Data Collection and Scales

References
• Kumar, Ranjit, 2011, Research Methodology 3rd edition:
a step-by-step guide for beginners, London, SAGE
Publication
• Nazir, Moh, 2003, Metode Penelitian, Jakarta, Ghalia
Indonesia
• Naoum, S G, 1998, Dissertation Research & Writing for
Construction Student, Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann
Quick Glance of Research Process

Deciding Planning Conducting

What How Collecting

Gather
Required
RQ evidence to
information
answer RQ
Phase II: Planning a research study
• Step 3: Constructing an instrument for a data
collection
▫ Creating research tool/research instrument
▫ Planning a primary/secondary data
▫ Field testing or pre-testing a research tool
SELECTING METHOD OF DATA
COLLECTION
Data collection in quantitative vs. qualitative

Major approaches to information gathering

Collecting data using primary sources

Methods of data collection in qualitative research

Collecting data using secondary sources

Data collection in quantitative vs.
qualitative
Sequential
order
Structure Depth

Flexibility Distinction Freedom

Quantitative vs. qualitative
Quantitative Qualitative

• More study designs • Less study designs

• Specific • Less specific
• Well structured • Less precise
• Tested for validity & • Not have same structural
reliability depth
• Defined & recognised
Quantitative or Qualitative?
What philosophical epistemology is underpinning approach to research
enquiry
How was the information collected? Structured/unstructured data
collection?
Were the questions or issues discussed during data collection
predetermined or developed during data collection?
How was the information gathered recorded? Descriptive, narrative,
categorical, quantitative form or on a scale?
How was the information analysed? Was it descriptive, categorical or
numerical analysis?
How do one propose to communicate the findings? Descriptive or
analytical manner?
Major approaches to information
gathering
Data collection

Secondary sources Primary sources

Documents Observation Interviewing Questionnaire

Mailed
- Gov publication Participant Structured
questionnaire
-Earlier research
- Census
-Personal records
-Client histories Collective
Non-participant Unstructured
questionnaire
-Service records
Collecting data using primary sources
• Observation: purposeful, systematic and selective way of
watching and listening to an interaction or phenomenon
as it takes place
▫ Type:
 Participant observation: researcher participate in the activities
of group being observed in the same manner as its members
 Non-participant observation: passive observer, drawing
conclusion from this
Observation
• Potential problems:
▫ Hawthorne effect: change in the behaviour of person
or group attributed to their being observed
▫ Possibility of observer bias
▫ Interpretations draw from observations may vary from
observer to observer
▫ There is possibility of incomplete observation and/or
recording
Observation
• Situations in which observations can be made:
▫ Natural
▫ Controlled
• Recording observations
▫ Narrative
▫ Using scales
 Error of central tendency
▫ Categorical
▫ Recording on electronic devices
Interview
• Commonly used method of collecting information from people
• Unstructured interviews: complete freedom provide in terms of
content, structure and questions
• Structured interviews: a predetermined set of questions, using the
same wording and order of questions as specified on the interview
schedule
▫ Interview schedule: written list of open-ended or closed questions,
prepared for use by an interviewer in a-person-to-person interaction
Questionnaire
• A written list of questions, the answers to which are
recorded by respondents
• Ways of administering a questionnaire:
▫ Mailed questionnaire
▫ Collective administration
▫ Administration in public place
Interview vs. Questionnaire
• The nature of investigation
• The geographical distribution of the study
population
• The type of study population
Questionnaire:
Advantages
• Less expensive
• Offers greater anonymity

Disadvantages
• Application is limited
• Response rate is low
• Self-selecting bias
• Opportunity to clarify issue is lacking
• Spontaneous responses are not allowed for
• May be influenced by response to other questions
• It is possible to consult others
• Cannot be supplemented with other information
Interview:
Advantages
• More appropriate to complex situations
• Useful for collecting in-depth information
• Information can be supplemented
• Questions can be explained
• Interviewing has a wider application

