DATA GATHERING TECHNIQUES

JONATHAN S. PACETE

SICC-BACHELOR OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Topic Outline
 Introduction
 Data Gathering Techniques
 Survey
 Data Mining
 Focus Group Discussion
 Key Informant Interview
 Triangulation
 Principle on designing questionnaire
 Latest technology on data gathering
 Data Management (data editing and coding)
DATA COLLECTION
• Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on
variables of interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables one
to answer stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate
outcomes.
• Two sources of data:
1. Primary source (Primary data)- Data that is collected by the researcher
himself.
2. Secondary sources (Secondary data) – Data collected, compiled or written
by other researcher.

• The integration of different sources will consolidate the write up of a report.

DATA COLLECTION STRATEGIES
• No one best way: decision depends on:
• What you need to know: numbers or stories
• Where the data reside: Environment, files, people
• Resources and time available
• Complexity of the data to be collected
• Frequency of data collection
• Intended forms of data analysis
RULES FOR COLLECTING DATA

• Use multiple data collection methods

• Use secondary data, but need to know
• How the measures were defined
• How the data were collected and cleaned
• The extent of missing the data
• How accuracy of the data was ensured
RULES FOR COLLECTING DATA
• If must collect primary data:

• Be sensitive to burden on others

• Pre-test, pre-test, pre-test
• Establish procedures and follow them (protocol)
• Maintain accurate records of definitions and coding
• Verify accuracy of coding, data input
 WHICH DATA?

If you: Then Use:

- want to conduct statistical analysis
- want to be precise Quantitative
- know what you want to measure
- want to cover a large group
- want narrative or in-depth
information Qualitative
- are not sure what you are able to
measure
- do not need to quantify the results
HOW TO DECIDE ON DATA COLLECTION
APPROACH

• Choice depends on the situation

• Each technique is more appropriate in some situations
than others
• Caution: All techniques are subject to bias
• Sampling bias, non-response bias, response bias,
household bias, etc.
TRIANGULATION TO INCREASE ACCURACY OF
DATA

• Triangulation of Methods
• Collection of same information using different methods
• Triangulation of sources
• Collection of same information from variety of sources
• Triangulation of evaluators
• Collection of same information from more than one
evaluator
DATA COLLECTION TOOLS
• Records and Secondary Data
• Survey and Interviews
• Focus Groups
• Expert Judgement
• Participatory Methods
• Observation
• Diaries, Journals, Self Reported Checklists
• Delphi Technique
Tool 1: Records and Secondary Data
• Examples of Sources:
• Files/records
• Computer data bases
• Industry or government reports
• Census data and household survey data
• Documents (budgets, organizational charts, policies and
• Newspapers and television reports
DATA MINING: MAJOR DATABASES
• BAS- http://countrystat.bas.gov.ph/
• BSP- http://www.bsp.gov.ph/statistics/overview.asp
• NSO- http://web0.psa. gov.ph/content/family-income-
and-expenditure-survey-fies
• World Bank- http://data.worldbank.org/
• United Nation- http://data.un.org/
• PIDS- http://econdb.pids.gov.ph/
• Evaluating Secondary Data
USING EXISTING DATA SETS

• Key issues:
• Validity, reliability, accuracy, response rates, data
dictionaries, and missing data rates
 ADVANTAGE/CHALLENGE: AVAILABLE
Advantages Often less expensive and faster
than collecting the original data
again
Challenges There may be coding errors or
other problems, data may not be
exactly what is needed. You may
have difficulty getting access.
You may have to verify validity
and reliability of data.
Tool 2: Surveys
• The most common data collection instrument
• Useful to collect both qualitative and quantitative information
• Excellent for asking people about:
• Perceptions, opinions, ideas, practices
• Less accurate for measuring behavior
• Sample should be representative of the whole
• Big problem with response rates
RESPONSE IN CONDUCTING A SURVEY

1. Conceptualization
2. Planning and Designing
3. Organizing
4. Sampling
5. Questionnaire Construction
6. Pre-testing of Instrument
7. Recruitment or training
RESPONSE IN CONDUCTING A SURVEY

