Additional Information on the Research

Process
DATA COLLECTION METHODS & TOOLS: ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES

• Data collection method is the process of gathering information from different sources to
find answers to specific problems and questions. The goal is to discover quality evidence
that allows you to formulate credible answers and conclusions.
NB:
Before going further into different data collection methods, we need to explain the 2
main types of data – quantitative and qualitative.
QUALITATIVE VS QUANTITATIVE DATA

• Quantitative data can be expressed as a number or can be quantified. It is easily amenable to

statistical manipulation and mathematical calculations. Examples of quantitative data: shoe size,
number of hours women spend on shopping, square feet of an apartment, price, length, amount, etc.
Typically, quantitative research questions are closed-ended and the answers can be easily turned into
numbers, graphs, or tables.
• Qualitative data is information that can’t be expressed as a number and can’t be measured. It consists
of words, pictures, observations, and symbols, not numbers. It is about qualities. Examples of
qualitative data: socioeconomic status, colors, favorite holiday destinations such as Hawaii and New
Zealand, ethnicity such as American Indian and Asian, etc. Mostly, qualitative data collection methods
have open-ended questions and detailed answers.
• THE PROS AND CONS OF DATA
COLLECTION METHODS
(COMPARISON)
Data Collection Method Advantages Disadvantages
. Interview: – Accurate screening. – High costs as this method
The interview is a meeting The interviewee can’t provide require a staff of people to
between an interviewer and false information such as gender, perform the interview.
interviewee. Interviews can be age, or race.
done face-to-face or via video
conferencing tools – The interviewer can capture – The quality of the collected
raw emotions, tone, voice, and data depends on the ability of
word choices to gain a deeper the interviewer to gather data
understanding. well

– Interviewers can ask follow-

up questions and require – A time-consuming
additional information to process that involves
understand attitudes, transcription, organization,
motivations, etc. reporting, etc
Data Collection Method
 Advantages Disadvantages

2. Surveys And Questionnaires. – Ease of data collection – an – Survey fraud. Answers may

online survey with a hundred or not be honest. There are people
They are used to ask respondents more respondents can be who answer online surveys just to
a set of questions (both types – conducted fast. receive a promised reward.
open- and closed-ended
questions). – Online surveys are easily – Many questions might be left
accessible and can be deployed unanswered and participants
via many online channels like may not stay fully engaged to the
web, mobile, email, etc. end.

– Low price compared to other

methods – Many questions might be left
unanswered and participants
may not stay fully engaged to the
end.
Data Collection Method
 Advantages Disadvantages

2. Surveys And Questionnaires.

They are used to ask respondents – Without someone to explain,

a set of questions (both types – Easy to analyze and present participants may have different
open- and closed-ended with different  interpretations of your
questions). data visualization types questions.
– A wide range of data types
 can be collected such as
attitudes, opinions, values, etc. – Cannot fully capture
emotions and feelings
Data Collection Method
 Advantages Disadvantages

3. Focus Groups - Easy measure the reaction of – High costs – focus groups are
customers to your brand, products, much more expensive compared to
or marketing campaigns. surveys.
A focus group includes dialogue
with a group of deliberately – The moderator can ask – Moderator Bias. Moderators can
selected participants who discuss a questions to gain a deeper have a significant impact on the
particular topic. understanding of the respondents’ outcome of the discussion.
emotions.
Participants’ answers influence each – For sensitive topics, participants
other during the discussion. The – The moderator can observe can not give honest answers.
focus group is led by a person non-verbal responses, such as
called a moderator. body language or facial
expressions. – The extrovert members can
dominate the conversation with a
– Provide brainstorming more aggressive approach to giving
opportunities and participants can feedback.
create new ideas.
Data Collection Method  Advantages Disadvantages
4. Observation – Simple to collect data. Observation – Cannot study attitudes and opinions
Observation involves a person who does not require tech skills of the by observing.
observes events, people, and researcher.
interactions around a topic to provide a – Can take a lot of time if the observer
rich description of them. – Allows for a detailed description of has to wait for a particular event to
behaviors, intentions, and events. happen.
Observation happens in the natural
setting of the participant. Ethnographic – Greater accuracy and data quality. – A high potential for observer’s
research, for example, relies primarily The observer can view participants in subjective bias. The personal view of
on observation. their natural environment and directly the observer can be an obstacle to
check their behavior. making valid conclusions.

– Doesn’t depend on people’s – Expensive method. It requires a high

willingness to report. Some cost, effort, and plenty of time.
respondents don’t want to speak about
themselves or don’t have time for that. – Situations of the past cannot be
studied.
Data Collection Method  Advantages Disadvantages
5. Records And Documents – Ease of data collection – the data – Information may be out of date or
already exists and no additional effort is inapplicable.
This method involves extracting and needed.
analyzing data from existing – No need of searching and – The process of evaluating documents
documents. motivating respondents to participate. and records can be time-consuming.

The documents can be internal to an – Allows you to track progress. Helps – Can be an incomplete data collection
organization (such as emails, sales you understand the history behind an method because the researcher has less
reports, records of customer feedback, event and track changes over a period control over the results.
activity logs, purchase orders, etc.) or of time. For example, you may want to
can be external (such as Government find out why there are lots of negative
reports). reviews from your customers about – Some documents may be not publicly
your products. In this case, you can available.
look at recorded customers’ feedback
RESEARCH PROCESS
EVALUATION OF SOURCES .
RELIABILITY

• Reliability - refers to whether or not you get the same answer by using an instrument to measure
• something more than once. In simple terms, research reliability is the degree to which research
• method produces stable and consistent results. It’s about the consistency of the research.
• Internal reliability - a measure of how well your test is actually measuring what you want it to
• measure.
• External reliability - means that your test or measure can be generalized beyond what you’re
• using it for. For example, a claim that individual tutoring improves test scores should apply to
• more than one subject (e.g. to English as well as math). A test for depression should be able to
• detect depression in different age groups, for people in different socio-economic statuses, or
• introverts.
FACTORS AFFECTING RELIABILITY

• • The environment
• • Practice
• • Fatigue
• • Ability
• • Time between tests
• • Type of measurement
• • Number of items on the instrument (more questions = higher reliability)
• • Length of test
• • Instructions
VALIDITY

• Validity – the degree to which a test or instrument is accurately measuring what it’s supposed to.
• It’s about the accuracy of the measure.
• Internal validity – the extent to which design and data of a research study allow the researcher
• to draw accurate conclusions about cause and effect and other relationships within the data.
• External validity – the extent to which the results of a research study apply to situations beyond
• the study itself.
FACTORS AFFECTING VALIDITY

• Respondent’s history • Environmental factors

• • Test-related factors o Room temp
o Unclear directions o Lighting
o Test items too easy or too difficult o Noise
o Inadequate time to take the test
o Difficult vocabulary
FACTORS

• Research factors
o Researcher bias
Subject factors
• o Changing physical, emotional or
psychological state
• • Instrumentation factors
o An inadequate sampling of items