INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Data Collection Methods

Lecturer: Hue Vu Thi, MSc

Email: [email protected]
Hand-phone: 0965328817

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 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1) Primary and Secondary data collection methods

2) Interviews, Observation, Questionnaires

3) Ethics in data collection

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 SOURCES OF DATA
• Data be obtained from primary or secondary sources:
✓Primary data refers to information obtained firsthand by
the researcher on the variables of interest for the specific
purpose of the study
✓Secondary data refers to information gathered from
sources already existing

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 SOURCES OF DATA
Points Primary Data Secondary Data

Primary data is collected Secondary data is pre-

directly from first-hand collected by someone
Meaning
experience for a specific else for a different
research project. purpose.

Interviews, surveys,
Previous research,
questionnaires,
internet, government
Main Sources observations,
reports, official statistics,
experiments, case
web information, etc.
studies.

Data Time Real-time data. Past data.

Specific to the Always specific to the Often not specific to the

Researcher Needs researcher’s needs. researcher’s needs.

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 SOURCES OF DATA
Points Primary Data Secondary Data

Costs Expensive. Low cost or free.

Level of Control Over Lack of control over data

Higher level of control.
Data Quality quality.

Time Consuming More time-consuming. Less time-consuming.

You own the data,

Competitors may also
Proprietary Information keeping it hidden from
have access to the data.
competitors.

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 SECONDARY SOURCES OF DATA

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 SECONDARY SOURCES OF DATA

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 ETHICS IN SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION

1. If the data is freely available, the ownership of the

original data must be acknowledged.

2. If the data is not freely available, written permission

for the use of the data must be obtained.

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 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION METHODS

• Interviews, observation, and questionnaires are

very popular in research
✓These methods allow the researcher to collect a
wide variety of different sorts of data from human
respondents

• The choice of method(s) will depend on:

✓The objective(s) of the study
✓The research questions
✓The research design

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 INTERVIEWS
• A widely used method of collecting data in
research is to interview respondents TO
OBTAIN INFORMATION on an issue of interest
• An interview is a guided, purposeful
conversation between two or more people

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 INTERVIEWS
Interviews

Structure Participant Method

Unstructured Group Face-to-Face

interview interview interview

Structured Individual Telephone

interview interview interview

Semi-
structured
interview
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 Unstructured interviews
• The interviewer does not enter the interview setting
with a planned sequence of questions to be asked
of the respondent
• A possible objective of an unstructured interview is
to bring some preliminary issues to the surface
✓So that the researcher can determine what factors
need further in-depth investigation

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 Unstructured interviews

• What do you like about working here?

• If you were to tell me which aspects of your job you
like and which you do not, what would they be?
• Tell me something about the reward systems in this
place.
• If you were offered a similar job elsewhere, how
willing would you be to take it and why?
• & so on

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 Structured interviews
• Structured interviews are those conducted when it is
known at the outset what information is needed
• The content can be prepared in advance, consists of:
✓An introduction: the interviewer introduces him or
herself, the purpose of the interview, permission to
record the interview, assures confidentiality, etc…
✓A set of topics (usually questions) in a logical order:
first “warm-up” questions (which are easy to answer and
non-threatening) and then the main questions covering
the purpose of the interview, etc…
✓Suggestions for probing questions: follow-up
questions that are used when the first answer is unclear
or incomplete, the interviewer does not fully understand
the answer, etc…

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 Semi- structured interviews

• A semi-structured interview has a set of

predetermined questions or topics to be covered, but
there is also flexibility to explore new ideas and probe
deeper into certain responses.

• Semi-structured interviews allow for a more

conversational and flexible interaction between the
interviewer and the interviewee.

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 Interviews

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 Group interviews

• Interviews may be conducted on

a group basis:
✓The interviewer puts open
questions to a group of
participants

• Focus groups consist of eight to

ten members with a moderator
leading the discussions on a
particular topic, concept, or
product

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 Individual interviews

• Individual interviews are research or data collection

methods in which a researcher conducts a private and
focused conversation with a single participant.

• This type of interview is

structured or unstructured to
gather detailed information
about the participant's
experiences, perspectives,
beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.

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 Face-to-face interviews
• Advantages:
✓Adapt the questions as necessary, clarify doubts, the
responses are properly understood
✓Pick up nonverbal cues from the respondent (e.g.,
knit the brows)
✓Any discomfort, stress, or problems that the
respondent experiences can be detected

• Disadvantages:
✓Geographical limitations
✓Vast resources needed
✓High costs

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 Telephone interviews
• Advantages:
✓A number of different people can be reached in a
short period of time
✓It would eliminate any discomfort on respondents

• Disadvantages:
✓Respondents could terminate the interview without
explanation - by hanging up the phone
✓Researcher will not be able to read the nonverbal
communication

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 OBSERVATION
• Researchers be interested in:
✓The way workers carry out their jobs;
✓The impact of new manufacturing
techniques on employee activity;
✓How consumers watch commercials,
use products, …

