Data Collection

Methods
Data Collection Methods
1. Use of available documented data in published or
unpublished studies
2. Surveys
3. Experiments
4. Observations
Use of documented data
• Can be obtained from previous studies of individuals, or
private, government and nongovernment agencies
• Found in published or written reports, unpublished
documents, periodicals, etc.
Possible sources:
a. Philippine Statistics Authority
• major collector of data for both private and government
needs
• Provides basic data on various subject matters such as
household income and expenditures, housing, education,
health, employment, etc.
Possible sources:
b. National Statistics Coordination Board
• compiles data necessary for the computation of the gross
national product, gross domestic product, consumer price
index, and other indices.
Possible sources:
c. Department of Health
• responsible for health statistics like prevalence of diseases
among infants and pregnant women, morbidity rates,
family planning methods, etc.
Possible sources:
d. Social Weather Station
• keeps a record of poll results, social issues, and others
Possible sources:
e. Theses of graduate students
• contains data used in their statistical inquiry
Sources of Data
a. Primary sources
– individuals, business firms, or agencies whether private,
government, or nongovernment that collected the
documented data themselves
b. Secondary sources
– individuals, or organizations that got the documented data
from other sources. They did not collect the data themselves
but simply compiled the data from various sources
Types of data
a. Primary data – data documented by the primary source. The data
collectors themselves documented this data
Sources of Primary Data
• Central Bank (CB) – primary source of data on banking and finance
• National Statistics Office – primary source of data on population, housing,
and establishments
• Pulse Asia – primary source of data on opinions or sentiments of the people
on current issues
• Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) – primary source of data on
agriculture and livestock
Types of data
b. Secondary data – data documented by a secondary
source. An individual/agency, other than the data collectors,
documented this data
Sources of Secondary Data
• United Nations’ compiled data for its yearbook, which
were originally gathered by government statistical
agencies of different countries
• Medical researcher’s documented data for his research
paper, which were originally collected by DOH
Survey
Survey is a method of collecting data in the variable of
interest by asking people questions.
Census when data came from asking all the people in the
populations
Sample survey when data came from asking a sample of
people selected from a well-defined population
Examples:
• Pulse Asia conducted a sample survey on voter response to political ads
in the May 2004 election. Its respondents were selected registered
voters who intend to vote in the 2004 election
• The Department of Energy regularly conducts the Household Energy
Consumption Survey (HECS) to measure the level and pattern of
energy consumption at the national and regional levels.
• The Food and Nutrition Research Institute regularly conducts the
National Nutrition Survey that generate data in malnutrition,
prevalence of anemia, vitamin A and iodine deficiencies, and the
nutrient intake/adequacies of the members in the households.
Various Methods of Communicating
to Respondents in a Survey
a. Personal interviews
b. Telephone interviews
c. Self-administered questionnaires
d. Online surveys
a. Personal interviews
– interviewers personally ask respondents and record their
answers on the questionnaire.
• Provides the most accurate and complete response
because there are interviewers of field enumerators who
can always check and clarify vague answers
• Most expensive and the most time-consuming
b. Telephone interviews
– the interviewers ask the respondents through the
telephone
• Method can be used if respondents do not know how to
read and write
• It can obtain accurate and complete responses.
• Cost efficient and does not require too much time to
complete the collection of data
c. Self-administered
questionnaires
– the respondents fill up the questionnaires themselves
without any assistance from the interviewer
• Can be simultaneously administered to a large group of
respondents
• Less expensive and allows the respondents to answer the
question at his own time and at his preferred place
d. Online surveys
– respondents read the questions and sends his responses
via the internet or electronic mail (e-mail)
• Can be considered if the target respondents have access
to computer and the internet
• Cost depends on the internet provider
• It is quite expensive but results are immediate
e. Focus group discussions
– moderator follows a focus group discussion guide to direct
a freewheeling discussion among a small group of people.
• Gets different sentiments, ideas, attitudes of all
participants to provide clear and rich descriptions of
certain issues, programs, and problems but for
exploratory purposes only
• Results are not conclusive.
Summa
ry:
3. Experiment
Experiment is a method of collecting data where there is a
direct human intervention on the conditions that may affect
the values of the variable of interest.
 Experiment
Explanatory variable/Independent Variable – is the variable
that is manipulated by the researcher.
Response variable/Dependent Variable – is the outcome that
is measured following manipulation of the explanatory
variable
Treatments or Factor Levels – categories of the explanatory
variable
Extraneous Variable – other variables that is believed to
have an effect on the response variable but their effects are
not of interest to the researcher
 Basic Steps in Conducting an
Experiment
Step 1: Specify the response variable and the explanatory variables.
Step 2: Identify possible extraneous variables.
Step 3: Determine how to control the extraneous variable that were
identified in step 2.
Step 4: Assign the treatment at random to each subject and apply the
assigned treatment.
Step 5: Measure the response variable for each subject at the end of the
experiment
Step 6: Analyze the data.
Example:
A researcher wishes to study the effect of Minoxidil on male baldness. The
subjects are balding male patients from ages 40 to 45 years old and weighing
between 135 to 145 pounds. He randomly assigns the male patients into one of
two groups. The first group of male patients applies Minoxidil on their heads
daily for three months. The control group is the group that does not receive the
treatment of Minoxidil. After three months, they measure the male patients’ hair
length and compare it with the length of hair before the application of Minoxidil.

