DATA GATHERING PROCEDURES

THIS PROCESS CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS:

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE METHOD TO BE USED IN GATHERING DATA?

1. DETERMINE WHAT INFORMATION YOU WANT TO COLLELCT. THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO DO
IS TO CHOOSE WHAT DETAILS YOU WANT TO COLLECT…
2. SET A TIME FRAME FOR DATA COLLECTION
3. DETERMINE YOUR DATA COLLECTION METHOD
4. COLLECT THE DATA
5. ANALYZE THE DATA AND IMPLEMENT YOUR FINDINGS

5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

1. SURVEYS AND QUESTIONNAIRES (PAPER OR WEB BASED WITH CLOSED ENDED QUESTIONS)
2. INTERVIEWS (FACE TO FACE OR OVER THE PHONE)
3. OBSERVATIONS
4. RECORDS AND DOCUMENTATION
5. FOCUS GROUP

HOW DO YOU GATHER QUALITATIVE DATA?

1. INTERVIEWS.
2. CASE STUDIES.
3. SECONDARY RESEARCH. (RECORD KEEPING)
4. EXPERT OPINIONS.
5. FOCUS GROUP
6. ONLINE SURVEYS (KIOSK, MOBILE, DESKTOP)
7. PAPER SURVEYS
8. OBSERVATIONAL STUDIES
9. Non-Probability Sampling- researchers used their judgement to select a sample. Not all
members of the population have an equal chance of participating in the study.
Quota Sampling-researchers create a sample involving individuals that represent a population.
Researchers choose these individuals according to specific traits, or qualities. These samples can
be generalize to the entire population.
Convenience Sampling- researchers is free to choose sample group members according to
his/her will.
Purposive Sampling-researchers rely on their own judgement when choosing a population to
participate in their survey. Also known as judgmental, selective, or subjective.
Self-selection Sampling- the researcher, puts out a call for volunteers and creates the sample
group from those who answer the call.
Snowball Sampling- researcher identifies one or two people they would like to include in their
study but then relies on those initial participants to help identify additional study participants.
HOW DO YOU GATHER QUANTITATIVE DATA? QUANTI RELY ON RANDOM SAMPLING AND
STRUCTURED DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS THAT FIT DIVERSE EXPERIENCES INTO
PREDETERMINED RESPONSE CATEGORIES.

1. EXPERIMENTS
2. CONTROLLED OBSERVATIONS- RESEARCHERS WATCH PARTICIPANTS IN A CONTAINED
ENVIRONMENT.
3. SURVEYS: PAPER, KIOSK, MOBILE, QUESTIONNAIRE OBSERVATION
4. LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
5. POLLS
6. TELEPHONE INTERVIEW
7. FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEW
8. DOCUMENT REVIEW
9. PROBABILITY SAMPLING-refers to the selection of a sample from a population, when this
selection is based on principle randomization, that is Random selection or chance. Probability
sampling is more complex, more time-consuming and usually more costly than non-probability
sampling.
4 types of Probability Sampling
1. Simple Random Sampling- every member of the population has an equal chance of being
selected
2. Systematic Sampling- sample members from a larger population are selected according to a
random starting point but with a fix periodic interval. This interval called Sampling Interval,
is calculated by dividing the population size by the desired sample size.
3. Stratified Sampling- involves dividing a population into smaller groups- called STRATA. The
groups or strata are organized based on the shared characteristics or attributes of the
members of the group. Stratification
4. Cluster Sampling- researchers divide a population into smaller groups known as clusters.
They are randomly select among thee clusters to form a sample. This is a method often
used to study a large populations, particularly those that are widely geographically
dispersed.