DATA COLLECTION

Data collection is an extremely important part of any research

because the conclusions of a study are based on "hat the data
reveal. There are several ways of collecting data. The choice of
procedures usually depends on the objectives and design of the
study and the availability of time, money and personnel. Another
consideration is the kind of data the researcher wishes to generate.
In this chapter the different methods of collecting data and the
formulation of data collection instruments are discussed and
What are Data?

The term "data" refers to any kind of information researchers

obtain on the subjects, respondents or participants of a study. In
research, data are collected and used to answer the research
question or objectives of the study.

Some examples of research data are:

 Demographic information, such as age, sex, household size, civil

status, religion,
 Social and economic information, such as educational
attainment. health status, extent of participation in social
organization, occupation, income, housing condition and the
like in a standardized or researcher-made tests or results of
laboratory examination and clinical observations of patients/
clients,

 Grades or ratings obtained from records or forms,

 Verbal or written responses to questions regarding attitudes

towards and perceptions of something.
Types of Research Data

Research data are generally classify either as quantitative or

qualitative. Based on their source, data fall under two categories,
namely: primary and secondary.

 Quantitative and Qualitative Data

A study may be intend to generate precise quantitative findings

or to produce qualitative descriptive information, or both.
 Quantitative data

Are information, which can be counted or expressed in

numerical value.

Example: age, grades, income, test score, number of

children, level of satisfaction, amount of sales, length of service.
 Qualitative data are descriptive information, which has no
numerical value.

Examples: attitudes towards or perception of something,

process used in accomplishing an activity, a person's
experiences, people’s idea about certain concepts, situation, or
one's phenomenon like drug abuse, family planning, barangay
justice system, underground economy, sexual harassment. etc.
Primary and Secondary Data

According to source, data may also be classify as primary or

secondary. Two important questions to be considered are: Who will
provide the data? Where will the data be collected?

Primary data are information collected directly from the subjects

being studied; such are people, areas, or objects.
 Secondary data are information collected from other available
sources, like, recent censuses, or data collected by large-scale
national or worldwide surveys, such as agriculture and industry
surveys, demographic and health surveys, data of completed
studies.
Techniques of Collecting Quantitative Data

The choice of the best way to collect data depends largely on

the type of data to be collected and the source of data. Before
starting to collect data, a researcher should decide:

 What data to collect,

 where or from whom the data will be obtained

 What instrument/s or device/s to use in collecting the data.

 The two most common means of collecting primary quantitative
information are the self-administered questionnaire and the
structured interview. Quantitative information may also be
collected from secondary sources and service statistics (Fisher, et.
al.. 1991).

Studies, which obtain data by interviewing people or by

administering questionnaires, called surveys. When the people
interviewed or asked to respond to questionnaires are a
representative sample of a larger population, such studies called
sample surveys.
 Self-Administered Questionnaire

Questionnaires are distributed to the respondents who write

their answers to the questions in appropriate spaces in the
questionnaire. Questionnaires may be administered individually
or in-group by the researcher or by an authorized individual.
 Features of a Self-Administered Questionnaire

 Questionnaires given to the respondents who are asked to

read and answer the questions themselves.

 Questions and instructions are address to the

respondents.

 Instructions on how to accomplish the questionnaire are

cleat ly specified in the instrument.
Advantages of Using a Self-administered Questionnaire

1. A self-administered questionnaire is less expensive

respondent than an interview.

2. A questionnaire requires less time and less skill for data

gathering and processing.

3. External influence is avoided.

4. Respondents have time to think before answering because

they are not under pressure to give an answer immediately.
Disadvantages of a Self-administered Questionnaire

1. The per respondent cost of self-administered questionnaires

may be low, but return rate is also generally low, usually less
than 50 percent;

2. Many respondents do not return accomplished

questionnaires;
 3. Respondents included in the sample may not be
representative of the population studied.

4. No one will answer or clarify questions that may arise.

5. Questionnaires cannot be used on illiterate respondents

Mailed Questionnaires

Some questionnaires are mailed to respondents accompanied

by self-addressed envelopes. The respondents are asked to mail
back the accomplished questionnaires. These are called mailed
questionnaires.

The drawback of mailed questionnaires is the high non-

response rate. Often less than 50 percent return rate obtained
when questionnaires are mailed. The low return rate affects the
representativeness of the sample and may render the validity of
the findings questionable.
 Structured Interview

Structured interview involves a face-to-face interaction

between the data collector (the interviewer), and the source of
information (the respondent). The interviewer directly asks the
respondent questions from a prepared instrument, which is
called an interview schedule.
 Features of a Structured Interview

The interviewer reads each question to the respondent and

record verbatim in the instrument the answers provided by the
respondent.

Respondents are asked the exact questions as formulated and

as sequenced.

Instructions for the interviewer on how questions should be

asked and how answers are to be recorded are incorporated in
the instrument.
Advantages of Face-to-Face Interview

1. The interviewer/investigator can observe the body language

of the respondent.

2. The interviewer can probe for clarification of ambiguous

responses.

3. Interview is effective for semi-literate or illiterate

respondents.

4. The expected response rate in an interview is high.

Disadvantages of Face-to-Face Interview

1. The cost in terms of money, time, and personnel per

respondent is high, especially because of travel cost.

