider responses.
• Possible anonymity of respondent.
• No interviewer bias.
 Contd
DISADVANTAGES
• Design problems.
• Questions have to be relatively simple.
• Historically low response rate (although inducements may help).
• Time delay whilst waiting for responses to be returned.
• Require a return deadline.
• Several reminders may be required.
• Assumes no literacy problems.
• No control over who completes it.
• Not possible to give assistance if required.
• Problems with incomplete questionnaires.
• Replies not spontaneous and independent of each other.
• Respondent can read all questions beforehand and then decide whether
to complete or not. For example, perhaps because it is too long, too
complex, uninteresting, or too personal.
Design of Postal Questionnaires

1. Theme and Covering Letter

2. Instructions for Completion
3. Appearance
4. Length
5. Order
6. Coding
7. Thank you
8. Questions
9. Testing – Pilot Survey
10.Distribution and Return
 In Detail
Theme and covering letter
• The general theme of the questionnaire should be made
explicit in a covering letter. You should state
– Who you are;
– Why the data is required;
– Give, if necessary, an assurance of confidentiality and/or anonymity;
– Contact number and address or telephone number.

• This ensures that the respondents know what they are

committing themselves to, and also that they understand the
context of their replies.
• If possible, you should offer an estimate of the completion time.
• Instructions for return should be included with the return date
made obvious. For example: ‘It would be appreciated if you could
return the completed questionnaire by... if at all possible’.
 Contd
Instructions for completion

• You need to provide clear and unambiguous instructions for

completion.
• General instructions and Specific instructions
• Separate these, supplying the general instructions as a
preamble to the questionnaire, but leaving the specific
instructions until the questions to which they apply.
• The response method should be indicated (circle, tick, cross,
etc.).
• You should give an example.
 Contd
Appearance

• Appearance is usually the first feature of the questionnaire to which

the recipient reacts.
• A neat and professional look will encourage further consideration of
your request, increasing your response rate.
• There are a number of simple rules to help improve questionnaire
appearance:
– Liberal spacing makes the reading easier.
– Photo-reduction can produce more space without reducing content.
– Consistent positioning of response boxes, usually to the right, speeds up
completion and also avoids inadvertent omission of responses.
– Choose the font style to maximize legibility.
– Differentiate between instructions and questions. Either lower case and
capitals can be used, or responses can be boxed.
 Contd
Length
• There may be a strong temptation to include any
vaguely interesting questions, but you should resist
this at all costs.
• Excessive size can only reduce response rates.
• If a long questionnaire is necessary, then you must
give even more thought to appearance.
• It is best to leave pages unnumbered.
 Contd
Order

• Probably the most crucial stage in questionnaire response is the beginning.

• Once the respondents have started to complete the questions they will
normally finish the task, unless it is very long or difficult.
• Select the opening questions with care.
• Usually the best approach is to ask for biographical details first, as the
respondents should know all the answers without much thought.
• Another benefit is that an easy start provides practice in answering
questions.
• Essential information should appear early, just in case the questionnaire is
not completed.
• For the same reasons, relatively unimportant questions can be placed
towards the end.
 Contd
Coding

• If analysis of the results is to be carried out using a

statistical package or spreadsheet it is advisable to code
non-numerical responses when designing the
questionnaire, rather than trying to code the responses
when they are returned. An example of coding is:
Male [ ] Female [ ]
1 2

The coded responses (1 or 2) are then used for the analysis.

