BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

MMW 101
MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Module 12
Collection of Data
“Statistics: Our Life Saver
and Influencer”
 Collection of Data

Objectives of the Module

At the end of the module, you should be able to:
1. differentiate the types of data
2. tell the differences among the different methods of collecting data
3. determine the sample size
4. identify the appropriate sampling technique to be used in gathering data

Daily, we come across different kinds of information, data, facts, and figures
from various communication and information media. Some current examples are:
• surveys conducted by SWS on ratings of public offices and officials or opinions
of the public on issues using a sample of 1200 respondents
• the daily data on Philippine COVID-19 cases provided by the Department of
Health (such data include new cases, fully recovered, and deaths added to the
previous total cases) where the active cases are categorized into
asymptomatic, mild, severe, and critical with corresponding percent.
These data are also the basis for the prediction of UP experts to project the
total cases up to a certain period, which are seemingly accurate.
• weather conditions and forecasts
• the clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines
• reports of DOTr on the number of commuters concerning the number of public
transportations to be allowed to operate in the quarantine periods
• reports on the stock market situation
• the estimated funds of Philhealth that were lost due to corruption

This module will give you insights on how data such as mentioned above, are
collected.

Data Gathering

Types of Data

There are two types of data, namely:

1. Primary data. These are data or information gathered by the researcher
from first-hand sources, like government offices, private organizations, business
establishments, or individuals with first-hand information about the needed data.

2. Secondary data. These are data or information obtained from published

or unpublished sources like newspapers, magazines, journals, books and theses,
and other republished materials

For example, the details in a vehicular accident gathered by a policeman who

interviewed the victims are primary data. The viewers who watched the news about
this incident are getting only secondary data.

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Methods of Collecting Data
1. The Direct or Interview Method. This method involves the interviewer (the
person conducting the interview/the researcher), and the interviewee (the
person from whom data is being gathered). This method can provide the
researcher with the opportunity to ask more questions to the interviewee to
obtain all the information that he needs. He can also make clarifications, if
necessary. Questions can be repeated or rephrased for a clearer
understanding of the person being interviewed. The interviewer has to see
to it that he does not influence the responses of the interviewee in any
manner. However, this method is more time consuming and more costly.

Two forms of Interviews

1. Structured. The questions are closed-ended and are already prepared

and asked in the same wordings.
2. Unstructured. In this form, there are no prepared questions at hand
before the interview.

2. The Indirect or Questionnaire Method. This method utilizes

questionnaires to be answered by the respondents. These questionnaires
must be carefully prepared so that the respondents can clearly understand
the directions and the questions to give honest responses. Many
researchers use this method since it is less time-consuming. It is less
expensive because the questionnaires can be reused. A limitation of this
method is that it can only be used for literate persons.

These are the two forms of questions.

1. A fixed-alternative question is a question where the possible responses

from which the respondent is to choose his answer are given.

Example: How often do you read the newspaper?

O once a day O when there is an assignment
O every day O every other day
O once a week O never at all

2. An open-ended question allows the respondent to express his answer

freely.
Examples: 1) How much longer do you think it would take for the pandemic to
end?
2) What are the common problems that students would encounter
in using online mode of learning, and what can you suggest
to remedy these?

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Other methods of collecting data are as follows:

1. The observation method is used when gathering data about the behavior of
individuals in the study.

2. Experimentation Method. In this method, the researcher observes the effect

of a variable on other variables. The independent variable of the study is the
variable that is manipulated to see its effect/s on the dependent variable (the
variable that may change).

3. Registration Method refers to the continuous, permanent, compulsory

recording of the occurrence of significant events and 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, fetal deaths, deaths, marriages, divorces,
judicial separations, annulments of marriage, adoptions, recognitions
(acknowledgments of natural children), legitimating.

4. Texting Method. In this method, the researcher gathers data in the survey
being conducted through text messages.

Determining the Sample Size

In conducting a study, the researcher must consider the time element and the cost
involved to complete the study. This is why most researchers make use of a sample
(the representative of the population and possesses the characteristic of the
population) instead of the population (the entirety of objects, individuals, events, or
things). Slovin's formula is used to determine an appropriate sample size from the
population.
𝑵
The Slovin's formula is n =𝟏+𝑵𝒆𝟐 Formula 1

where: n = sample size; N = population size ; e = margin of error

The margin of error shows how reliable the result of the survey is. A small
margin of error means that it is more likely that the results of the survey are true for
the population.

Example 1. A group of environmentalists is conducting a survey on the opinions

of people regarding the putting of dolomite sand in and around Manila Bay. If the
population of the study is 6000 residents in Metro Manila and the margin of error to be
used is 5%, what would be the sample size?

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Solution:
Given: N = 6000 e = 5% = 0.05
𝑁 6000
n = 1+𝑁𝑒 2 = = 375
1+(6000)(0.05)2

Example 2. Using example 1, what will be the sample size if the margin of error
is 8%?
𝑁 6000
n = 1+𝑁𝑒 2 = = 152.28 = 152
1+(6000)(0.08)2

Did you notice that the bigger the margin of error, the smaller the
sample size becomes?

Example 3. Another researcher wants to conduct the same survey. However,

due to time constraints and limited budget, he will be using 100 respondents only.