7. Data Collection
8. Data Editing and Coding
9. Data Processing
10.Formulation of Tabulation and Analysis Plans
11.Report Preparation
12.Data Archiving
• Should contain 3 elements
1. Introduction
2. Instructions – Must be clear, simple language & short
3. User-friendly - Avoid difficult or ambiguous questions
 2 BASIC TYPES OF SURVEY QUESTIONS:
1. Open-ended Questions 2. Close-Ended Questions
• Free-response • Dichotomous question
(Text Open End) • Multiple-choice
• Fill-in relevant information • Rank
• Scale
• Categorical
• Numerical
STEPS TO AN EFFECTIVE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
Prepare your survey question
(Formulate & choose types of questions, order them, write instructions, make copies)

Select your respondents/sampling

Random/Selected

Administer the survey questionnaire

(date, venue, time)

Tabulate
(Statistical Analysis-frequency/mean/correlation/%)

Administer the survey questionnaire

(Statistical Analysis-frequency/mean/correlation/%)

Analyze and interpret data collected

MODES OF SURVEY ADMINISTRATION

• Self-administered questionnaires distributed by

mail, e-mail, or websites
• Administered questionnaires, common in the
development context
• Telephone Surveys
• In development context, often issues of Language
and translation
MAIL/ PHONE/ INTERNET SURVEYS

• Literacy issues
• Consider accessibility
• Reliability of postal service
• Turn-around time
• Consider bias
• What population segment has telephone access?
Internet access?
ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES OF SURVEYS

Advantages Best When you want to know

what people think, believe, or
perceive, only they can tell you
that
Challenges People may not accurately recall
their behavior or may be reluctant
to reveal their behavior if it is
illegal or stigmatized. What people
think they do or say they do is not
always the same as what they
actually do.
Tool 3: Key Informant Interviews (Klls)
• Often semi-structured
• Used to explore complex issues in depth
• Forgiving of mistakes: Unclear questions can be clarified
during the interview and changed for subsequent interviews
• Can provide researcher with an intuitive sense of the
situation
 Steps to an Effective Interview

Prepare your interview schedule

Select your subjects/key informants

Conduct the interview

Analyze and interpret data collected from the interview

Challenges of Interviews

• Can be expensive, labor intensive, and time consuming

• Selective hearing on the part of the interviewer may miss
information that does not conform to pre-existing beliefs
• Cultural sensitivity: e.g., gender issues
Tool 4: Focus Groups

• Type of qualitative research where small homogenous

groups of people are brought together to informally
discuss specific topics under the guidance of a
moderator
• Purpose: to identify issues and themes, not just
interesting information, and not “counts”
Focus Groups Are Inappropriate when:

• Language barriers are insurmountable

• Evaluator has little control over the situation
• Trust cannot be established
• Free expression cannot be ensured
• Confidentiality cannot be assured
TOOL 5: EXPERT JUDGMENT

Use of experts, one-on-one Can be structured or

or as a panel unstructured
e.g. Government task Issues in selecting experts
forces, Advisory Groups
SELECTING EXPERTS

• Establish criteria for selecting experts not only on

recognition as expert but also based on:
• areas of expertise
• diverse perspectives
• diverse political views
• diverse technical expertise
 FOCUS GROUP PROCESS
Phase Action
1. Opening Ice-breaker; explain purpose; ground rules; introduction
2. Warm-up Relate experience; stimulate group interaction; start
with least threatening and simplest questions
3. Main Move to more threatening or sensitive and complex
Body questions; elicit deep responses; connect emergent
data to complex, broad participation
4. Closure End with closure-type questions; summarize and refine;
present theories, etc; invite final comments or insights; thank
participants
ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES OF FOCUS
GROUPS

Advantages Can be conducted relatively quickly and

easily; may take less staff time than in-depth, in-
person interviews; allow flexibility to make changes in
process and questions; can explore different
perspectives; can be fun
Challenges Analysis is time consuming; participants not be
representative of population, possibly biasing the data; group may
be influenced by moderator or dominant group members
ADVANTAGES AND CHALLENGES OF EXPERT
JUDGMENT

Advantages Fast, relatively inexpensive

Challenges Weak for impact evaluation

May be based mostly on perceptions
Value of data depends on how credible the
experts are perceived to be
TOOL 6: PARTICIPATORY METHODS