 Contd
Thank you

• Respondents to questionnaires rarely benefit

personally from their efforts and the least the
researcher can do is to thank them.
• Even though the covering letter will express
appreciation for the help given, it is also a nice
gesture to finish the questionnaire with a further
thank you.
Questions
• Keep the questions short, simple and to the point; avoid all unnecessary words.
• Use words and phrases that are unambiguous and familiar to the respondent. For example,
‘dinner’ has a number of different interpretations; use an alternative expression such as
‘evening meal’.
• Only ask questions that the respondent can answer. Hypothetical questions should be
avoided. Avoid calculations and questions that require a lot of memory work, for example,
‘How many people stayed in your hotel last year?’
• Avoid loaded or leading questions that imply a certain answer. For example, by mentioning
one particular item in the question, ‘Do you agree that Colgate toothpaste is the best
toothpaste?’
• Vacuous words or phrases should be avoided. ‘Generally’, ‘usually’, or ‘normally’ are
imprecise terms with various meanings. They should be replaced with quantitative
statements, for example, ‘at least once a week’.
• Questions should only address a single issue. For example, questions like: ‘Do you take
annual holidays to Spain?’ should be broken down into two discreet stages, firstly find out if
the respondent takes an annual holiday, and then secondly find out if they go to Spain.
• Do not ask two questions in one by using ‘and’. For example, ‘Did you watch television last
night and read a newspaper?’
• Avoid double negatives. For example, ‘Is it not true that you did not read a newspaper
yesterday?’ Respondents may tackle a double negative by switching both negatives and then
assuming that the same answer applies. This is not necessarily valid.
• State units required but do not aim for too high a degree of accuracy. For instance, use an
interval rather than an exact figure:
 Contd
Testing – pilot survey
• Questionnaire design is fraught with
difficulties and problems.
• A number of rewrites will be necessary,
together with refinement and rethinks on a
regular basis.
• To refine the questionnaire, you need to
conduct a pilot survey.
 Contd
Distribution and return
• The questionnaire should be checked for
completeness to ensure that all pages are
present and that none is blank or illegible.
• It is usual to supply a prepaid addressed
envelope for the return of the questionnaire
and explain this in the covering letter.
 Interviews
• Interviewing is a technique that is primarily used to gain an
understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations for people’s
attitudes, preferences or behaviour.
• Interviews can be undertaken on a personal one-to-one basis or in a
group.
• They can be conducted
– at work,
– at home,
– in the street,
– in a shopping centre,
– some other agreed location.
• Types
– Personal interview
– Telephone interview
 Personal Interview
Advantages:

• Serious approach by respondent resulting in accurate information.

• Good response rate.
• Completed and immediate.
• Possible in-depth questions.
• Interviewer in control and can give help if there is a problem.
• Can investigate motives and feelings.
• Can use recording equipment.
• Characteristics of respondent assessed – tone of voice, facial expression,
hesitation, etc.
• Can use props.
• If one interviewer used, uniformity of approach.
• Used to pilot other methods.
 Contd
Disadvantages:

• Need to set up interviews.

• Time consuming.
• Geographic limitations.
• Can be expensive.
• Normally need a set of questions.
• Respondent bias – tendency to please or impress, create false
personal image, or end interview quickly.
• Embarrassment possible if personal questions.
• Transcription and analysis can present problems – subjectivity.
• If many interviewers, training required.
 Contd
Types of interview
– Structured:
• Based on a carefully worded interview schedule.
• Frequently require short answers with the answers being ticked off.
• Useful when there are a lot of questions which are not particularly contentious
or thought provoking.
• Respondent may become irritated by having to give over-simplified answers.
– Semi-structured
• The interview is focused by asking certain questions but with scope for the
respondent to express him or herself at length.
– Unstructured
• This also called an in-depth interview.
• The interviewer begins by asking a general question.
• The interviewer then encourages the respondent to talk freely.
• The interviewer uses an unstructured format, the subsequent direction of the
interview being determined by the respondent’s initial reply.
• The interviewer then probes for elaboration – ‘Why do you say that?’ or,
‘That’s interesting, tell me more’ or, ‘Would you like to add anything else?’
being typical probes.
 Telephone Interview
This is an alternative form of interview to the personal, face-to-face
interview.

Advantages:

• Relatively cheap.
• Quick.
• Can cover reasonably large numbers of people or organizations.
• Wide geographic coverage.
• High response rate – keep going till the required number.
• No waiting.
• Spontaneous response.
• Help can be given to the respondent.
• Can tape answers.
 Contd
Disadvantages:

• Often connected with selling.

