Module 2: Collection and Presentation of Data

Students Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the week, the students should be able to:

1. identify the type of data collection method to be used in different
studies/researches
2. present data through texts, tables, and graphs
3. organize data sets using frequency distribution table
4. represent data in frequency distributions graphically using histograms, frequency
polygons, and ogives
5. use appropriate digital technology in organizing data

A. Data
• According to Merriam – Webster’s dictionary, data is a factual information used as
a basis for discussion, calculation and reasoning.
• It is a set of original value you store in the table of the database.
• The data that are not yet statistically treated and have no useful meaning are
usually called raw data

B. Data Collection

Data collection is the process of gathering and categorizing relevant information that can
then be used to make decisions about specific situations. In every aspect of our lives, we go
through the process of data collection. For example, if you want to move to a new city, you
collect as much data as you can. When assessing a new job offer, you collect data about the
company’s growth, salary scale, etc.

1. Interview
 Interview as a technique of data collection is very popular and extensively
used in every field of social research. The interview is, in a sense, an oral
questionnaire. Instead of writing the response, the interviewee or subject gives the
needed information verbally in a face-to-face relationship. The dynamics of
interviewing, however, involves much more than an oral questionnaire.

 Interview is relatively more flexible tool than any written inquiry form and
permits explanation, adjustment and variation according to the situation.

 The interview method as a verbal method is quite significant in securing data

about all the research aspects. In this method a researcher or an interviewer can
interact with his respondents and know their inner feelings and reactions.

 Interview is a direct method of inquiry. It is simply stated as a social process in

which a person known as the interviewer asks questions usually in a face to face
 contact to the other person or persons known as interviewee or interviewees. The
interviewee responds to these and the interviewer collects various information
from these responses through a very healthy and friendly social interaction.

 Interview is not a simple two-way conversation between an interrogator and

informant. It is a mutual interaction of each other. According to P.V. Young,
“interview may be regarded as a systematic method by which a person enters
more or less imaginatively into the life of a comparative stranger”

 There are three main types of interviews. A structured interview which

can be considered a questionnaire that’s given verbally. There’s little to
no deviation from the questions that were set in the beginning. A semi-
structured interview has a general guideline but gives the interviewer
the leeway to explore different areas based on the responses received.
An unstructured interview has a clear purpose but the interviewer is
able to use their discretion about the type of questions to ask, what to
explore, and what to ignore. This gives the most flexibility.

2. Questionnaire Method
 Questionnaire provides the most speedy and simple technique of gathering
data about groups of individuals scattered in a wide and extended field. In this
method, a questionnaire form is sent usually by post to the persons concerned,
with a request to answer the questions and return the questionnaire.
 According to Goode and Hatt “It is a device for securing answers to
questions by using a form which the respondent fills in himself. According to
GA. Lundberg “Fundamentally the questionnaire is a set of stimuli to which
illiterate people are exposed in order to observe their verbal behavior under
these stimuli”.
 Often the term “questionnaire” and “schedule” are considered as synonyms.
Technically, however, there is a difference between these two terms. A
questionnaire consists of a set of questions printed or typed in a systematic order
on a form or set of forms. These form or forms are usually sent by the post to the
respondents who are expected to read and understand the questions and reply to
them in writing in the spaces given for the purposes on the said form or forms.
Here the respondents have to answer the questions on their own. On the other
hand schedule is also a form or set of forms containing a number of questions. But
here the researcher or field worker puts the question to the respondent in a face to
face situation, clarifies their doubts, offers the necessary explanation and most
significantly fills their answers in the relevant spaces provided for the purpose.
 Questionnaire is sent to a selected number of individuals, its scope is rather
limited but within its limited scope it can prove to be the most effective
means of eliciting information, provided that it is well formulated and the
respondent fills it properly.
  A properly constructed and administered questionnaire may serve as a most
appropriate and useful data gathering device.