Disadvantages
• Time consuming and expensive
• The quality of data depends upon the quality of the interaction
• The quality of data depends upon the quality of the interviewer
• The quality of data may vary when many interviewers are used
• The researcher may introduce his/her bias
Attribute to questionnaire
• Covering letter:
▫ Introduction
▫ Main objectives
▫ Relevance of study
▫ General instructions
▫ Indicate that participation in study is voluntary
▫ Assure anonymity of the information provided
▫ Provide contact number
▫ Give a return address and deadline
▫ Thank the participants
Response rate - questionnaire
• Reasons for poor response rates:
▫ Topic is boring or sensitive
▫ Respondents are too busy
▫ Inappropriate form of communication
▫ Mailing list is not current
▫ Failure to guarantee anonymity
▫ Failure to send reminders and follow-ups
▫ Etc
Open-ended questions
• In-depth information >< difficult analysis:
content analysis
• Opportunity to express freely, greater variety of
information >< difficulty in expression
• Virtually eliminate investigator bias ><
interviewer bias
Closed questions
• Lack depth and variety
• Greater possibility of investigator bias because of
the pattern
• Conditioning
• Tick category without thinking through
• Helpful for researcher to obtain needed information
and easier to analyse
Formulating effective questions
• Always use simple and everyday language
• Do not use ambiguous questions
• Do not ask double-barrelled questions
• Do not ask leading questions
• Do not ask questions that are based on
presumptions
Constructing a research instrument in
Quantitative research
1. Clearly define and individually list all the specific objectives,
research questions or hypothesis, if any, to be tested
2. For each objective, RQ or hypothesis, list all associated
questions that need to be answered during study
3. Take each question that identified, list the information
required to answer it
4. Formulate question(s) that researcher want to ask to
respondent to obtain the required information
Asking personal and sensitive questions

• A direct manner
• An indirect manner
▫ Show drawings or cartoons
▫ Ask respondent to complete a sentence
▫ Ask respondent to sort cards containing
statements
Order of question
• Order of questions in a questionnaire or in an
interview schedule is important as it affects the
quality of information, and the interest and even
willingness of a respondent to participate in a
study
Pre-testing a research instrument
• To identify problems that the potential
respondents might have in either understanding
or interpreting a question
Prerequisites for data collection
• Motivation to share the required information
• Clear understanding of the questions
• Possession of the required information
Methods of data collection in
qualitative research
• Unstructured interviews
• Participant observation
• Secondary sources
In-depth interviews
• Involves face-to-face, repeated interaction
between the researcher and his/her informants
• Seeks to understand the latter perspectives
Focus group interviews
• Explore perceptions, experiences, and
understandings of a group of people who have
some experience in common with regard to a
situation or event
Narrative
• Almost no predetermined contents except that
the researcher seeks to hear a person’s retelling
of an incident or happening in his/her life
Oral history
• Commonly used for learning about historical
event or episode that took place in the past or for
gaining information about a cultural, custom or
story that has been passed from generation to
generation
Collecting data using secondary
sources
• Government or semi government publications
• Earlier research
• Personal records
• Mass media
Problems with using data from
secondary sources
• Validity
• Personal bias
• Availability of data
• Format
COLLECTING DATA USING ATTITUDINAL

Attitudinal scales definition and application

Functions of attitudinal scales in quantitative research

Difficulties in developing an attitudinal scale

Different types of attitudinal scale

Attitudinal and measurement scale

Methods for exploring attitudes in qualitative research

Measurement of attitudes
Quantitative Qualitative

• Explore, measure, determine the • Explore the spread of attitude

intensity • Establish the type of attitudes
• Combine attitudes to different prevalent
aspects of an issue to arrive at one • Not attempt to measure or
indicator that reflect overall quantify
attitude
• Ascertain types of people’s
attitude, their numbers in
population and what intensify
those attitude
Attitudinal scales in quantitative
research
Functions of attitudinal scales
• Measure the intensity of respondents’ attitude
towards various aspects of a situation or issue
and provide techniques to combine the attitudes
towards different aspect into one overall
indicator
Difficulty in developing an attitudinal
scale
1. Which aspects of a situation or issue should be
included when seeking to measure an attitude?
2. What procedure should be adopted for combining
the different aspect to obtain an overall picture?
3. How can one ensure that a scale really is
measuring what is supposed to measure?
Types of attitudinal scale
• Summated rating scale / Likert scale
• Equal-appearing interval scale or differential
scale / Thursone scale
• Cumulative scale / Guttman scale
Summated rating/Likert scale
• Based upon assumption that each
statement/item on the scale has equal attitudinal
value, ‘importance’, ‘weight’ in terms of
reflecting an attitude towards the issue in
question
The equal-appearing
interval/Thurstone scale
• Calculate a ‘weight’ or ‘attitudinal value’ for each
statement
• Advantage: as the importance of each statement
is determined by judges, it reflects the absolute
rather than relative attitude of respondents
Attitudinal scales and measurement
scales
Attitudinal scales Measurement scales
Likert scale Ordinal scale
Thrustone scale Interval scale
Guttman scale Ratio scale
Attitudes and qualitative research
• Only explore spread of the attitudes
• Qualitative methods best suited to explore the
diversity in attitudes
• Can not find other aspect such: how many people
have a particular attitude, intensify a particular
attitude, or overall what attitude of a person is
THE END