• Questionnaire required.
• Not everyone has a telephone.
• Repeat calls are inevitable – average 2.5 calls to get someone.
• Time is wasted.
• Straightforward questions are required.
• Respondent has little time to think.
• Cannot use visual aids.
• Can cause irritation.
• Good telephone manner is required.
• Question of authority.
 Getting Started
Locate the respondent:
– Repeat calls may be necessary especially if you are trying to contact
people in organizations where you may have to go through secretaries.
– You may not know an individual’s name or title – so there is the
possibility of interviewing the wrong person.
– You can send an advance letter informing the respondent that you will
be telephoning. This can explain the purpose of the research.
Getting them to agree to take part:
–  You need to state concisely the purpose of the call – scripted and
similar to the introductory letter of a postal questionnaire.
– Respondents will normally listen to this introduction before they decide
to co-operate or refuse.
– When contact is made respondents may have questions or raise
objections about why they could not participate. You should be
prepared for these.
 Comparison of postal,
telephone
and
personal interview surveys
  Postal survey Telephone survey Personal interview
Cost (assuming a good response Often lowest Usually in-between Usually highest
rate)

Ability to probe No personal contact or Some chance for gathering additional data through Greatest opportunity for observation,
observation elaboration on questions, but no personal building rapport, and additional probing
observation

Respondent ability to complete at Yes Perhaps, but usually no Perhaps, if interview time is prearranged
own convenience with respondent

Interview bias No chance Some, perhaps due to voice inflection Greatest chance

Ability to decide who actually Least Some Greatest

responds to the questions

Impersonality Greatest Some due to lack of face-to-face contact Least

Complex questions Least suitable Somewhat suitable More suitable

Visual aids Little opportunity No opportunity Greatest opportunity

Potential negative respondent ‘Junk mail’ ‘Junk calls’ Invasion of privacy

reaction

Interviewer control over interview Least Some in selection of time to call Greatest
environment

Time lag between soliciting and Greatest Least May be considerable if a large area involved
receiving response

Suitable types of questions Simple, mostly Some opportunity for open-ended questions Greatest opportunity for open-ended
dichotomous (yes/no) especially if interview is recorded questions
and multiple choice

Requirement for technical skills in Least Medium Greatest

conducting interview

Response rate Low Usually high High

 Focus Group Interview
• A focus group is an interview conducted by a
trained moderator in a non-structured and
natural manner with a small group of
respondents.
• The moderator leads the discussion.
• The main purpose of focus groups is to gain
insights by listening to a group of people from
the appropriate target market talk about
specific issues of interest.
 Observations
Observation involves recording the behavioural
patterns of people, objects and events in a
systematic manner. Observational methods may be:

– structured or unstructured
– disguised or undisguised
– natural or contrived
– personal
– mechanical
– non-participant
– participant, with the participant taking a number of
different roles.
 Case-Study
• The term case-study usually refers to a fairly intensive
examination of a single unit such as a person, a small
group of people, or a single company.
• Case-studies involve measuring what is there and how it
got there. In this sense, it is historical.
• It can enable the researcher to explore, unravel and
understand problems, issues and relationships.
• Cannot argue that from one case-study the results,
findings or theory developed apply to other similar case-
studies.
• The case-study approach is often done to make practical
improvements.
 Contd
The case-study method has four steps:

– Determine the present situation.

– Gather background information about the past
and key variables.
– Test hypotheses - The background information
collected will have been analysed for possible
hypotheses.
– Take remedial action - The aim is to check that the
hypotheses tested actually work out in practice.
 Contd
• The case-study enables rich information to be
gathered from which potentially useful hypotheses
can be generated. It can be a time-consuming
process.
• It is also inefficient in researching situations which
are already well structured and where the important
variables have been identified.
• They lack utility when attempting to reach rigorous
conclusions or determining precise relationships
between variables.
 Diaries
• A diary is a way of gathering information about
the way individuals spend their time on
professional activities.
• They are not about records of engagements or
personal journals of thought!
• Diaries can record either quantitative or
qualitative data, and in management research
can provide information about work patterns
and activities.
 Contd
Advantages:

– Useful for collecting information from employees.