3. Observation Method
 Observation method has occupied an important place in descriptive sociological
research. It is the most significant and common technique of data collection.
 Observation seeks to ascertain what people think and do by watching them
in action as they express themselves in various situations and activities.
 Observation is the process in which one or more persons observe what is
occurring in some real life situation and they classify and record pertinent
happenings according to some planned schemes.
 It is used to evaluate the overt behavior of individuals in controlled or
uncontrolled situation. It is a method of research which deals with the external
behavior of persons in appropriate situations.
 It is a planned, purposive, systematic and deliberate effort to focus on the
significant facts of a situation.
 According to P.V. Young, “Observation is a systematic and deliberate study
through eye, of spontaneous occurrences at the time they occur. The purpose of
observation is to perceive the nature and extent of significant interrelated
elements within complex social phenomena, culture patterns or human conduct”.
 According to Oxford Concise Dictionary, “Observation means accurate watching,
knowing of phenomena as they occur in nature with regard to cause and effect or
mutual relations”.
 This definition focuses on two important points:
 Firstly, in observation the observer wants to explore the cause-effect relationships
between facts of a phenomenon.
 Secondly, various facts are watched accurately, carefully and recorded by the
observer.

4. Test Methods
 Tests and measurements provide important information at various points in the
research or study/project.
 Tests often employ quantitative methods, but qualitative and mixed methods
are also possible.
 At the project’s beginning, for example, they offer information on the initial
situation within the target group. Examples can range from math tests for
students to the collection of health-status information for participants in a
health program.
 Advantages
 Good at depicting changes over time
 Standardized tests provide high degree of comparability
 Disadvantages:
 Medium time expenditure
 Require extensive expertise
 Standardized tests may not be applicable to the target group’s specific
situation
 5. Registration method
 Registration method refers to continuous, permanent, compulsory recording of the
occurrence of vital events together with certain identifying or descriptive
characteristics concerning them, as provided through the civil code, laws or
regulations of each country.
 The vital events may be live births, deaths, marriages, divorces, judicial
separations, annulments of marriage, adoptions, recognitions (acknowledgements
of natural children), legitimations etc.

6. Other methods such as

 Focal groups. A focus group is a moderated discussion between multiple
participants who engage with each other around a narrowly defined question.
Ideally, the participants inspire one another to provide deeper statements than
would otherwise be the case.
 Informal conversations/ anecdotes. Informal conversations provide
information particularly about unplanned results, both positive and negative.
It is useful for eliciting opinions among members of the project’s indirect
target group (e.g., parents).
 Case studies. Case studies are appropriate when the goal is to illustrate the
results being achieved. By using figures and data combined with the stories of
individual people, a very enlightening picture of a project’s social impact can
be drawn. The focus is on individual participants or a very specific, narrowly
defined group.
 Document analysis. In this type of data collection method, the important
information for the social-impact analysis can be found in many internal and
external documents.
Internal documents can include project concepts, reports and meeting
minutes; in these, you can find information on goals, results and
deviations from the plan.
External documents can include studies, surveys and official
statistical reports; these are interesting particularly for the needs-
assessment and context-analysis process, and as comparative reference
points.

C. Data Presentation
In order to summarize, analyze and present the findings of a statistical study, in such a
way that the readers can go through them quickly and understand each and every point that you
wanted to highlight data can be presented in many different ways.
Data presentation is defined as the process of using various graphical formats to visually
represent the relationship between two or more data sets so that an informed decision can be
made based on them.
Types of Data Presentation

There are three methods of data presentation:

1. Textual Method
Textual ways of presenting data is the simplest method since the researcher write
the findings of the study in a very coherent manner. The disadvantage of this method is
that one has to read the whole text to get a clear picture.

The following is an example of presenting data in textual form

In a statistics class of 40 students, 3 obtained the perfect score of 50 in a given
examination. Sixteen (16) students got a score of 40 and above, while only 3 got 19
and below. Generally, the students performed well in the test with 23 or 70% getting
a passing score of 38 and above.

