Methods of Data Collection

Methods of Data Collection.
Collection of Primary Data.
Advantage and Disadvantages of  Observation Method.
Advantage and Disadvantages of  Face to Face Interview Method.
Advantage and Disadvantages of Telephone Interview Method.
Advantage and Disadvantages of Questionnaire Method.
Advantage and Disadvantages of Schedule Method.
Collection of Secondary Data.
Advantage and Disadvantages of Secondary Data.
Case Study Method.

Advantage and Disadvantages of Case Study Method.

Data

There are 2 types of Data -

1. Primary Data

The primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus happen to be original in character.

2. Secondary Data

The secondary data are those which have already been collected by someone else and which have already been passed through the statistical process.

Methods of Data Collection

Collections of Primary Data

(i) Observation method

(ii) Interview method

(iii) Through questionnaires,

(iv) Through  schedules

(v)  Other  methods  which  include  (a)  warranty  cards;  (b)  distributor audits; (c) pantry audits; (d) consumer panels; (e) using mechanical devices; (f) through projective techniques; (g) depth interviews, and (h) content analysis.

Observation Method

The observation method is the most commonly used method specially in studies relating to behavioural

sciences.  In  a  way  we  all  observe  things  around  us,  but  this  sort  of  observation  is  not  scientific observation. Observation becomes a scientific tool and the method of data collection for the researcher, when it serves a formulated research purpose, is systematically planned and recorded and is subjected to checks and controls on validity and reliability.

Advantages of Observation Method

1. Very direct method for collecting data or information – best for the study of human behavior.

2. Data collected is very accurate in nature and also very reliable.

3. Improves precision of the research results.

4. Problem of depending on respondents is decreased.

5. Helps in understanding the verbal response more efficiently.

6. By using good and modern gadgets – observations can be made continuously and also for a larger duration of time period.

7. Observation is less demanding in nature, which makes it less bias in working abilities.

8. By observation, one can identify a problem by making an in depth analysis of the problems.

Disadvantages of Observation Method

1. Problems of the past cannot be studied by means of observation.

2. Having no other option one has to depend on the documents available.

3. Observations like the controlled observations require some especial instruments or tools for effective working, which are very much costly.

4. One cannot study opinions by this means.

5. Attitudes cannot be studied with the help of observations.

6. Sampling cannot be brought into use.

7. Observation involves a lot of time as one has to wait for an event to happen to study that particular event.

8. The actual presence of the observer himself Vis a Vis the event to occur is almost unknown, which acts as a major disadvantage of observation.

9. Complete answer to any problem or any issue cannot be obtained by observation alone.

Interview Method

The interview method of collecting data involves presentation of oral-verbal stimuli and reply in

terms of oral-verbal responses. This method can be used through personal interviews and, if possible,

through telephone interviews.

Personal or Face to Face Interview

Personal  interview  method  requires  a  person  known  as  the  interviewer asking questions generally in a face-to-face contact to the other person or persons.his sort of interview may be in the form of direct personal investigation or it may be indirect oral investigation. In the case of direct personal investigation the interviewer has to collect the information personally from the sources concerned.

Advantages of Face to Face Interview

(i)  More information and that too in greater depth can be obtained.

(ii) Interviewer by his own skill can overcome the resistance, if any, of the respondents; the interview method can be made to yield an almost perfect sample of the general population.

(iii) There is greater flexibility under this method as the opportunity to restructure questions is always there, specially in case of unstructured interviews.

(iv) Observation method can as well be applied to recording verbal answers to various questions.

(v)  Personal information can as well be obtained easily under this method.

(vi) Samples  can  be  controlled  more  effectively  as  there  arises  no  difficulty  of  the  missing returns; non-response generally remains very low.

(vii) The interviewer can usually control which person(s) will answer the questions. This is not possible in mailed questionnaire approach. If so desired, group discussions may also be held.

(viii) The interviewer may catch the informant off-guard and thus may secure the most spontaneous reactions than would be the case if mailed questionnaire is used.