Explanatory Variable: Application of Minoxidil

Response Variable: Hair Length
4. Observation Method
– a method of collecting data on the phenomenon of interest by recording the
observations made about the phenomenon as it actually happens.
• It is useful in studying the reactions and behaviors of individuals or groups of
persons/objects in a given situation or environment as it happens.
Example: studying the behavior patterns of individuals in panic situation like a
big fire or earthquake.

• Practical to use when subjects under study cannot speak

Example: Studying the behavior of animals in the wild, Studying the behavior of
newborn babies in the nursery.
 Major Approaches in Collecting
Data using Observation Method
i. Duration recording
ii. Frequency count recording
iii. Latency recording
iv. Interval recording
v. Time sampling
 i. Duration recording
– observer records how long the behavior lasts
Example: A researcher studying the sleep pattern takes note
of the length of the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage of
sleep
 ii. Frequency count recording
– the observer counts the number of times a particular
behavior happens in a given time period.
Example: The researcher counts the number of times a baby
cried in a day.
 iii. Latency recording
– observer measures the length of time between the
stimulus and the first occurrence of behavior of interest
Example: A researcher records how long before a patient
goes to sleep after taking a sleeping pill.
 iv. Interval recording
– a researcher partitions time into fixed time intervals and
counts the number of time intervals where the behavior
occurred.
Example: The observer studying traffic volume can count
the number of 5-minute intervals where no car passed
through an open tollbooth
 v. Time sampling
– observer records the phenomenon of interest or
presence/absence of behavior under study at every specified
time schedule.
Example: The nurse checks and records whether a baby is
awake or asleep every 15 minutes.
Comparison of survey, experiment,
and observation method
 Other sources of data
Internal data – data generated form the operation and administration of the
researcher’s company
Example: personnel records, financial statements of the company, inventory reports,
production and sales reports, purchasing reports, and payroll
Registration – data generated by other agencies/organizations through the process of
registration
Example:
• NSO generates data on the birth, death and marriage of all individuals
• University Registrar has data on enrolled students
Computer Simulation – makes use of a special kind of mathematical formula called a
statistical model that computes for values of a variable of interest by incorporating
the use of a randomization mechanism
C. The Questionnaire
Questionnaire – a measurement instrument used in various
data collection methods, particularly surveys
• Self-administered questionnaire – respondent himself
reads the questions and records his answers.
• Interview schedule – an interviewer asks the questions
and records the answers of the respondent.
 Steps in constructing a
questionnaire
1. Decide on the type of questionnaire (self-administered or interview schedule)
2. Write the questions. Decide on the type of questions, wording of the question, and the
response categories for those questions that include a list of response options for the
respondents to choose from.
3. Put together all the questions in step 2. Design their ordering.
4. Write an introductory statement or cover letter.
5. Write the special instructions to interviewers or respondents that will appear on the
questionnaire.
6. Create and design the form. Consider a layout that makes it easy to understand the
questions and easy to record the answer. The design of the form should also facilitate easy
data entry into the computer.
7. If it is a nationwide survey, translate the questionnaire to other major languages.
8. Pretest the questionnaire to detect and correct error in the questionnaire.
 Types of questions
• Close-ended question – a type of question that includes a
list of response categories from which the respondent will
select his answer
• Open-ended question – a type of question that does not
include response categories.
 Examples of close-ended
question:
What is your highest educational attainment?
 No grade completed
 Elementary Undergraduate
 Elementary Graduate
 High School Undergraduate
 High School Graduate
 College Undergraduate
 College Graduate
 Others, please specify _____________
 Examples of close-ended
question:
What is your civil status?