2. Skilled interviewers are required. Training is needed for

those who lack experience and/or those who are not yet
skilled in conducting interviews. Even skilled interviewers
require briefing on features/ aspects of data collection
peculiar to a particular project.
How to Conduct Interviews

Interviews must be conducted by competent and skilled

who understand the purpose of the study and the tasks they
are expected to accomplish. The main tasks of the
interviewers are to:
1. Locating the survey respondents

a) The interviewer can locate respondents with the assistance of

someone who knows the respondent.

b) In a community survey, the interviewer may request barangay

officials or leaders to help locate respondents.

c) In an organization or institution, the interviewer can request

assistance from human resource department personnel who can
provide a list of employees and help identify the respondents. In
school settings, the teachers can help identify student-
respondents.
2. Obtaining permission to conduct the interview

a) The interviewer must obtain permission to conduct interviews

from an authority and/or from the respondent. The authority may be a
local official, a head of office, a personnel officer, a teacher, or a
parent. Permission may be sought personally and/or in writing.

b) Every individual has the right to privacy, and therefore, has the
right to share or withhold personal information. For ethical reasons,
interviewers must ask the respondent's permission for an interview.
The interviewer must inform the respondent that he/she has the
option to refuse to participate in the study.
 c) Once granted permission for an interview, the interviewer
must introduce himself/herself and the institution or organization
he/she represents. Then he/she proceeds to explain the purpose
or objectives of the study and how the respondent was selected.

3. Asking the questions

a) Questions in the interview schedule must be asked as

sequenced and as worded.
 b) When asking questions, the interviewer must maintain
eye contact with the respondent and listen with interest to what
the respondent is saying.

c) The interviewer should avoid arguing with the

respondent, even if he does not agree with what the latter is
saying.

e) The interviewer must be courteous, polite, and patient

during the interview. He/she must give the respondent enough
time to answer questions.
 f) The interviewer must make sure that all applicable
questions are asked and answered by the respondent
completely. To be sure of this, the interviewer must review the
instrument for completeness and consistency before ending an
interview or before leaving the area.
 4. Recording the answers given by the respondents as
instructed

a) Responses to all questions must be recorded verbatim

in the spaces provided in the interview schedule.

b) The interviewer must write answers to questions

legibly.

c) Incomplete and vague answers must be clarified before

ending an interview.
Other Quantitative Data that Researcher Use

Two other kinds of quantitative data that researchers use are

service statistics and secondary data.

A. Service Statistics

Service statistics refers to information generated by organizations

or agencies for management use. Examples: mortality rate, birth rate,
morbidity rate from the Department of Health; landownership, land
use, crop and livestock production from the Department of
Agriculture, industry data from the Department of Trade and Industry,
and education data from the Department of Education.
The quality of service statistics varies from organization to
organization depending on how the data were gathered and
recorded.

How to Retrieve Service

 Statistics Service statistics may be requested from an office or

agency through proper means. Official permission is usually
sought from the head of office or whoever is authorized to grant
permission for the use of the information.
 Restrictions or requirements may be imposed on the retrieval or use
of service statistics and the researchers should adhere to these.

 Before retrieving the data needed from documents, the researcher

must first ask permission to use the data for a specific purpose from
the head of office or the person in charge of the data.
B. Secondary Data

Secondary data are existing information from censuses, national

surveys, and other completed studies, which may be used for
further analysis. One can do research using existing regional,
national and international data. Secondary data may also be used
to enrich and supplement data collected for a study.
 Volumes of data on population, business, health, family
planning, agriculture, and other kinds of data are collected
on a regular basis. These data are available in national or
regional offices and can be further analyze to answer new
questions or problems other than those answered by the
original study.
 Examples of Secondary Data

 Data on population and housing from the National Statistics

Office

 Data on family planning practice, reproductive health,

immunization and adolescent sexuality from the National
Health and Demographic Survey.

 Data on price indices, employment and unemployment, Gross

National Product (GNP) from the Department of Trade and
Industry.
 For instance, data from two censuses may be used for
comparative analysis of population and housing patterns across
the different regions of a country. National demographic and
health surveys of different countries can be a good source of
data for regional or provincial comparison of demographic and
health indicators or correlation analysis of various factors.
Techniques in Collecting Qualitative Data

Qualitative approaches in data collection are preferred when

obtaining data on processes, on how and why a program or a project
works, on how individuals think about or perceive a certain issue,
situation, practice, people, etc., or what their attitudes are towards
something.

The most commonly used methods in collecting qualitative

information are: in-depth interview, focus group discussion, direct
observation and content analysis.
 In-depth Interview

An in-depth interview is a direct, face-to-face means of

gathering information from individuals, using probing techniques.
The interviewer asks questions using a topic guide or a set of
general questions, often called an interview guide. Questions
asked are open-ended. Follow-up questions are asked based on
the responses and flow of interview. These questions are called
probes and the process is called probing.
 When to Use In-depth Interviews
 To answer "how" and "why" questions.

 To generate detailed information about a process, someone's

feelings, perceptions, or opinions about an issue or subject.

 To identify relevant variables, which may not have emerged in

previous studies.

 To clarify concepts or to generate hypotheses prior to

developing questionnaires for quantitative surveys.

 To generate supplementary or explanatory data to augment

survey findings.
How to Use In-depth Interviews

 Identification and training of interviewers. Interviewers

must be experienced and highly skilled in probing,
especially when topics are sensitive or highly controversial.
Training therefore is needed.