ARM - Chapter Three:

Data Types/Sources and

Methods of Data Collection

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 3.1 Data Types and Sources
•Primary Data:
• Data that you collect for the first time by yourselves for
your own purpose.
•Secondary data:
• Data that have been collected by others for their own
purpose or for a general purpose.
• You had no control over the design and data collection
• E.g.: Government data (economics and demographics),
Media reports (TV, newspapers, Internet/satalite data), etc
•As a general rule, primary data sources are preferred
to secondary sources. Nevertheless, the nature and
objective of the research determines the type of data
required
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 3.2 Methods of Collecting Data
Methods of Collecting Primary Data are
• Observation method
• Interview Method
– Personal interview
– Telephone interview
• Questionnaire Method
• Focus Group Discussion
(They are described as follows)

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 3.2.1 Observation method:-
Observational methods may be:
 Participant or Non – participant
 Structured and unstructured
 Disguised and undisguised
 Personal or Mechanical
– Mechanical – eg. By video camera, computers, etc

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 Observation method...
Advantages:
• Helps in overcoming issues of validity & bias.
• Useful when the subject can not provide information.
• Useful when the subject is feared to provide inaccurate
information.
• The researcher can have first hand experiences of their
study.
• The ability to record and report all findings that are true
to the topic at hand.

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 Observation method...
Disadvantages:
• Past events cannot be studied by observation
• Selecting sample is complicated
• Time and costs are high – can be automated
• Ethical issues
• There may be too few trials/studies/ or objects
observed to make an end conclusion to the study.

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 3.2.2 Interview Method
• Primarily used to gain an understanding of the
underlying reasons and motivations for people’s
attitudes, preferences or behaviour.
• Can be undertaken on a personal interview one-to
one basis and, if possible , through telephone.
• They can be conducted at work, at home, in the
street or in a shopping centre, or some other agreed
location.

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 Interview Method: Personal interview
A. Advantages of personal interview:
• Good response rate; Possible in-depth questions
• Can investigate motives and feelings
• Can use recording equipment
• Can complete in set time & immediate
• Interviewer in control and can give help if there is a
problem
• Serious approach by respondent resulting in accurate
information
• Characteristics of respondent can be assessed – tone
of voice, facial expression, hesitation, etc.
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 Interview Method: Personal interview
B. Disadvantages of personal interview:
• Need to set up interviews
• Time consuming
• Geographic limitation
• Can be expensive
• Normally need a set of questions
• Embarrassment possible if personal questions
• If many interviewees, interviewers training required,
• Respondent bias – tendency to please or impress,
create false personal image, or end interview quickly.

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 Interview Method: Telephone interview
A. Advantages of telephone interview:
• Relatively cheap and quick
• Can cover reasonably large numbers of people or
organizations.
• Wide geographic coverage
• No waiting and spontaneous response
• Help can be given to the respondent
• Can tape answers

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 Interview Method: Telephone interview
B. Disadvantages of telephone interview:
• Questionnaire required
• Not everyone has a telephone.
• Repeat calls are inevitable
• Straight forward questions are required to ask
• Respondent has little time to think on an issue
• Good telephone manner is required

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 Questionnaire Method
A. Advantages:
• Can be used as a method in its own right or as a basis for
interviewing or a telephone survey
• Can be posted, e-mailed or faxed
• Can cover a large number of people or organizations
• Wide geographic coverage.
• Relatively cheap and no prior arrangements are needed.
• Avoids embarrassment on the part of the respondent.
• Respondent can consider responses.
• Possible anonymity of respondent.
• No interviewer bias.

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 Questionnaire Method
A. Disadvantages:
• Design problems.
• Questions have to be relatively simple.
• Historically low response rate (although inducements may help).
• Time delay whilst waiting for responses to be returned.
• Require a return deadline.
• Several reminders may be required
• Assumes no literacy problems.
• No control over who completes it
• Problems with incomplete questionnaires.

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 Focus Group Discussion method
A focus group could be defined as :
•a group of interacting individuals having some
common interest or characteristics, brought
together by a researcher, who uses the group
and its interaction as a way to gain information
about a specific or focused issue

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 Focus Group Discussion method
A. Advantages:
• Takes advantage of the fact that people naturally interact and are
influenced by others ( high face validity).
• Provide data more quickly and at lower cost than if individuals
interviewed.
• Generally requires less preparation and is comparatively easy to
conduct.
• Researcher can interact directly with respondents ( allows
clarification, follow-up questions, probing)
• Data uses respondents’ own words: can obtain deeper levels of
meaning, make important connections
• Very flexible; can be used with wide range or topics, individuals, and
settings

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 Focus Group Discussion method
A. Disadvantages:
• Have less control over group; less able to control what
information will be produced.
• Data analysis is more difficult.
• Small numbers and convenience sampling severely limit ability to
generalize to larger populations.
• Requires carefully trained interviewer who is knowledgeable
about group dynamics.
• Researcher may knowingly or unknowingly bias results by
providing cues about what types of responses are desirable.
• Uncertainty about accuracy of what participants say. Results may
be biased by presence of a very dominant or opinionated
member; more reserved members may be hesitant to talk.

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 Secondary Data
Sources of Secondary data:
• Federal/provincial/state governments
• Statistics agencies and Trade association
• General business publications, Annual reports, Magazine
and newspaper articles
• Academic publications, Library sources
• Computerized bibliographies and syndicated services.
• Internal records and reports

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 Secondary Data
Advantages of Secondary data analysis:
• It often allows researcher to extend the scope of your
study and saves time and cost
• It usually provides a larger database.
• In many small research projects it is impossible to
consider taking a national sample because of the costs
involved.

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 Secondary Data
Disadvantage of secondary data:
• Researcher has less control over how the data was
collected.
• There may be biases in the data that you don’t know
about.
• Data may not exactly fit your research questions.
• It may be obsolete data and can distort the results of the
research.
• Can also raise issues of authenticity and copyright.

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 3.4 Guideline for Designing Data
Collection Instruments
• What is the research problem?: The problem
definition and objectives of the research.
• What type(s) of evidence is needed to address
it?: Exploratory, descriptive, causal or
explanatory
• What ideas, concepts, variables are we
measuring? Content, definition and indicators
• What type(s) of data is(are) appropriate?
Qualitative, quantitative, both.
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 Guideline for Designing Data Collection
Instruments...
• From whom should we collect the data? Nature of
the target population or sample (e.g., their education
level, cultural background, etc)
• What method of data collection is most suitable?
Observation, interviews, questionnaire or schedule,
face-to-face or telephone, e-mail, web or postal.
• Where will the data be collected? In the
street/shopping centre. At respondents’ office or
home.
• How will responses be captured? Pen and paper,
computer, Audi and/or video recording, photograph.
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 Designing a Questionnaire: guideline
i. Decide on the question content
ii. Ensure Proper Wording of the Questions
iii. Follow the right question order
iv. Make good layout and appearance
v. Optimize questionnaire Length
vi. Conduct Pilot Study (pre-test) and make
necessary changes:

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