ស្ររ្ួងមុខងារសាធារណៈ

សាលាភូមិន្ទរដ្ឋបាល

មុខវិជ្ជា៖
វិធីសាស្ត្រស្រសាវស្រជ្ជវ

ដោយដោក ធន់ ប៊ុនធធឿន

ប្រធាននាយកោឋន ា ប្ាវប្ាវ និងទំនាក់ទំនងអនតរាតិ
ាោភូមិនទរដ្ឋបាល
Tel: 012 660 114
Email: bunthoeun_thun@yahoo.com
Lecture 3: Methodology and
Methods of Data Collection

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• In this lecture the discussion is on methods of data collection.
• By the end of the lecture, I hope you will be able to explain different
methods of data collection.

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Methods of Data Collection
• The choice of method of data collection depends on the researcher’s
methodology as well as the specific research question(s).
• For example, economists use survey questionnaires; anthropologists
tend to rely on ethnographical studies; psychologists favour
experimental techniques; sociologists tend to rely on interviewing,
participant observation and in the humanities discourse analysis is
popular. They all also use secondary data.
• Many researchers choose to adopt two or three methods, known as
triangulation or a multi-method approach because it is believed to be
a means to achieving a greater understanding or fuller grasp of the
social world.

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Methods of Data Collection
• It is best that whenever possible to undertake research using a variety
of data collection strategies.
• The weakness of one strategy may be cancelled out by the strengths
of another.
• Other constraints such as time, personal space or money may
influence choice.
• Sometimes one data collection strategy may not be feasible for
ethical reasons.
• All methods of data collection are important and you do not have to
restrict yourself to one method.

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Primary Data Collection
Types of Research Interviews:
1.The structured or standardised interview
2.The Semi-structured Interview
3.Unstructured or Informal Interviewing
4.Focus Group Interviewing
5.Life history

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1.Structured or Standardised Interview :
Questionnaire:
• A questionnaire provides one opportunity to gather data.
• Questionnaires require careful preparation.
• When you have a clear idea of what information you want, you can
begin to think about questions you might ask.
• Questions should relate to research topic, and research question or
hypothesis

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Question Type
• Structured:
• In a structure interview, questions are arranged prior to the
interviews and are standardised in the form of a questionnaire. The
results of standardised interviews can be aggregated and quantified.
• This type of question provides a range of answers for selection by the
respondent. This has the effect of guiding respondents through
Completing the questionnaire which respondents may find easier
than answering open-ended questions.

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Types of Closed Questions
Category (បែែចាត់ថ្នាក់ ឬប្ែភេទ)
• Ask a question and provide respondents with a range of answers from
which they must select one answer. For example:
• Do you think that boys and girls should be taught together in
school?
❑Yes all the time
❑ Yes, most of the time
❑Yes, some of the time
❑No, not at all

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List (រាយែញ្ជ)ី
• Ask a question and provide respondents with a list of options and
they can select as many as they want. More detailed data can be
collected by asking respondents to rank the list in order of
importance.
• For example, Please put 1 in the box of the activity that you enjoy
most, 2 in the box of the activity you enjoy second.
❑The cinema
❑A meal in a restaurant
❑An evening in the pub
❑Ten pin bowling

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Scale (កប្រិត ឬ ខ្នាត)
• Scales can be used to find out opinions
or attitudes. A widely used scale is the
Likert
• A Likert scale is a psychometric scale
commonly involved in research that
employs questionnaires - a scale used to
represent people's attitudes to a topic.
• scale show whether you agree or
disagree with each of these things by
putting a tick in
1. Strongly agree
2. Agree
3. Don't know
4 . Disagree
5. Strongly disagree

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Ways to administer questions
• use a postal survey: (common in market research and
among committed memberships of organisations)
• face – to – face interviews or
• use the telephone (or email, we might now add) to do
the survey

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2.Semi – Structured Interview
• Unlike the structured interview the semi-structure allows the interviewer more
freedom to modify the sequence of the questions to be asked and to change the
phrasing or wording, and add explanations or clarifications if necessary.
• A semi-structured interview is a meeting in which the interviewer does not strictly follow a
formalized list of questions. They will ask more open-ended questions, allowing for a
discussion with the interviewee rather than a straightforward question and answer format
• This can be useful when we want more specific or detailed information. The
interviewer has more freedom to probe beyond simplistic answers.
• In semi-structured interviews we give an opportunity to the interviewees to
answer on their own terms rather than within the standardised constraints of a
structured interview.
• The semi-structured interview still provides a greater structure for comparison of
interviewee responses than an informal interview. This is in a sense a half way
mark between the highly structured and the informal.

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3.Informal or Unstructured Interview
• What differentiates this form of interview from the structured or semi-structure
interview is its open-ended approach.
• Based on a list of topics which the interviewer wishes respondents to discuss.
• Questions are flexible and phrased as the interviewer wishes. They can be asked
in any order that is appropriate at the time of the interview.
• Focus is on the person being interviewee’s own personal and emotional
responses to a given situation or in relation to given facts/events being studied,
so the respondent is encouraged to recount events, emotions etc. freely.
Interviewers can even disclose their own opinions of a topic if they feel that it is
appropriate.
• Context in this type of interview is very important. It is the most informal form of
data collection and is often rich in content, which is why it is associated with a
qualitative approach.

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4.Focus Group Interview
• Group interviewing is a valuable and
useful type of data collection
enabling the researcher to focus on a
particular group of people consisting
of 10 to 12 individuals.
• In this type of interviewing the topic
should be directed and it is up to the
interviewer to maintain the focus so
that the discussion does not deviate
from the main topic.

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Other type of data collection
• Life history interviewing is a
qualitative method of data
collection where people are
asked to document
their life over a period of
time. It is a personal account
of their life, in their own
words and using their own
personal time lines

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• participant observation interviewing
• a technique of field research, used in anthropology and sociology, by which an
investigator (participant observer) studies the life of a group by sharing in its
activities
• key informants interviewing
• Key informant interviews are qualitative in-depth interviews with people
who know what is going on in the community. The purpose of key informant
interviews is to collect information from a wide range of people—including
community leaders, professionals, or residents—who have first hand
knowledge about the community.

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• A relatively small research project like the one that you will do for
your dissertation mostly involves secondary data collection and
documentary analysis

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Secondary Data
• Secondary data are either qualitative or quantitative
• They are collected or created by others researchers and made
available to other users
• Government data sets, official publications, annual reports, Global
institutions data base such as World Bank, IMF, UN
• Many texts such as journal publication based on research, policy
statement, News papers.

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