To solve for the margin of error (e) in this example, the formula to be used is

𝑵−𝒏
e = √ 𝒏𝑵 Formula 1a
.
In the formula, e is the margin of error, N is the population, and n is the sample size.

Solution:
Given: N = 6000 n = 100

𝑁−𝑛 6000−100
e = √ 𝑛𝑁 = √100(6000) = 0.09916 𝑜𝑟 9.92%

Sampling Techniques

Do you still remember the difference between a population and a sample?

Now let us explore sampling.

Sampling is the process of choosing the samples from a population.

The two kinds of selecting/drawing samples are

1) Probability Sampling (or random sampling) is a sampling technique

where every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected to be
part of the sample. For example, if there are 200 members in the population, each of
these 200 can be part of the survey/study.

2) Non-Probability Sampling is a sampling technique where not all of the

members of the population have a chance to be included in the sample. For example,

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a researcher is conducting a survey in a Barangay. He did not include in his survey
those who live far from the main road. Those people were not given a chance to be
part of the survey.

Probability Sampling

Here are the kinds of probability sampling.

1. Simple Random Sampling. This probability sampling is the simplest

among the types of probability sampling. In this method, numbers are assigned to the
members of the population. Numbers are drawn, and the element of the population
whose number is drawn becomes a part of the sample. This method is also known as
the fishbowl or lottery technique.

Example: A survey is to be conducted among the grade 11 students of a

school. There are 200 grade 11 students. A students' list is prepared, and pieces of
papers numbered 1 to 200 are placed in a container. The researcher draws papers
from this container. Students whose numbers are drawn will become part of the
sample in the survey. The Table of Random Numbers or a number generator can also
be used in drawing the sample from the population.

2. Systematic Random Sampling is a method where every nth or kth

element in the population list is selected in obtaining the sample needed.

Example:
Given: N= 1400 and n = 141
Step 1. Determine k (sampling interval) by dividing the population by the
sample size.
𝑵 1400
𝒌(𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑙) = 𝒏 = 141 = 9.93 𝑜𝑟 10 (This means that every
th
10 element in the population list will be included in the sample until 141
samples are obtained.)

Step 2. The random start can be determined by choosing from numbers 1,

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 (k=10). This can be done by lottery,

If number 4 happens to come out, then the random start is 4.

random start: 4 (the 4th member of the population is included in the sample)

The second number is obtained by adding k to the random start.

4 + k = 4 + 10 = 14
The third number is the 2nd number + k.
14 + k = 14 + 10 = 24

Repeat the procedure until the desired sample size is obtained.

These are the first 20 numbers of the samples: 4, 24,34, 34, 44,54, 64, 74, 84,
94, 104, 114, 124,134, 144, 154, 164, 174, 184, 194

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 3. Stratified Random Sampling is done by splitting the population into groups
or categories. The samples to be chosen from the groups must be proportional to the
size of the group. This means fewer samples will be taken from smaller groups, and
more samples will be taken from bigger groups.

Example:
Given: N = 4370 patients; n = 151
Male Patients – 2734; Female Patients – 1636

Step 1. Divide the sample by the population.

𝒏 151
𝒑(𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛) = 𝑵 = 4370 = .034554

Step 2. Multiply the result obtained in step 1 (p) by the size of each group to get
the number of samples to be taken from that group.

Category No. of patients p Sample Size (n)

Male 2734 . 034554 94
Female 1636 . 034554 57
Total 4370 151

4. Cluster Sampling is used to randomly select the samples from a population

spread out over a wide geographical area. The cluster is used as a sampling unit,
meaning that all the individuals in that cluster will be included in the sample. This is
sometimes called area sampling.

A cluster is a group where the objects or individuals in the group are more
similar to each other as compared to those from other groups.

Example: A sample of 100 health workers in Malolos will be chosen as

respondents in a study. The researcher may consider the barangays as
clusters. He can select the clusters randomly. After he has chosen the
barangays, he can now include all the health workers belonging to the
chosen barangays as part of the sample.

5. Multi-Stage Sampling is done by utilizing a combination of sampling

techniques. This is used when drawing samples from a huge population.

Example: A survey is to be conducted on the opinion of the beneficiaries of the

Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in the province of Bulacan. Randomly
select/draw the municipalities in the province. Then randomly choose the
barangays in the chosen municipalities. Lastly, randomly choose the
beneficiaries in the chosen barangays.

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Non-probability Sampling

The non-probability sampling has three kinds.

1. Quota Sampling is a sampling technique where the population is

divided into categories, just like in stratified sampling. But there is no required sampling
frame that must be used in determining the samples of the study.

Example: A researcher decided to interview 50 audiences during the concert

of a K-pop group at the Philippine Arena. Since he already knows that most
of the viewers are female, he decided to have 80% female respondents and
20% male respondents. So he approached and interviewed 40 female
audiences and ten (10) male audiences.

2. Purposive Sampling is done by selecting a sample based on the

purpose or needs of the study.

Example: A researcher would like to know why grade 10 students preferred to

transfer to public schools this school year. For this purpose, he will interview
only grade 10 transferees.

3. Incidental/Accidental/Convenience Sampling. This sampling

technique is often used in market research. People that are easy to reach to get a
quick response are the ones who are chosen to become samples in the study.

Example: A researcher wanted to now the acceptance of consumers of a brand

of disinfectant. He will possibly interview his friends, relatives, neighbors, or
go to public places nearby and conduct an interview.