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Module 3

The document discusses data collection methods for research. It defines data as numbers, facts, or records used to draw conclusions. There are two main types of data: [1] Primary data collected directly from sources like people or documents, and [2] Secondary data collected indirectly from published sources. Data can also be classified by the method used to gather it: survey data collected from respondents, and experimental data from designed experiments. When selecting a data collection method, researchers should consider factors like the problem, population, costs, and ensuring the method is valid, reliable, and collects relevant and unbiased data.

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93 views

Module 3

The document discusses data collection methods for research. It defines data as numbers, facts, or records used to draw conclusions. There are two main types of data: [1] Primary data collected directly from sources like people or documents, and [2] Secondary data collected indirectly from published sources. Data can also be classified by the method used to gather it: survey data collected from respondents, and experimental data from designed experiments. When selecting a data collection method, researchers should consider factors like the problem, population, costs, and ensuring the method is valid, reliable, and collects relevant and unbiased data.

Uploaded by

Earl averzosa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 3

DATA COLLECTION

The datum (singular for data) is a collection of numbers, quantities, facts or


records, used as bases for drawing conclusions or making inferences. This is what a
researcher is looking for and what is to be subjected to analysis, statistical procedures,
and interpretation so that inferences, principles, or generalizations are drawn. The data
may also reveal unsatisfactory conditions that needs improvement or remedial
measures.

Classification of Data

Data can be classified according to source or the method used in gathering them.

A. According to Source

The classifications of data according to source are as follows:

1. Primary Data. This type of data is gathered from primary sources. The primary
sources are:

a. Individual persons
b. Organized groups or organizations, such as associations, fraternities and
sororities, schools, business firms, the church, government, family, etc.
c. Established practices, such as marriage, religious rites, legal system,
economic system, system of morals, etc.
d. Documents in their original forms, such as the Constitution, laws, orders,
proclamations, contracts, census and all kinds of iriginal records, letters,
diaries, etc.
e. Living organisms, such as animals, fowls, and lower forms of living organisms
f. Man-made, material things, such as buildings, machines, weapons, artifacts,
appliances, roads and bridges, dams, electrical appliances, etc.
g. Natural objects and phenomena, such as rainfall, wind, typhoon, water,
earthquake, mountain, snow, etc.

The data from the last three sources are called nonverbal (concrete) data.

2. Secondary Data. These are data gathered from secondary sources such as:

a. Books, including dictionaries, encyclopedia, almanacs, etc.


b. Articles published in professional and scientific journals, magazines,
newspapers, bulletins, proceedings, and other publications
c. Unpublished undergraduate and graduate theses, dissertations, and other
studies
d. Monographs, manuscripts, etc.
e. Internet websites
f. All other second-hand sources.

Generally, secondary data are verbal or written data.

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Primary data are said to be advantageous than the secondary data in the
following manner:

a. The primary data frequently give detailed definitions of terms and


statistical units used in the survey.
b. The secondary data have usually little or no explanatory notes and may
contain clerical and typographical errors which often arise from
transcription of the figures from the original or primary source.
c. The primary data usually includes a copy of the schedule and a description
of the procedure used in the selection of the type of sample and in
collecting the data. This gives the user an idea of accuracy, applicability,
and limitation of the survey results.
d. The primary data are usually broken down into finer classifications. The
secondary data often omit part of combining categories, such as showing
barrios instead of sitios, or municipalities instead of barrios.

On the other hand, the secondary data has the following advantages over the
primary data as follows:

a. Secondary data are more convenient to use because they are already
condensed and organized already.
b. Analysis and interpretation of this data can be more easily done.
c. Libraries make secondary data more easily accessible.

B. According to Data Gathering Method Used

The data can be classified into two types according to the method used in
gathering them as follows:

1. Survey Data. This is the type of data gathered from respondents of a study
through survey. A respondent is an individual from whom a researcher gathers
data or information for his/her research study. There are several kinds of survey
data used in engineering research, as follows:

a. Facts. These are recollections, observations, and perceptions of respondents


about themselves, things and happenings. Examples are:

i. Personal circumstances such as age, sex, marital status, family size,


family income, experience, educational attainment, etc.

ii. Data from livelihood activities, such as


♥ cropping intensity, cropping frequency, farm size, farming practices,
crop yields, farm income, problems encountered, etc.
♥ price of concrete aggregates, price of concrete products, construction
cost, etc.
♥ price of electricity, electrical consumption, efficiency of generators, etc.
♥ fabrication cost of machineries, fuel consumption of machineries,
efficiencies of machineries, etc.

iii. Economic data such as costs of production, sales, etc.

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b. Attitudes and feelings. These are ideas and thoughts of the respondents
about a problem, and his/her personal feelings about the worth of a thing
being investigated. For example, a research activity may ask the farmer
about his reaction to the mechanization program of the government or his
reasons why an irrigation system is needed in their area. A research activity
may also find out the acceptability of a civil engineering project (dam, flood
control, multi-purpose center, etc.) or will try to know the satisfactoriness of
the services of the NORSAMELCO in a rural barangay.

c. Judgments. These data include the respondents’ ideas or opinion about, or


his actual behavior in, a given situation. This is what the respondents think a
thing or situation should be or what it is. In this, there seems to be a standard
with which things, ideas, and situations are compared; how far or how near
they are from the standard. For instance, a farmer may be asked how useful
post-harvest facilities will be to his farming activities wherein he may answer
very useful, useful, slightly useful, undecided, and not useful. Likewise, a
study may ask if a public refrigeration system is needed for the preservation of
the fish caught by fishermen in an area wherein a fisherman may answer very
much needed, much needed, needed, less needed, and not needed.

2. Experimental Data. These are data gathered from the experiments conducted in
connection with a research study. Examples of these are performance data of
machineries, growth and crop yields data of irrigation studies, grain losses in
post-harvest studies, strengths of materials for agricultural structures, power
generated by different energy sources, fuel consumption of machineries,
refrigeration capacity, etc.

Selection of Data Gathering Method

Just as there are two kinds of data according to source and gathering method
used, there are also two ways of gathering data as follows:

A. Use of Mechanical Devices

Mechanical devices include almost all instruments and apparatuses used in


the measurement of data to be gathered. In agricultural engineering research, these
devices include laboratory facilities and equipment as well as field observations
instruments.

The choice of the method depends upon some factors such as the nature of
the problem, the population or universe under study, the cost involved in the
experiments and the time factor.

B. Use of Clerical Methods

The clerical methods are used when the researcher studies people and
gathers data on opinions, ideas and judgments on a subject. There are several
clerical methods applicable to engineering research, as follows:

1. The questionnaire method

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2. The interview method
3. The library method

In the selection of a data gathering method, the following characteristics


should be observed, as follows:

a. The method should be valid and reliable.


b. It must gather data suitable for and relevant to the research topic.
c. It must gather data that would test the hypotheses or answer the questions
under investigation.
d. It should be free from all kinds of bias.
e. It should contain only questions or items that are unequivocal.
f. It should contain clear and definite directions to accomplish it.
g. If a mechanical device is chosen, it should be of the best or latest model.

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