=> OBSERVATION: is a useful and

natural technique to collect data on
actions & behavior

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 Definition and purpose of observation

• Observation concerns the planned watching, recording,

analysis, and interpretation of behavior, actions, or
events

• These may be distinguished by four key dimensions:

✓(1) Control (are the observations conducted in an
artificial or natural setting?)
✓(2) Whether the observer is a member of the group that
is observed or not (participant versus nonparticipant
observation)
✓(3) Structure (to what extent the observation is focused,
predetermined, systematic, and quantitative in nature)
✓(4) Concealment (whether the participants are told that
they are being observed)

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 Controlled - Uncontrolled observations

• A distinction can be made between observation

conducted in controlled (or artificial) and uncontrolled
(or natural) settings

• Controlled observation (or artificial) occurs when

observational research is carried out under carefully
arranged conditions

• Uncontrolled observation (or natural) is an

observational technique that makes no attempt to
control, manipulate, or influence the situation

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 Participant - Nonparticipant observations

• The researcher can play one of two roles while

gathering observational data – that of a nonparticipant
or a participant observer
• Nonparticipant observation: The researcher is never
directly involved in the actions of the actors, but observes
them from outside the actors’ visual horizon
✓Example: via a mirror or a camera

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 Structured - Unstructured observations

• Structured observational study:

the observer has a predetermined
set of categories of activities or
phenomena planned to be studied

• Unstructured observational
study: observer will record
practically everything that is
observed

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 Concealed - Unconcealed observations

• Concealed observation: research subjects are not

influenced by the awareness that they are being
observed; several serious ethical drawbacks

• Unconcealed observation: more obtrusive, perhaps

upsetting the authenticity of the behavior under study

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 Advantages and disadvantages of observation
• ADVANTAGES:
✓The data are generally reliable and free from
respondent
✓Directness
✓Observation allows the researcher to gather
behavioral data without asking questions
• DISADVANTAGES:
✓The observer to be physically present
✓Slow, tedious, expensive
✓Long periods => might bias the recorded data
✓Cognitive processes of individuals can’t be captured
✓Observers have to be trained in what and how to
observe, and ways to avoid observer bias

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 QUESTIONNAIRES
• Questionnaire is a written set of questions to which
respondents record their answers, usually within
rather closely defined alternatives
• Questionnaires are generally
designed to collect large
numbers of QUANTITATIVE
DATA
• Types of questionnaires:
✓(1) Personally administered
questionnaires
✓(2) Mail questionnaires
✓(3) Electronic / Online
questionnaires

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 Personal questionnaires
• ADVANTAGEs:
✓Researcher can collect all the
completed responses within a
short period of time
✓Less expensive and consumes
less time than interviewing

• DISADVANTAGEs:
✓The researcher may introduce a
bias by explaining questions
differently to different people
✓Participants may be in fact
answering different questions

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 Mail questionnaires
• Main advantage:
✓Wide geographical area can be covered in survey
✓Respondents can complete at their convenience:
homes, work-places

• Disadvantages:
✓The return rates are typically low: ~30%
✓Respondent’s Doubts: difficult to be clarified

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 Electronic & Online questionnaires

• Main advantage: Easy and Fast

✓All you have to do is to email
the invitations, post a link on a
website or personal blog, or
use social networks
• Task requiring: Web authoring
programs, HTML codes, scripting
programs
• Google form: Drive => New =>
Google form

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 Guidelines for Questionnaire design

1) Principles of wording: refer to factors as:

✓Content and purpose of the questions:
subjective feelings or objective facts
✓Language and wording of the questionnaire
✓Type and form of questions asked: open or
closed question
✓Sequencing of the questions: easy to difficult,
general to detail
✓Personal information from the respondents: age,
educational level, marital status, and income

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 Guidelines for Questionnaire design

2) Principles of measurement:
✓General appearance: Good introduction,
Organizing questions, giving instructions and
guidance, Good alignment …
3) Review of questionnaire design: minimize
response bias and measurement errors
4) Pretesting of structured questions:
✓Pretesting involves the use of a small number of
respondents to test the appropriateness of the
questions and their comprehension

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 EXCERCISE

You are investigating the service quality of

restaurants. Select one of the following data
collection methods: Interviews, Observation, or
Questionnaire. Develop data collection questions
according to the following main contents:

1. Space (layout of the physical setting)

2. Objects (physical elements such as equipment,
tables, chairs, and the like)
3. Actors (staff and clients)
4. Interactions between staff members and clients

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 EXCERCISE

You are investigating the service quality of

restaurants. Select one of the following data
collection methods: Interviews, Observation, or
Questionnaire. Develop data collection questions
according to the following main contents:

1. Space (layout of the physical setting)

2. Objects (physical elements such as equipment,
tables, chairs, and the like)
3. Actors (staff and clients)
4. Interactions between staff members and clients

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