Data Collection

Methods

1
DATA COLLECTION AND
THE RESEARCH PROCESS
 Data collection supplies the critical
link between theory and practice
 Data collection is a consideration for
each phase of the research process
– Phase 1: Problem area and research
question
– Phase 2: Research design
– Phase 3: Data analysis
– Phase 4: Writing the report
Selecting a Problem Area
and Research Question
 Rethinking the research question from
the data collection point of view, adds
depth and dimension to underlying
intention of the research question
 After the research problem is selected
and the research question formulated,
consider
– different data sources available to the
study
– different data collection methods suitable
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING
A DATA COLLECTION
METHOD
 Eight practical criteria

– Size of study
– Scope of study
– Program participation
– Worker cooperation
– Research participants
– Resources
– Time
– Previous research findings
Size
 The number of people, places or
systems represented in a
research study
– The greater the number, the more
complex the data collection process
Scope
 The scope our a research study
refers to breadth or depth of the
problem being investigated
– Do different dimensions of the
problem require different data
collection methods?
Program Participation
 Research studies that take place in
agency settings should have the
support of program personnel
– Separate clinical activity and research
activity
– Avoid data collection methods that
conflict with clinical philosophy or
practices
– Consider agency records as a source of
existing data to avoid duplication of
“paperwork”
Resources
 Data collection is expensive
– Cost of instruments (materials and
supplies)
– Training data collectors
– Transportation costs for field
research
– Data entry or transcription
Worker Cooperation
 Data collection considerations
– Make every effort to work
cooperatively with the program’s
workers
– Be sensitive to the workloads of
program workers
– Establish a way for workers to get
feedback from the data they provide
Time
 Research projects often have
fixed completion dates, set by
– Dissertation or thesis guidelines
– External pressures
 Time constraints will influence the
choice of data collection method
Previous Research
Studies
 Learn from existing research
studies
– Which data collection methods
worked best to study the problem
– Expand upon earlier research by
trying different data collection
approaches
SELECTION OF A DATA
COLLECTION METHOD
 Create a decision-making grid to
choose a data the best data
collection method
 List the criteria for selection
– List possible data collection methods
– With the research question in mind,
assess each data collection method
according to the set criteria
Where do data come
from?
 Take a step back – if we’re
starting from scratch, how do we
collect / find data?
– Secondary data
– Primary data

13
Secondary Data
 Secondary data – data someone
else has collected
– This is what you were looking for in
your assignment.

14
Secondary Data –
Examples of Sources
 Country health departments
 Vital Statistics – birth, death certificates
 Hospital, clinic, nurse records
 Private and foundation databases
 City and country governments
 Surveillance data from state government
programs
 Federal agency statistics - Census, NIH,
etc.
15
Secondary Data –
Limitations
 When was it collected? For how
long?
– May be out of date for what you want
to analyze.
– May not have been collected long
enough for detecting trends.
– E.g. Have new anticorruption laws
impacted government accountability
ratings?
16
Secondary Data –
Limitations
 Is the data set complete?
– There may be missing information
on some observations
– Unless such missing information is
caught and corrected for, analysis
will be biased.

17
Secondary Data –
Limitations
 Are there confounding problems?
– Sample selection bias?
– Source choice bias?
– In time series, did some
observations drop out over time?

18
Secondary Data –
Limitations
 Are the data consistent/reliable?
– Did variables drop out over time?
– Did variables change in definition
over time?
 E.g. number of years of education
versus highest degree obtained.

19
Secondary Data –
Limitations
 Is the information exactly what you
need?
– In some cases, may have to use “proxy
variables” – variables that may approximate
something you really wanted to measure.
Are they reliable? Is there correlation to
what you actually want to measure?
– E.g. gauging student interest in U.W. by
their ranking on FAFSA – subject to
gamesmanship.

20
Secondary Data –
Advantages
 No need to reinvent the wheel.
– If someone has already found the
data, take advantage of it.

21
Secondary Data –
Advantages
 It will save you money.
– Even if you have to pay for access,
often it is cheaper in terms of money
than collecting your own data. (more
on this later.)

22
Secondary Data –
Advantages
 It will save you time.
– Primary data collection is very time
consuming. (More on this later, too!)

23
Secondary Data –
Advantages
 It may be very accurate.
– When especially a government
agency has collected the data,
incredible amounts of time and
money went into it. It’s probably
highly accurate.

24
Secondary Data –
Advantages
 It has great exploratory value
– Exploring research questions and
formulating hypothesis to test.

25
Primary Data
 Primary data – data you collect

26
Primary Data -
Examples
 Surveys
 Focus groups
 Questionnaires
 Personal interviews
 Experiments and observational
study

27
Primary Data -
Limitations
 Do you have the time and money for:
– Designing your collection instrument?
– Selecting your population or sample?
– Pretesting/piloting the instrument to
work out sources of bias?
– Administration of the instrument?
– Entry/collation of data?

28
Primary Data -
Limitations
 Uniqueness
– May not be able to compare to other
populations

29
Primary Data -
Limitations
 Researcher error
– Sample bias
– Other confounding factors

30
Data collection choice
 What you must ask yourself:
– Will the data answer my research
question?

31
Data collection choice
 To answer that
– You much first decide what your
research question is
– Then you need to decide what
data/variables are needed to
scientifically answer the question

32
Data collection choice
 If that data exist in secondary
form, then use them to the extent
you can, keeping in mind
limitations.
 But if it does not, and you are
able to fund primary collection,
then it is the method of choice.

33
Surveys
 Surveying involves gathering
information from individuals using a
questionnaire
 Surveys can
– reach a large number of respondents
– generate standardized, quantifiable,
empirical data - as well as some qualitative
data
– and offer confidentiality / anonymity
 Designing survey instruments capable
of generating credible data, however,
can be difficult
34
Conducting Interviews
 When conducting your interviews
you will need to
– question, prompt, and probe in ways
that help you gather rich data
– actively listen and make sense of
what is being said
– manage the overall process

35
Observation
 Observation relies on the
researchers’ ability to gather data
though their senses - and allows
researchers to document actual
behaviour rather than responses
related to behaviour
 However, the observed can act
differently when surveilled, and
observations can be tainted by a
researcher’s worldview
36
Experimentation
 Experimentation explores cause
and effect relationships by
manipulating independent
variables in order to see if there is
a corresponding effect on a
dependent variable

37