DATA COLLECTION

METHODS AND TOOLS.

Presented by;
NAMASOPO EMILLY THEOLA
KANYESIGYE EMILLY
MAYANJA EDRINE ISAAC
DATA
Data is a representation of facts or ideas in a formalized
manner capable of being communicated or manipulated by
some process.
Types of data
• Primary data and secondary data.
• Primary data is the original data collected specifically by
the researcher for the study
• Secondary data is that which has been gathered by
others. sources include hospital records, patient charts,
care plan statements etc.
DATA COLLECTION METHODS
These are grouped into three
• Self report
• Direct observation
• Bio physiological measures.
SELF REPORT
• These are participants’ responses to questions posed by
the researcher.
Types of self reports
• interviews
• Questionnaires.
INTERVIEWS
• These involves a conversation between the researcher
and the participant in which the researcher asks questions
about the study topic. Tool used is an interview guide
• Unstructured interviews; the researcher proceeds with
out a preconceived view or flow of information to be
gathered. Researchers ask broad grand tour question
Interviews
• Semi structured; researcher has a list of topics or broad
questions that must be addressed in an interview,( topic
guide)
• Focused group interviews; a group of 4 or more people
is assembled for a discussion. The interviewer guides the
discussion according to the topic to be covered.
• Joint interviews; for a phenomena which involves a
relationship between two or three people. E.g. grief that
mothers and fathers experience after loosing a child.
• Life histories. Are narrative self disclosures about
individual real life experiences. Individuals are asked to
describe, often in chronological sequence , their
experiences either orally or in writing.
• Personal diaries. Participants are asked to maintain a
dairy or journal over a specified period
• Critical incident technique; gathers information about
peoples behavior in specific circumstances. It focuses on
a factual incident which has had an impact on the person.
• Think aloud method; it has been used to collect data
about cognitive processes such as thinking, problem
solving and decision making.
QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD
• Involves use of a structured instrument that the participant
fills. The tool is a questionnaire
Question forms
• Open ended qns; allows participants to respond to
questions in their own words.
• Closed ended questions; response alternatives are
prespecified by the researcher. The alternatives range
from simple yes or no to complex expression of open
ended opinions.
Advantages of questionnaires
• Less costly than interviews
• They offer possibility of anonymity unlike interviews
• No interviewer bias since there is no interviewer
Interviews vs. questionnaire( In favor of
interviews)
• Response rates are high in interviews. participants can’t
refuse to talk to interviewer but can ignore questionnaire.
• Good audience. Interviews cater for children, the elderly,
and the illiterate who can’t fill the questionnaire.
• Clarity. Interviews offer some protection against
ambiguous or confusing questions.
• Depth of questioning. Questionnaires deliver superficial
response. Also open ended questions are avoided in
questionnaires because most people hate writing long
responses.
• Respondents are less likely to give ‘don’t know’ responses
or leave unanswered qns
• Supplementary data is got through observation during
interviews
• Sample control, interviewers know whether the people
interviewed are the intended respondents. Questionnaires
can be passed to a friend or relative.
• Interviewer controls questions . In questionnaires
respondents can jump to another question in another
section leading to bias.
OBSERVATION
• Data is acquired through direct observation of behavior,
event related to topic under study. observation checklist
is used
observation Techniques
• Participant observation. Participant observer takes part
in the functioning of group under study and records
information within the context and experiences that are
relevant to participants.
Important dimensions of observation
• Focus of the observation; it can be on broadly defined e.g.
specific behavior.
• Concealment; the researcher doesn’t tell people that they
are being observed.
• Duration; some observations are made in a short time and
others in a long period of time.
• Method of recording the observation; by human senses
then written using pen and paper.
observation
• Relevant information collected include; physical setting,
participants, activities, frequency and duration of study,
process of the activity and outcomes of the activity.
• The tool used is the observational checklist.
• However its bound to observer biases.
Bio physiologic measures
• Bio physiologic instruments are used both for creating
independent variables ( e.g. intervention using
biofeedback equipment) and for measuring dependent
variables
Purposes of bio physiologic measures
• To study basic bio physiologic processes.
• Explore ways in which nursing actions and interventions
affect physiologic outcomes.
• Studies of the correlates of physiologic functioning in
patients with health problems.
Types of bio physiologic measures
• In vivo measures; performed directly within or on living
organisms e.g. measuring blood pressure, temperature.
• In vitro measures; are gathered from participants by
extracting bio physiologic material from them and
subjecting it to analysis by specialized laboratory
techniques.
Advantages of bio physiologic measures
• Relatively accurate and precise, especially when
compared to psychological measures e.g. self report on
anxiety.
• Objective; Two nurses can get same information when
using the same equipment.
• Instruments provide valid measures of targeted variables.
Summary of data collection tools.
• Observational checklists
• Questionnaires
• Interview guide
Rigors of research
(measure of trustworthiness)
In quantitative research,
• Reliability
• Accuracy and consistency of information obtained in a
study.it is mostly associated with methods used to
measure research findings e.g. thermometer .statistical
reliability that the same results would be obtained with
completely new sample of subjects.
• Validity
• Concerns with the study of evidence that is whether the
findings are cogent,convicing and well grounded.it
assesses the methods of measuring variables. The
validity question is whether there's evidence to support
the assertion that methods are really measuring the
abstract concepts that they purport to measure.it also
concerns the quality of the researchers evidence
regarding effect of independent variable on dependent
variable.
General measures of trustworthiness
• According to GUBA’s model
• They include;
 Truth value
 Applicability
 Consistency
 Neutrality
Rigors
• Truth value
• Asks whether the researcher is confident or has
established confident in the truth of the findings for the
subject of informants and the context in which the study
was conducted.
• In qualitative research, it is assessed by how well threats
to internal validity of of the study has been managed as
well as the instruments as well as the measure of the
phenomenon under study.
Rigors
• In qualitative
• Assessed from the discovery of human experiences as
they are lived and perceived by informants. Truth value is
subject oriented not defined by a priori by the researcher.
Its termed as credibility. Credibility can be accomplished
with prolonged engagement with people., continual
observation in the field ,the utilization of peer debriefs or
peer researchers ,negative case analysis ,researcher
flexibility and participant checks ,validation or coanalysis.
Rigors
• Applicability
• The degree to which the findings can apply to other
contexts and settings or with other groups.it is the
capacity to generalize from the findings to greater
populations.
• He also introduced the next perspective on applicability in
in equal research by referring to fattiness or transferability.
• Transferability means the level to which the audience has
the ability to generalize the results of a research to
her/his own context .
Rigors
• Consistency
• Means whether the conclusions would be consistent if the
inquiry were repeated with the same subject matter or in
a similar context. Its defined in terms of dependability in
qualitative research.
• Dependability relates to the primary challenge that the
way in which research is carried out needs to be
consistent across researchers and analysis technique.
Rigors
• Neutrality
• The degree to which the results are a function solely of
the informants and conditions of the research and not of
their biases ,motivation and views. He suggested that
confimability is the criterion for neutrality in qualitative
research.
• Confimability deals with the main issue that findings
should signify as far as possible the specific situation
being investigated as opposed to beliefs, pet theories or
biases of the researcher.
Rigors
• It is according to the perspective that the integrity of
results is based on the data that the investigator most
properly tie together the data, analytical processes and
findings that the reader is in position to confirm the
adequacy of the findings.
references
• Essentials of Nursing Research 7th edition , Denise F.
Polit, Cheryl Tatano Beck
• Nursing Research and Methods 7th edition , Denise F.
Polit, Cheryl Tatano Beck