– Different writers compared and contrasted simultaneously.
– Allows the researcher freedom to move from one organization
to another.
– Researcher not personally involved.
– Diaries can be used as a preliminary or basis for intensive
interviewing.
– Used as an alternative to direct observation or where
resources are limited.
 Contd
Disadvantages:
– Subjects need to be clear about what they are being asked to
do, why and what you plan to do with the data.
– Diarists need to be of a certain educational level.
– Some structure is necessary to give the diarist focus, for
example, a list of headings.
– Encouragement and reassurance are needed as completing a
diary is time-consuming and can be irritating after a while.
– Progress needs checking from time-to-time.
– Confidentiality is required as content may be critical.
– Analyses problems, so you need to consider how responses
will be coded before the subjects start filling in diaries.
 Critical Incident
• The critical incident technique is an attempt to
identify the more ‘noteworthy’ aspects of job
behavior and is based on the assumption that jobs
are composed of critical and non-critical tasks.
• For example, a critical task might be defined as one
that makes the difference between success and
failure in carrying out important parts of the job.
• The incidents are scaled in order of difficulty,
frequency and importance to the job as a whole.
 Portfolios
• The compilation of problem portfolios is recording information
about how each problem arose, methods used to solve it,
difficulties encountered, etc.
• This analysis also raises questions about the person’s use of time.
• What proportion of time is occupied in checking;
– in handling problems given by others;
– on self-generated problems;
– on ‘top-priority’ problems;
– on minor issues, etc?

The main problem with this method and the use of diaries is getting
people to agree to record everything in sufficient detail for you to
analyze. It is very time-consuming!
 Secondary Data
• Secondary data is data that has already been collected
by someone else for a different purpose.
• For example, this could mean using:
– data collected by a hotel on its customers through its guest
history system
– data supplied by a marketing organisation
– annual company reports
– government statistics.
• All methods of data collection can supply quantitative
data (numbers, statistics or financial) or qualitative data
(usually words or text). Quantitative data may often be
presented in tabular or graphical form.
 Uses of Secondary Data

• Secondary data can be used in different ways:

1) You can simply report the data in its original
format. If so, then it is most likely that the place
for this data will be in your main introduction or
literature review as support or evidence for your
argument.
 Contd
2) You can do something with the data. If you use it (analyze it
or re-interpret it) for a different purpose to the original then
the most likely place would be in the ‘Analysis of findings’
section of your dissertation. A good example of this usage
was the work on suicide carried out by Durkheim. He took
the official suicide statistics of different countries (recorded
by coroners or their equivalent) and analyzed them to see if
he could identify variables that would mean that some
people are more likely to commit suicide than others. He
found, for example, that Catholics were less likely to commit
suicide than Protestants. In this way, he took data that had
been collected for quite a different purpose and used it in his
own study – but he had to do a lot of comparisons and
statistical correlations himself in order to analyze the data.
 Preparation of Secondary Data
• There are many Title (for example, the time period that the data
refers to and the geographical coverage).
• Units of the data.
• Source (some secondary data is already secondary data).
• Column and row headings, if presented in tabular form.
• Definitions and abbreviations, for example, what does SIC stand for?
For example, how is ‘small’ defined in the phrase ‘small hotel’? Is
‘small’ based on the number of rooms, value of sales, number of
employees, profit, turnover, square meters of space, etc., and do
different sources use the word ‘small’ in different ways? Even if the
same unit of measurement is used, there still could be problems. For
example, in Norway, firms with 200-499 employees are defined as
‘medium’, whereas in the USA firms with less than 500 employees are
defined as ‘small’.
 Sources of Secondary Data
Sources can be classified as:
Paper-based sources – books, journals,
periodicals, abstracts, indexes, directories,
research reports, conference papers,
market reports, annual reports, internal
records of organizations, newspapers and
magazines
Electronic sources– CD-ROMs, on-line
databases, Internet, videos and broadcasts.
 Contd
The main sources of qualitative and
quantitative secondary data include the
following:

Official or government sources.

Unofficial or general business sources.
 Market Research Panel

Market research panels are comprised of

people meeting certain demographic
criterion. They are commonly used for
obtaining business information about product
sales and are sometimes mistakenly referred
to as focus groups
 Two Forms of panels

1. For the consumer market

2. For collecting business-to-business
(B2B) purchasing information
 Selection of Panels
Panels can be chosen from :

 A target audience segment.

 Current customers.

 Potential customers.