(ix) The  language  of  the  interview  can  be  adopted  to  the  ability  or  educational  level  of  the person interviewed and as such misinterpretations concerning questions can be avoided.

(x)  The interviewer can collect supplementary information about the respondent’s personal characteristics and environment which is often of great value in interpreting results.

Disadvantages of Face to Face Interview

(i)  It is a very expensive method, specially when large and widely spread geographical sample is taken.

(ii) There remains the possibility of the bias of interviewer as well as that of the respondent; there also remains the headache of supervision and control of interviewers.

(iii) Certain types of respondents such as important officials or executives or people in high income groups may not be easily approachable under this method and to that extent the data may prove inadequate.

(iv)This method is relatively more-time-consuming, specially when the sample is large and re-calls upon the respondents are necessary.

(v) The presence of the interviewer on the spot may over-stimulate the respondent, sometimes even  to  the  extent  that  he  may  give  imaginary  information  just  to  make  the  interview interesting.

(vi) Under the interview method the organization required for selecting, training and supervising the field-staff is more complex with formidable problems.

(vii) Interviewing at times may also introduce systematic errors.

(viii) Effective interview presupposes proper rapport with respondents that would facilitate free and frank responses. This is often a very difficult requirement.

Telephone interviews:

This method of collecting information consists in contacting respondents on telephone itself. It is not a very widely used method, but plays important part in industrial surveys, particularly in developed regions.

 Advantages of Telephone Interview

1.  It is more flexible in comparison to mailing method.

2.  It is faster than other methods i.e., a quick way of obtaining information.

3.  It is cheaper than personal interviewing method; here the cost per response is relatively low.

4.  Recall is easy; callbacks are simple and economical.

5.  There is a higher rate of response than what we have in mailing method; the non-response is generally 

very low.

6.  Replies can be recorded without causing embarrassment to respondents.

7.  Interviewer can explain requirements more easily.

8.  At times, access can be gained to respondents who otherwise cannot be contacted for one reason or the other.

9.  No field staff is required.

10.  Representative and wider distribution of sample is possible.

Disadvantages of Telephone Interview

1.  Little time is given to respondents for considered answers; interview period is not likely to exceed five minutes in most cases.

2.  Surveys are restricted to respondents who have telephone facilities.

3.  Extensive geographical coverage may get restricted by cost considerations.

4.  It is not suitable for intensive surveys where comprehensive answers are required to various questions.

5.  Possibility of the bias of the interviewer is relatively more.

6.  Questions have to be short and to the point; probes are difficult to handle.

Collection of Data Though Questionnaire

This method of data collection is quite popular, particularly in case of big enquiries. It is being adopted

by private individuals, research workers, private and public organisations and even by governments.

In this method a questionnaire is sent (usually by post) to the persons concerned with a request to

answer the questions and return the questionnaire. A questionnaire consists of a number of questions

printed or typed in a definite order on a form or set of forms

Advantages of Questionnaire Method

1. There is low cost even when the universe is large and is widely spread geographically.

2.  It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in respondents’ own words.

3.  Respondents have adequate time to give well thought out answers.

4.  Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached conveniently.

5  Large samples can be made use of and thus the results can be made more dependable and reliable.

Disadvantages of Questionnaire Method

1.  Low rate of return of the duly filled in questionnaires; bias due to no-response is often indeterminate.

2.  It can be used only when respondents are educated and cooperating.

3.  The control over questionnaire may be lost once it is sent.

4.  There  is  inbuilt  inflexibility  because  of  the  difficulty  of  amending  the  approach  once questionnaires have been despatched.

5.  There is also the possibility of ambiguous replies or omission of replies altogether to certain questions; interpretation of omissions is difficult.

6.  It is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly representative.

7.  This method is likely to be the slowest of all.

Collection of Data Though Schedules

This method of data collection is very much like the collection of data through questionnaire, with little difference which lies in the fact that schedules (proforma containing a set of questions) are being filled in by the enumerators who are specially appointed for the purpose. These enumerators along with schedules, go to respondents, put to them the questions from the proforma in the order the questions are listed and record the replies in the space meant for the same in the proforma. In certain situations, schedules may be handed over to respondents and enumerators may help them in recording their answers to various questions in the said schedules.