 Single
 Legally Married
 Widowed
 Divorced/Separated
 Common Law/Live-in
 Unknown
 Advantages of open-ended and
close-ended questions
Open-ended Closed-ended
- Respondents can freely answer - Facilitates tabulation of responses
- Can elicit feelings and emotions of - Easy to code and analyze
the respondent - Saves time and money
- Can reveal new ideas and views that - High response rate since it is
the researcher might not have simple and quick to answer
considered
- Good for complex issues - Can repeat the study and easily
- Good for questions whose possible make comparisons
responses are unknown - Response categories make
- Allows respondent to clarify answers questions easy to understand
- Gets detailed answers
- Shows how respondents think
 Disadvantages of open-ended and
close-ended questions
Open-ended Closed-ended
- Difficult to tabulate and code - Increase respondent burden
- High refusal rate because it when there are too many or too
requires more time and effort limited response categories
on the respondent
- Respondent needs to be - Bias responses against categories
articulate excluded in the list of chouse
- Responses can be inappropriate
or vague
- May threaten respondent - Difficult to detect if respondent
- Responses have different levels misinterpreted the question
of detail
 Response categories
i. Two-way question
ii. Multiple-choice question
iii. Checklist question
iv. Ranking question
v. Rating scale question
vi. Matrix question
 i. Two-way question
- Provides only two alterative answers from which the respondent can choose.
Examples:
a) Did you attend any webinar this last month?
 Yes
 No
b) Consider the statement, “We should suspend classes due to COVID-19
pandemic.”
Do you agree or disagree?
 Agree
 Disagree
 ii. Multiple-choice question
- Provides more than two alternatives from which the respondent can
choose only one.
Example:
What is the condition of the house?
 Needs no repair
 Needs minor repair
 Need major repair
 Condemned
 Under renovation/being repaired
 Under construction
 Unfinished construction
 iii. Checklist question
- Provides more than two alternatives from which the respondent can choose as many
responses that apply to him.
Example:
What type/types of food do you like to eat?
 Filipino
 Japanese
 Thai
 Chinese
 Korean
 Italian
 American
 Others, please specify
 iv. Ranking question
- Provides categories that the respondents have to either arrange from highest to lowest or
vice versa depending a particular criterion.
Example:
Below is a list of problems that our country is experiencing. Please rank them in order of what
the government should prioritize. Put number (1) beside the problem the government should give
first priority, a (2) beside the problem the government should give second priority, and so on.
Poverty [ ]
Terrorism [ ]
Unemployment [ ]
Graft and Corruption [ ]
Drugs [ ]
Traffic [ ]
 v. Rating scale question
- Provides a graded scale showing all the possible
directions and intensity of attitude of a respondent on a
particular question or statement. The respondent simply
ticks or checks the scale that best reflects his attitude or
judgement.
Example:
How satisfied are you with the COVID-19 response in the
country?
 vi. Matrix question
- Put together various questions that have the same set
of response categories
Example:
For each of the following statements, please indicate with a
checkmark whether you agree with it or disagree with it.