CHAPTER TWO: DATA COLLECTION

COLLECTION OF DATA
Collection of data is the first and most important stage in any Statistical Survey. The
method for collection of data depends upon various considerations such as
objective, scope, nature of investigation and availability of resources. Direct personal
interviews, third party agencies, and questionnaires are some ways through which
data is collected.

PRIMARY DATA
Data collected for the first time keeping in view the objective of the survey is known
as primary data. They are likely to be more reliable. However, cost of collection
of such data is much higher. Collection of primary data can be done by any of the
following methods:
4. Physical observation
5. Interview method
6. Questionnaires / Schedule

3. Physical observation: It can be categorized as direct personal observation (Non-

participant) and group observation (Participant).

In the direct personal observation method, the investigator collects data by having
direct contact with units of investigation. The accuracy of data depends upon the
ability, training and attitude of the investigator. This method is usually applied in
pharmacy, medicine fields of study and laboratories. Much of what we know comes
from observation. Besides collecting data visually, observation involves listening,
reading, smelling, and touching.

The direct personal observation method is suitable where,

- The scope of investigation is narrow
- Investigation is confidential and requires personal attention of the investigator
- Accuracy of data is important
1
 Advantages
o Observation is the only option to collect certain types of data like animal
and child behavior.
o Avoiding respondent filtering and forgetting
o We can collect the original information at the time it occurs.
o It is less restrictive. It can capture the whole event as it occurs in its environment.

Limitations
o It is a slow and expensive process. (Costly and time consuming)
o The reliability of inferences from surface indicators
o Observation is limited to as a way to learn about the past.

4. INTERVIEW METHOD: Interview may be regarded as a systematic method by

which a person enters more or less imaginatively into the life of a complete stranger.
The logic behind interviewing is that if we want to know how people feel, what they
experience and what they remember, what their motives and emotions are like and the
reasons for acting as they do why not ask them?

Interview has two basic objectives, discovery and Measurement. Discovery indicates
new consciousness or new insight of certain unexplored qualitative aspects of the
problem, which is the primary objective of interview. Interview provides us with an
additional qualitative description of the people, how they feel and why they do so.
It enhances the understanding of sociological nature of the facts.

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

Interviews may be classified into two categories as Structured Interviews and

Unstructured Interviews.

Structured Interview
Structured interview is the one that is based on structured set of questions and
is highly standardized in form and content. In the structured interview method,
information is collected by the investigator by directly asking the respondents on the
basis of a schedule. It is not only the type of information that is prefixed but also the
2
 specific questions to be asked, the language of the questions and their order. The
answer is also structured either in the form of Yes/No alternative answers or in
the form of categorical answers.

Here the interviewer’s job is to see that the respondents answer the questions
systematically and clearly. Interviewer can clarify the questions to the respondents
only by repeatedly reading out the questions or interpreting them in specific language.

Unstructured Interview
Unstructured interview is not essentially preplanned, structured, or ordered. The
investigators are given some broad topics upon which they have to collect information.
The respondents are free to narrate their experiences and incidents of life. Often the
arrangement and wording of the questions are to be determined on the spot by the
investigator. The type of information that one cannot get through standardized
structured interview is gained through this method. However, being flexible it needs
more skill on the part of the interviewer.

INTERVIEW TECHNIQUES
Direct Personal Interviews

An interview is called personal when the Interviewer asks the questions face-to-face
with the Interviewee. Personal interviews can take place in the home, at a shopping
mall, on the street, outside a movie theater or polling place, and so on.

Advantages
• Detailed information can be obtained. It far exceeds the information
secured through telephone and self-administered studies.
• The interviewer can do more things to improve the quality of the
information received than with another method.
• The ability to let the Interviewee see, feel and/or taste a product/situation.
• The ability to find the target population. For example, you can find people who
have seen a film much more easily outside a theater in which it is playing
than by calling phone numbers at random.

3
 • Longer interviews are sometimes tolerated. Particularly with in-home
interviews that have been arranged in advance. People may be willing to talk
longer face-to-face than to someone on the phone.

Disadvantages
• Personal interviews usually cost more per interview than other methods. This is
particularly true of in-home interviews, where travel time is a major factor. An
exception to this is intercept interview that targets respondents in centralized
locations such as shoppers in retail malls.