Advantages of Schedules Method

1. Enumerators explain the aims and objects of the investigation and also remove the difficulties.

2. Any respondent may feel in understanding the implications of a particular question or the definition or concept of difficult terms.

3. This method of data collection is very useful in extensive enquiries and can lead to fairly reliable.

Disadvantages of Schedules Method

1. The enumerators should be trained

2.  Enumerators should be intelligent and must possess the capacity of cross-examination in order to find out the truth.

3.  very expensive and is usually adopted in investigations conducted by governmental agencie.

Other Methods of Data Collection 

1. Warranty cards

Warranty cards are usually postal sized cards which are used by dealers of consumer durables to collect information regarding their products. The information sought is printed in the form of questions on the ‘warranty cards’ which is placed inside the package along with the product with a request to the consumer to fill in the card and post it back to the dealer.

2. Distributor or store audits:

Distributor or store audits are performed by distributors as well as manufactures through their salesmen at regular intervals. Distributors get the retail stores audited through salesmen and use such information to estimate market size, market share, seasonal purchasing pattern and so on.

3. Pantry audits

Pantry audit technique is used to estimate consumption of the basket of goods at the consumer level. In this type of audit, the investigator collects an inventory of types, quantities and prices of commodities consumed. Thus in pantry audit data are recorded from the examination of consumer’s pantry.

4. Consumer panels:

An extension of the pantry audit approach on a regular basis is known as ‘consumer panel’, where a set of consumers are arranged to come to an understanding to maintain detailed daily records of their consumption and the same is made available to investigator on demands. In other words, a consumer panel is essentially a sample of consumers who are interviewed repeatedly over a period of time.

5. Use  of  mechanical  devices

The  use  of  mechanical  devices  has  been  widely  made  to  collect information  by  way  of  indirect  means.  Eye  camera,  Pupilometric  camera,  Psychogalvanometer, Motion picture camera and Audiometer are the principal devices so far developed and commonly used by modern big business houses, mostly in the developed world for the purpose of collecting the required information.

6. Projective  techniques

Projective  techniques  (or  what  are  sometimes  called  as  indirect interviewing  techniques)  for  the  collection  of  data  have  been  developed  by  psychologists  to  use projections of respondents for inferring about underlying motives, urges, or intentions which are such that  the  respondent  either  resists  to  reveal  them  or  is  unable  to  figure  out  himself.

7. Depth interviews

Depth interviews are those interviews that are designed to discover underlying motives and desires and are often used in motivational research. Such interviews are held to explore needs, desires and feelings of respondents.

8. Content-analysis

Content-analysis consists of analysing the contents of documentary materials such as books, magazines, newspapers and the contents of all other verbal materials which can be either  spoken  or  printed.

Collection of Secondary Data

Secondary data means data that are already available i.e., they refer to the data which have already been collected and analysed by someone else. When the researcher utilises secondary data, then henhas  to  look  into  various  sources  from  where  he  can  obtain  them.  In  this  case  he  is  certainly  not confronted with the problems that are usually associated with the collection of original data. Secondary data may either be published data or unpublished data. Usually published data are available in: (a) various publications of the central, state are local governments; (b) various publications of foreign governments or of international bodies and their subsidiary organisations; (c) technical and trade journals; (d) books, magazines and newspapers; (e) reports and publications of various associations connected with business and industry, banks, stock exchanges, etc.; (f) reports prepared by research scholars, universities, economists, etc. in different fields; and (g) public records and statistics, historical documents, and other sources of published information.