• Involve groups or communities heavily in data

collection
• Examples:
• Community meetings
• Mapping
• Transect walks
Community Meetings
 One of the most common participatory methods
 Must be well organized
 agree on purpose
 established ground rules
 who will speak
 time allotted for speakers
 format for questions and answers
 
Mapping

 Drawing or using existing maps

 Useful tool involve stakeholders
 increases understanding of the community
 generates discussions, verifies secondary sources of
information, perceived changes
 Types of mapping:
 Natural resources, social, heath, individual or civic
assets, wealth, land use, demographics
Transect Walks
 Evaluator walks around community observing
people, surroundings, and resources
 Need good observation skills
 Walk transect line through a map of a community
- line should go through all zones of the community
Tool 7 : Observation
 
 See what is happening
 traffic patterns
 land use patterns
 layout of city and rural areas
 quality of housing
 condition of roads
 conditions of buildings
who goes to a health clinic
Observation is Helpful when:
 
 need direct information
 trying to understand ongoing behaviour
 there is physical evidence, products, or outputs that
can be observed
 need to provide alternative when other data collection
is infeasible or inappropriate
Ways to Record Information from Observations

 Observation guide
- printed form with space to record
 Recording sheet or checklist
-yes/no options; tallies, rating scales
 Field notes
-least structured recorded in narrative, descriptive style
Advantages and Challenges:
Observation
 
Advantages Collects data on actual vs. self-reported
behavior or perceptions. It is real-time vs.
retrospective

Challenges Observes bias, potentially unreliable;

interpretation coding challenges;
sapling can be a problem; can be
labor intensive; low response rates
Data Collection Summary

 Choose more than one data collection technique

 No “best” tool
Do not let the tool drive your work but rather choose the right
tool to address
 Ethical issues: Dickinson
 
“… power seekers recognize that knowledge is an important source
of power…regardless of how knowledge is used, competitors for
power occasionally attempt to suppress, control, or support
knowledge when it serves their interests. Consequently, pressures
are applied directly and indirectly to social scientists because they
are perceived as the gatekeepers of social scientific information.”
 
Common ethical practices

• Ethical standards are an integral part of any research design

• Researcher records must be securely kept for future reference and
evidence
• Multiple authorship should be clearly explained, recorded, and
evidenced
• Publication of multiple papers from the same data is improper
• Potential conflicts of interests should be disclosed
• Respondents must be fully informed about research details that may
affect them
• Informed consent must be ensured and documented in all cases
The Ten Commandments on Ethics
• Thou shalt NOT
• Include in the study or continue working with a person who
demonstrates resistance or discomfort relating to the study or to the
research topic
• Attempt to convince a person to take part in the study, when this
person is not in a position to respond adequately to the research
question
• Fail to explain all relevant aspects of the study to the respondents
before they agree to participate
• Promise anonymity and confidentiality if it is likely that this promise
will not be honored
Ten Commandments …
• Fail to respect the respondent’s privacy
• Deceive the respondent in any way
• Subject respondents to procedures that may entail physical or
mental stress
• Include in the study techniques whose degree of safety is
questionable
• Violate the professional research standards, for example by
fabricating, falsifying, or concealing data
• Accept a contracted research project that violates ethical and/or
professional standards
Plagiarism

• Researchers should abstain from using other people’s work without

appropriate acknowledgement
• Including the work of others in one’s publication without due
acknowledgment, hence presenting it as one’s own
Deception

• Covert observation-investigators using another identity as they

gather data and participate in the daily lives of their subjects
• Deception experiments-letting a person believe that he is acting as
the experimenter or accomplice of the experimenter when he is in
fact serving as the subject
• Deception surveys-concealment of the true purpose of the
researcher
• Professional misrepresentation-claiming false qualifications,
affiliations, and objectives
A Final Note…

“I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly
one begins to twist facts and theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
References:
• IPDET, Selecting and Constructing Data Collection Instruments
• Crawford, I., (1997). Marketing Research and Information System, FAO Regional
Office for Africa.
Accessed from:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/w3241e/w3241e03.htm#keyterms
• Husain, S., (2009). Data collection, analysis, and ethics in research