2. Tabular Method
Complexities involved in the textual way of data presentation can be avoided by
using tables and charts to present data. In this method, data is presented in rows and
columns. Each row and column has an attribute (name, year, sex, age and other things
like these). It is against these attributes that data is written within a cell.

Parts of a statistical table

a. Table heading – consists of table number and title
b. Stubs – classifications or categories which are found at the left side of the body of
the table
c. Box head – the top of the column
d. Body – main part of the table
e. Footnotes – any statement or note inserted
f. Source Note – source of the statistics

Example:

Table 1
Total Population Distribution by Region: 2000
 Source: Philippine Statistics Commission

3. Diagrammatic/Graphical Method
The aim of presenting scientific data graphically is to utilize the power of visual
display to communicate information efficiently, while avoiding deception or confusion.
This is important both in how we communicate our findings to others, and to our
understanding and analysis of the data.

Kinds of Graphs or Diagrams

1. Bar Graph – used to show relationships/ comparison between groups
2. Pie Graph- shows percentages effectively
3. Line Graph – most useful in displaying data that changes continuously over time.
4. Pictograph – or pictogram. It uses small identical or figures of objects called
isotopes in making comparisons .Each picture represents a definite quantity.

D. Organizing Data

a. Frequency Distribution Table

Frequency tells you how often something happened. The frequency of an
observation tells you the number of times the observation occurs in the data. Thus,
frequency distribution table is a tabular presentation of data with its corresponding
frequency.

Example 1. The following table shows what family planning methods were used by
married women in Tondo, Manila. The left column shows the categorical
variable (Method) and the right column is the frequency — the number of married
women using that particular method.

Table 1
The Number of Married Women using the Family Plannining Method
 Example 2. Tally marks are often used to make a frequency distribution table. For
example, let’s say you survey a number of households and find out how many pets they
own. The results are 3, 0, 1, 4, 4, 1, 2, 0, 2, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 3, 1, 2, 1, 1, 3. Create a frequency
distribution table will make the data easier to understand.

Number of Pets (x) Tally Frequency

0 4
1 6
2 5
3 3
4 2
TOTAL 20

How to Draw a Frequency Distribution Table

A frequency distribution table is one way you can organize data so that it makes more
sense.

Steps for constructing a frequency distribution

1. Determine the number of classes m= √n
2. Determine the size of each class h=¿ ¿
3. Determine the starting point for the first class
4. Tally the number of values that occur in each class
5. Prepare a table of the distribution using actual counts and/ or percentages (relative
frequencies).

Example 3. Consider a list of IQ scores for a gifted classroom in a particular elementary school.
The IQ scores are: 118, 123, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 130, 133, 136, 138, 141, 142, 149,
150, 154. Draw a frequency distribution table, which will give a better picture of the data than
a simple list.
Steps:
1. Determine the number of classes m = √ 17 = 4.13 approximately 5.
2. Determine the class size of each class h = (154 – 118)/ 5 = 7.2 approximately 8
3. Determine the starting point for the first class, 118 – 125
4. Frequency Distribution Table

Table 1
The Frequency Distribution of the IQ Score of Students

IQ Score Tally
Frequency
118 – 125 |||| 4
126 – 133 |||| - | 6
134 – 141 ||| 3
142 – 149 || 2
150 – 157 || 2
TOTAL 17

Practice Exercises

1. Construct the frequency table for each of the following.

(a) 4, 3, 6, 5, 2, 4, 3, 3, 6, 4, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 4, 2, 3, 4

(b) 6, 7, 5, 4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 7, 9, 6, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9, 4, 6, 7, 6, 5

2. The marks obtained out of 25 by 30 students of a class in the examination are given as 20, 6,
23, 19, 9, 14, 15, 3, 1, 12, 10, 20, 13, 3, 17, 10, 11, 6, 21, 9, 6, 10, 9, 4, 5, 1, 5, 11, 7, 24. Prepare
the frequency distribution of the scores.