Advantages of Collection of Secondary Data

1. Doesn't take long to collect

2. Take data from the past

3. Some can be valid eg. Government collected data

4. May give you an average

5. Accurate eg. large samples

Disadvantages of Collection of Secondary Data

1. Don't know where its come from and how reliable it is

2. Might have no relevant data

3. Data can be over complicated

4. Don't have a full understanding of what the data set is showing

5. Out of date

Case Study Method

The  case  study  method  is  a  very  popular  form  of  qualitative  analysis  and  involves  a careful and complete observation of a social unit, be that unit a person, a family, an institution, a cultural group or even the entire community. It is a method of study in depth rather than breadth. The case study places more emphasis on the full analysis of a limited number of events or conditions and their interrelations. The case study deals with the processes that take place and their interrelationship. Thus, case study is essentially an intensive investigation of the particular unit under consideration. The object of the case study method is to locate the factors that account for the behaviour-patterns of the given unit as an integrated totality.

According to H. Odum, “The case study method is a technique by which individual factor whether it be an institution or just an episode in the life of an individual or a group is analysed in its relationship to any other in the group.”

Advantages of Case Study Method

(i)  Being an exhaustive study of a social unit, the case study method enables us to understand fully the behaviour pattern of the concerned unit. In the words of Charles Horton Cooley, “case  study  deepens  our  perception  and  gives  us  a  clearer  insight  into  life....  It  gets  at behaviour directly and not by an indirect and abstract approach.”

(ii) Through  case  study  a  researcher  can  obtain  a  real  and  enlightened  record  of  personal experiences which would reveal man’s inner strivings, tensions and motivations that drive him to action along with the forces that direct him to adopt a certain pattern of behaviour.

(iii) This method enables the researcher to trace out the natural history of the social unit and its relationship with the social factors and the forces involved in its surrounding environment.

(iv)  It helps in formulating relevant hypotheses along with the data which may be helpful in testing them. Case studies, thus, enable the generalised knowledge to get richer and richer.

(v)  The method facilitates intensive study of social units which is generally not possible if we use either the observation method or the method of collecting information through schedules. This is the reason why case study method is being frequently used, particularly in social researches.

(vi) Information collected under the case study method helps a lot to the researcher in the task of constructing the appropriate questionnaire or schedule for the said task requires thorough knowledge of the concerning universe.

(vii) The researcher can use one or more of the several research methods under the case study method depending upon the prevalent circumstances. In other words, the use of different methods such as depth interviews, questionnaires, documents, study reports of individuals, letters, and the like is possible under case study method.

(viii) Case study method has proved beneficial in determining the nature of units to be studied along  with  the  nature  of  the  universe.  This  is  the  reason  why  at  times  the  case  study method is alternatively known as “mode of organising data”.

(ix) This method is a means to well understand the past of a social unit because of its emphasis of historical analysis. Besides, it is also a technique to suggest measures for improvement in the context of the present environment of the concerned social units.

(x)  Case studies constitute the perfect type of sociological material as they represent a real record of personal experiences which very often escape the attention of most of the skilled researchers using other techniques.

Disadvantages of Case Study Method

(i)  Case situations are seldom comparable and as such the information gathered in case studies is often not comparable. Since the subject under case study tells history in his own words, logical concepts and units of scientific classification have to be read into it or out of it by the investigator.

(ii) Read Bain does not consider the case data as significant scientific data since they do not provide knowledge of the “impersonal, universal, non-ethical, non-practical, repetitive aspects of phenomena.”  Real information is often not collected because the subjectivity of the researcher does enter in the collection of information in a case study.

(iii) The danger of false generalisation is always there in view of the fact that no set rules are followed in collection of the information and only few units are studied.

(iv)  It consumes more time and requires lot of expenditure. More time is needed under case study method since one studies the natural history cycles of social units and that too minutely.

(v)  The case data are often vitiated because the subject, according to Read Bain, may write what he thinks the investigator wants; and the greater the rapport, the more subjective the whole process is.

(vi) Case  study  method  is  based  on  several  assumptions  which  may  not  be  very  realistic  at times, and as such the usefulness of case data is always subject to doubt.

(vii) Case study method can be used only in a limited sphere., it is not possible to use it in case of a big 

society. Sampling is also not possible under a case study method.

(viii) Response of the investigator is an important limitation of the case study method. He often thinks that he has full knowledge of the unit and can himself answer about it. In case the same is not true, then consequences follow. In fact, this is more the fault of the researcher rather than that of the case method.