RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

A Research Instrument is a tool used to collect, measure, and analyze data related to your
research. A research instrument can include interviews, tests, surveys, or checklists. The
Research Instrument is usually determined by researcher and is tied to the study methodology.

Characteristics of a Good Research Instrument

 Must gather data suitable for and relevant to the research topic
 Able to test hypothesis and/or answer proposed research questions under investigation
 Free of bias and appropriate for the context, culture, and diversity of the study site
 Contains clear and definite instructions to use the instrument
 Valid and reliable
 Based on a conceptual framework, or the researcher's understanding of how the particular
variables in the study connect with each other

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

Methods of Collection of Primary Data

Primary data is collected while undertaking experiments in experimental research, but, primary
data in the case of descriptive type research and surveys, are obtained by observation or direct
communication with respondents.

Types of Primary Data Collection:

 Observation method
 Interview method
 Questionnaire
 Schedule
 Other methods include; warranty cards, pantry audits, distributary audits,
consumer panels, using mechanical devices, through projective technique, depth
interviews and content analysis
Observation Method

This is the most frequently used practice, particularly in studies relating to behavioral sciences.
Every one of us, more or less observe things around us, but this is not considered scientific
observation. Observation is said to be a scientific tool and a means 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.

Data collection by means of observation does not require personal contact. A good example of
observational data gathering is counting the number of automobiles crossing an intersection
every hour.

Types of Observation Methods

 Structured Observation: It involves a careful definition of the units to be observed,

along with the style of recording the obtained information, selection of pertinent data
of observation, and the standardized conditions of observation.
 Unstructured Observation: This is performed without considering any structured
characteristics in advance.
 Controlled Observation: It involves observation as per there-arranged strategies
including experimental processes.
 Uncontrolled Observation: In this, the process of observation takes place in natural
settings.
 Participant Observation: It is the process in which the observer shares the experiences,
being a member of the group.
 Non-participant Observation: It is the process in which the observer is a detached
participant.
 Disguised Observation: It refers to the process in which the observations are made
without people knowing that they are being observed.

Interview Method

For effective execution of the interview method, the interviewers have to be sensibly nominated,
skilled, and updated. They have to be authentic, genuine, diligent, unbiased and ought to retain
the practical competency and essential applied understanding. In actual fact, interviewing is a
skill administered by definite scientific ethics. It involves the presentation of oral-verbal stimuli
and replies in terms of oral-verbal responses.

 Personal Interview
 Telephone Interview

Interview

This generally takes place amongst two individuals; one is called the interviewer and another is
the interviewee correspondent. This is typically preferred if it is convenient total directly to the
respondents. For example, if a researcher desired to conclude whether individuals stayed happy
with the way they were treated by sales staff hospitality.

 Personal Interview Method

 This method entails a person as an interviewer asking questions mostly in a face-to-face
interaction with other people. At times, the interviewee might also probe certain
interrogations and interviewers espouses, but generally, the interviewer starts the
interview and assembles the facts. This method is quite appropriate for thorough
investigations.
 Structured Interview: The information collected by this method is usually processed in
a structured way, such interviews involve the use of a set of predetermined questions
and highly standardized techniques of recording. In this method, the interviewer
follows a rigid procedure.
 Unstructured Interview: It doesn’t follow a system of predetermined questions and
standardized techniques of recording information.
 Focused Interview: It is intended to put emphasis and consideration on the respondent’s
certain attained capabilities and their effects. In this method, the interviewer has the
freedom to decide the manner and sequence in which the questions would be asked and
has also the freedom to explore reasons and motives. The main task of the interviewer in
case of a focused interview is to confine the respondent to a discussion of issues with
which he seeks conversance. Such interviews are generally used in the development of a
hypothesis and constitute a major type of unstructured interview.
  Telephone Interview Method; In this method, the information is collected by contacting
respondents on a telephone. It is not a very widely used method but plays an important
role in industrial surveys.

Collection of Data through Questionnaires

This type of data collection procedure is very popular in the case of big surveys. In this method,
a questionnaire is conducted to the individuals concerned with an appeal to respond to the
questions and give back the questionnaire. A questionnaire consists of a number of questions
printed or typed in a definite order on a form or set of forms. The questionnaire is mailed to
respondents who are expected to go through the questions, comprehend them, and provide their
response to the questions in the space allotted for that purpose in the questionnaire itself. The
participants are required to provide the answers to the questions by themselves.

A questionnaire is a predetermined set of questions given to a number of respondents. This

instrument is good for getting information from many people. Questionnaires are also
appropriate for getting formation from people that are spread over a wide area and that are not
easy to contact face-to-face. A questionnaire should have a short explanation of what your
research is about. As with all data collection methods, questionnaires should always adhere to
ethical and moral codes of conduct. An example of a questionnaire in use is the national
population census for India, which takes place every ten years.

Features of a Good Questionnaire

 Questions should be few and to the point

 Questions should be in sequence
 Questions should proceed in a logical sequence moving from easy to more difficult
questions.
 Personal and intimate questions should be left to the end
 Technical terms should not be used in questionnaires
 Questions may be dichotomous, multiple-choice or open-ended
 Questions that can affect the answer of the respondents should be avoided
 Questions must include all aspects of the problem

Collection of Data through Schedule

There is a slight difference between the methods of data collection through schedule and through
questionnaire. Schedules are the proforma that contain a set of questions. They are filled in by
people who are specifically selected for this purpose. They carry schedules to the respondents,
administer the questions from the proforma in a sequence wise manner and note down their
responses in the space provided for the same in the proforma.

Other Methods of Data Collection

 Warranty Cards: They are also called feedback cards. They are usually a postal size
card with some questions along with a request to the consumers to fill and return them
 Distributor or Store Audit: This can be performed by distributers or manufacturers
through their sales representatives commonly and seasonal purchasing pattern
 Pantry Audit: It is applied to estimate consumption of basket goods at the consumer
level
 Consumer Panel: It is an extension of pantry audit. Itis approached on a regular basis
 Use of Mechanical Devices: Eye camera, pupillometric camera, psychogalvanometer,
motion picture camera

Methods of Collection of Secondary Data

Sources of Published Data

 Various publications of central, state, or local government

 Publication of foreign government and international societies
 Business industries, banks, stock exchanges, and reports
 Trade journals
 Books, magazines, and newspapers
 Reports prepared by research scholars, universities, economists
 Public record, statistical and historical document

Sources of Unpublished Data

 Autobiographies and biographies that are not published

 UNPUBLISHED THESIS
  Diaries, manuscripts accepted for publication but still “in-press”
 Data from an unpublished study, letters, manuscripts in preparation, memos, other
communications such as e-mails, and raw data
 Data available with scholars and research workers, trade firms, labour agencies, and other
public or private personnel, and sectors

Sources of Secondary Data Collection

Databases

Sometimes we can use information that is already stored in a database, so that we don’t actually
have to find the data. Databases are simply organized lists of data - the list of learners at a school
is a kind of database. Databases can be computerized, books or paper filing systems. A big
advantage of these is that the data is already organized is easy to access.

Selection of the Method of Data Collection

The steps for choosing the technique of particular data collection in a particular type of study:

 Step 1: Consider the time required

 Step 2: Calculate the number of interviews required
 Step 3: Time to carry out the interviews
 Step 4: Determine the available time for study

The method of collecting data must be suitable for the type of research we are doing.