 Any other particular group the originator of the study

wants to include
 The Consumer Panel
 Usually is a good cross-section of the population.
 They may be asked to keep a diary, answer questions
online, or attend a focus group meeting.
 There may be a visit to their actual homes for research of
buying habits.
 Investigate behavioral factors that influence buying
decisions.
 Investigate emotions.
 Investigate subjective factors.
anel for B2B Purchasing information
 Focuses on products sold in the business-to-business
arena.
 More specifically oriented towards the world of business.
 There would be more questions or discussions about:
1. Competition.
2. Government legislation.
3. The market.
4. Impact of the economy.
5. Other factors that are related to that type
of business
 Marketing Budget
Budget

• Budget is a financial or quantitative statement,

prepared and approved prior to defined period of
time, of the policy to be pursued during the period
for the purpose of attaining a given objective

• The whole process of designing, implementing and

operating budget is called budgeting
 Advantages of Budgeting
• A basis for internal audit for regularly evaluating
departmental result
• Scarce resources can be allocated in an optimal way
• It forces management to plan ahead so that long term goals
are achieved
• Communication and coordination throughout the firm
improves
• Participation in budget has a motivational impact on the work
force
• Areas of efficiency and inefficiency are identified
• People are made responsible for items of cost and revenue
 Problems in Budgeting
• They are perceived by work force as pressure device
imposed by top management

• Departmental conflict arises because of competition for

resources allocation.

• They make allowance for task to be performed only in

relation to volume rather than time
 Budgeting Process
• Specification and communication of organizational
objective
• Determination of key success factor
• Establishment of clear lines of authority and
responsibility
• Establishment of budget centers
• Determination of budget period
• Establishment of budget committee
• Appointment of budget controller
• Preparation of budget manual
 Flexible Budget
• Flexible budget is a budget which by
recognizes the difference in behavior between
fixed and variable cost in relation to
fluctuation in output, turnover or other
variable factor etc. it is designed to change in
relation to the level of activity actually
attained.
 Steps in Preperation
• Specify the time period that is used
• Classify all the cost into fixed, variable and
semi-variable categories.
• Determine the types of standards that are to
be used.
• Analyze the cost behavior pattern in response
past levels of activity
• Build up appropriate flexible budget for
specific level of activity.
 Importance of Flexible Budget

• Flexible budget enable an organization to predict its

performance and income level at a given level of sales
level and activity levels.

• Impact of changes in sales and production levels on

revenue, expenses and ultimately income

• Flexible budget enables more accurate assessment of

managerial and organizational performance.
Fixed budget Flexible budget
Cost are not classified Cost are classified according to
according to their variability the nature of their variability
It remains the same It can be suitably recasted
irrespective of the volume of quickly to suit the changed
business activity conditions
It assumes that conditions It is designed to change
would remain static according to a change in the
level of activity
Actual and budgeted Comparison are realistic since
performance cannot be the changed plan figure are
correctly compared if the placed against actual ones
volume of activity differs
Budget has limited application Budget has more application
 Marketing Budget
• A marketing budget is an estimate of
projected costs to market your products or
services.
• A typical marketing budget will take into
account all marketing costs, like
1. Marketing communications
2. Salaries for marketing managers
3. Cost of office space
 Helpful Pre-Budget Research
• Industry and Market Research

• Competitor Analysis/SWOT

• Internal marketing performance records e.g.

marketing metrics, marketing controls.

• Marketing Audit.
Typical general marketing Expenses

• Advertising agency commissions

• Salaries for marketing managers
• Salaries for marketing support e.g. marketing
assistants.
• Office space
• Fixtures and fittings
• Travel costs
• Other direct and indirect marketing costs, including
marketing communications costs
Typical marketing Communication
Cost
• Personal Selling
• Public Relations
• Printing
• Mailing
• Website Development & Hosting
• Brochure Design
• Advertising
• Television Advertising
• Radio Advertising
• Direct Marketing
• Newspaper Advertising
• Proposal Development/bid submittal
• Networking
• Event Attendance
• Sales Promotion
• Many other marketing communications tools
 References
• http://brent.tvu.ac.uk/dissguide/hm1u3/hm1u3text
3.htm
• http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/prim
ary-data.html#ixzz17sT9iEuN
• http://marketresearchpanels.com/market-research-
panels/what-are-they/
• http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-
store/lesson-marketing-budget.html
Thank U !!!