Indirect oral interview

Indirect oral interview is used when the area to be covered is large. The investigator
collects the data from a third party or witness or head of institution. This method is
generally used by police department in cases related to enquiries on causes of fires,
thefts or murders.

In this method, the investigator contacts witnesses or neighbors or friends or some

other third parties who are capable of supplying the necessary information. Enquiry
committees appointed by governments use this method to get people’s views and
every possible detail regarding the enquiry. This method suits the best when direct
sources do not exist or cannot be relied upon or would be unwilling to take part in the
survey.

Collecting information through agencies

Methods of collecting information through local agencies or correspondents are
generally adopted by newspaper and television channels. Local agents are appointed
in different parts of the area under investigation. This method is illustrated in
figure 2.5. They send the desired information at regular intervals.

This method is used where the area to be covered is very large and periodic
information is required. However, one disadvantage of this method is that the
information is likely to be affected by the bias of the correspondents or agencies.

4
Telephone Surveys (Online Interview)
It is already stated that one of the drawbacks of personal interview is that it
demands the interviewer to physically move from one location to another so as to
make face-to-face contact with the interviewees. This calls for high level of cast and
consumes much time.

One common way of conduction interview without the need of contacting the
respondents physically is telephone interview. Through telephone interview
interviewers collect data from different individuals simply sitting in their office.
There is no transportation cost and the time required to collect the data will be greatly
minimized.

5. QUESTIONNAIRE (Self Administered Surveys)

Often, information is collected through questionnaires. The questionnaires are filled
with questions pertaining to the investigation. They are sent to the respondents with
a covering letter soliciting cooperation from the respondents (respondents are the
people who respond to questions in the questionnaire). The respondents are asked
to give correct information and to mail the questionnaire back. The objectives of
investigation are explained in the covering letter together with assurance for keeping
information provided by the respondents as confidential.

Mail questionnaire is regarded as an impersonal survey method. A questionnaire is a

set of questions developed in organized and ordered manner for gaining information
from the people in relation to a given problem.

The advantages of administering a questionnaire instead of conducting an interview

are:

➢ Lower costs
➢ Better samples
➢ Standardization
➢ Respondent privacy (anonymity)

Good questionnaire construction is an important contributing factor to the success of

5
a survey. When questionnaires are properly framed and constructed, they become
important tools by which statements can be made about specific people or entire
populations.

This method is generally adopted by research workers and other official and non-
official agencies. This method is used to cover large areas of investigation. It is
more economical and free from investigator’s bias. However, it results in many “non-
response” situations. The respondent may be illiterate. The respondent may also
provide wrong information due to wrong interpretation of questions.

If the questionnaire consists of invalid questions, or questions in incorrect order, or

questions in inappropriate format, or questions that are biased, then the survey would
be useless. An important method for checking and making sure whether a
questionnaire is accurately capturing the intended information is to pre-test among a
smaller subset of target respondents.

Success of questionnaire method of collection of data depends mainly on proper

drafting of the questionnaire. You have to keep the following points in mind while
preparing a questionnaire:

~ The respondent should not take much time in completing the questionnaire. It
should be small and not lengthy.

~ The questions asked should be well structured and unambiguous.

~ The questions asked should be in proper logical sequence.

~ Questions should be unbiased. The questions in the questionnaire should not

disturb the privacy of the respondents.

~ The task of completion of questionnaire should not have much writing work.

~ Necessary instructions and glossary should be given in covering letter.

~ Questions involving technological jargons and mathematical calculations
should be avoided.
~ The completed questionnaire should be kept confidential and used only for the
purpose of the survey as mentioned in the investigation.
6
 ~ There should not be any scope for misinterpretation in the questions.

Information through Schedule:

Information can be collected through schedules filled by investigators through personal

contact. In order to get reliable information, the investigator should be well trained,
tactful, unbiased and hard working. A schedule is suitable for an extensive area of
investigation through investigator’s personal contact. The problem of non-response is
minimized.

There is a difference between a schedule and a questionnaire. A schedule is a form

that an investigator fills the answers through surveying the units or individuals. A
questionnaire is a form sent (usually mailed) by an investigator to respondents. The
respondent has to fill it and then send it back to the investigator.

SECONDARY DATA
Any information, that is used for the current investigation but is obtained from some
data, which has been collected and used by some other agency or person in a
separate investigation, or survey, is known a secondary data. They are available in
published or unpublished form.

