Finding Answers Through Data Collection: Data Collection Procedure and Skills Using Varied Instruments

[SH – PR2 / Practical Research 2]
1
[Finding Answers through Data Collection]
Finding Answers through Data Collection
You want to satisfy your curiosity about a certain subject matter. The only
way to do this is to link yourself with people, tings, and other elements in
your surroundings because, by nature, research involves interdependence or
interactions among people and things on earth. The answers to your
investigate acts about the topic you are interested in come from people you
get to communicate with and from things you subject to observation.
Research is an act of gathering opinions, facts and information to prove your
point or to discover truths about your research problem or topic.
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the data collection procedures and skills using varied
instruments; and
2. Discuss the data processing, organizing, and analysis.
Data Collection Procedure and Skills using Varied Instruments

Data Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study.
Inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately
lead to invalid results.
The Quantitative data collection methods, rely on random sampling and
structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into
predetermined response categories. They produce results that are easy to
summarize, compare, and generalize.
Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from
theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of
interest. Depending on the research question, participants may be randomly
assigned to different treatments. If this is not feasible, the researcher may
collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to
statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome,
variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a
larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select
participants.
Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:
Experiments/clinical trials.
Observing and recording well-defined events (e.g., counting the number of
patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day).
Obtaining relevant data from management information systems.
Course Module
Administering surveys with closed-ended questions (e.g., face-to face and
telephone interviews, questionnaires
etc). (http://www.achrn.org/quantitative_methods.htm)
Interviews
In Quantitative research(survey research),interviews are more structured
than in Qualitative
research.(http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/info/srms/survpamphlet.html
In a structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and
nothing more.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Face -to -face interviews have a distinct advantage of enabling the researcher
to establish rapport with potential participants and therefor gain their
cooperation. These interviews yield highest response rates in survey
research. They also allow the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and
when appropriate, seek follow-up information. Disadvantages include
impractical when large samples are involved time consuming and
expensive.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Telephone interviews are less time consuming and less expensive and the
researcher has ready access to anyone on the planet that has a telephone.
Disadvantages are that the response rate is not as high as the face-to- face
interview as but considerably higher than the mailed questionnaire .The
sample may be biased to the extent that people without phones are part of
the population about whom the researcher wants to draw inferences.
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI): is a form of personal
interviewing, but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer
brings along a laptop or hand-held computer to enter the information
directly into the database. This method saves time involved in processing the
data, as well as saving the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of
questionnaires. However, this type of data collection method can be
expensive to set up and requires that interviewers have computer and typing
skills.
Questionnaires
Paper-pencil-questionnaires can be sent to a large number of people and
saves the researcher time and money. People are more truthful while
responding to the questionnaires regarding controversial issues in particular
due to the fact that their responses are anonymous. But they also have draw
backs. Majority of the people who receive questionnaires don't return them
and those who do might not be representative of the originally selected
sample.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Web based questionnaires : A new and inevitably growing methodology is
the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e-mail on
which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web-
site to fill in a questionnaire. This type of research is often quicker and less
detailed. Some disadvantages of this method include the exclusion of people
who do not have a computer or are unable to access a computer. Also the
validity of such surveys are in question as people might be in a hurry to
complete it and so might not give accurate responses.
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/ch2/methods/methods.htm)
[SH – PR2 / Practical Research 2]
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[Finding Answers through Data Collection]
Questionnaires often make use of Checklist and rating scales. These devices
help simplify and quantify people's behaviors and attitudes. A checklist is a
list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities that the researcher is
looking for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks
whether each item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa.
A rating scale is more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a
continuum. They are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
The Processing, Organizing and Analysis

Raw data is unprocessed/unorganized source data, such as the data from an
eye tracker which records the coordinates and movement of the eye every
millisecond. processed/summarized/categorized data such as the output of
the mean position for a participant immediately after a stimulus was
presented.
Raw data processing is required in most surveys and experiments. At the
individual level, data needs to be processed because there may be several
reasons why the data is an aberration.
The raw data collected is often contains too much data to analyze it sensibly.
This is especially so for research using computers as this may produce large
amounts of data. The data needs to be organized or manipulated using
deconstruction analysis techniques.
Acquiring data: Acquisition involves collecting or adding to the data holdings.
There are several methods of acquiring data:
1. collecting new data
2. using your own previously collected data
3. reusing someone others data
4. purchasing data
5. acquired from Internet (texts, social media, photos)
Data processing: A series of actions or steps performed on data to verify,
organize, transform, integrate, and extract data in an appropriate output
form for subsequent use. Methods of processing must be rigorously
documented to ensure the utility and integrity of the data.
Data Analysis involves actions and methods performed on data that help
describe facts, detect patterns, develop explanations and test hypotheses.
This includes data quality assurance, statistical data analysis, modeling, and
interpretation of results.
Course Module
Glossary
Analyzing - is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling
data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions,
and supporting decision-making. Data analysis has multiple facets and
approaches, encompassing diverse techniques under a variety of names, in
different business, science, and social science domains.
Organizing - is a systematic process of structuring, integrating, co-
coordinating task goals, and activities to resources in order to attain
objectives.
Processing - movement of data or material towards a known goal or end
result, by passing it through a series of stages or a sequence of actions.
References
Baraceros, Esther L. (2017), Practical Research 2, Rex Book Store, Inc., First
Edition
Baraceros, Esther L. (2017), Practical Research 1, Rex Book Store, Inc., First
Edition
Sarno, Emerlita G. (2010), Tips and Techniques in Writing Research, Rex
Book Store, Inc.

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[SH – PR2 / Practical Research 2]

Finding Answers through Data Collection

Data Collection Procedure and Skills using Varied Instruments

The Processing, Organizing and Analysis

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