In published form, secondary data is available in research papers, newspapers,

magazines, government publication, international publication, and websites.
Secondary data is collected for different purposes. Therefore, care should be exercised
while making use of it. The accuracy, reliability, objectives and scope of secondary
data should be examined thoroughly before use. Secondary data may be collected
either by census or by sampling methods.

Published sources: The various sources of published data are:

~ Reports and official publications of international and national organizations
as well as central and state governments
~ Publications of several local bodies such as municipal corporations and district boards
~ Financial and economic journals
~ Annual reports of various companies
7
 ~ Publications brought out by research agencies and research scholars

Some of the journals (both academic and non-academic) are published at regular
intervals like yearly, monthly, weekly whereas other publications are more ad hoc.
Internet is a powerful source of secondary data, which can be accessed at any time
for any further analysis of the study.

Unpublished sources:

It is not necessary that all statistical contents have to be published. Unpublished

data such as records maintained by various government and private offices, studies
made by research institutions and scholars can also be used where necessary.

The following are some of measures that need to be considered while using secondary data.
1. The collection and processing of the data applied by the previous investigator,
2. Accuracy of the data,
3. The degree of summarization of the data,
4. The degree of comparability of the data with other tabulations,
5. How to interpret the data, especially when figures collected for one purpose is
used for another. With secondary data, people have to compromise between
what they want and what they are able to find.

Advantages of secondary data:

~ Secondary data is cheaper to obtain. Many government publications are relatively
cheap and libraries stock quantities of secondary data produced by the
government, by companies and other organizations.
~ Large quantities of secondary data can be accessed through the internet.
~ Much of the available secondary data has been collected over a course of many
years and therefore it can be used to plot trends.
~ Secondary data is valuable to the government, business and research areas.
In governments, it helps in making decisions and in planning future policies. In
the business and industry areas such as marketing and sales, it is used to
appreciate the general economic and social conditions and to provide

8
 information on competitors. To the research organizations, it helps by
providing social, economical and industrial information.

Disadvantages:
~ It is difficult to judge whether the secondary data is sufficiently accurate.
~ It might be difficult to fit secondary data to the needs of the investigator.
~ Secondary data might not be available for certain investigations that are new.
In such situations, primary data has to be collected.

Exercise:
State whether the following data are primary or secondary.

5. An official of the Census Board of Ethiopia is preparing a report on census

of population based on the survey data collected by the Census Board.

6. An HR representative of a software company is deciding on the time taken to

perform a particular job on a project on the basis of random observations
collected by him.

7. A neurologist is examining the relationship between cigarette smoking and brain

tumor based on the data published in a famous neurology journal.

8. State whether the following statements are ‘True’ or ‘False’.

i) Census enumeration conducted by Government of Ethiopia uses primary source of

data.
ii) TV News Bulletins gather information on any event through their agents.
iii) Schedules make respondents record their answers.
iv) A covering letter to the questionnaire brings confidence in respondents.
v) Questions in questionnaire should be lengthy.

Scrutiny and Editing of Data

Before using the collected data, it should be checked for its completeness, accuracy
and reliability. By complete, we mean that all the required information should be
available. Editing the data is a time consuming process and also an important task.

9
 The data collected through various sources will be much disorganized and needs to be
condensed and analyzed for further studies. There is a possibility of missing the
valuable data after condensation. Hence, proper planning is required in editing process
of any collected data. While editing, it is important to have all the sources of
collected data, and also the overall scope of survey.

There are different steps involved in editing the collected data. The data must be checked for:

Legibility
The data must be legible. If a response is not presented clearly, the investigator
has to rewrite it.

Completeness
An unanswered response on a questionnaire implies either the respondent did not
answer the entry or the investigator did not record the data. If the fault is the
investigators, then the investigator has to fill the missing entry. If an entry is
missing because of omission of that entry by the respondent, then the investigator
has to conduct the survey again to gather the missing entry.

Consistency
The investigator has to examine each questionnaire to check inconsistency or
inaccuracy in any statement. For example, the numerical figures of attributes such
as income, height, weight may be inconsistent. In such cases, it is the duty of
the concerned investigators to make the necessary corrections. The investigators
have to make sure that the collected data must be free from redundant responses or
duplicate entries.

10