Business
Statistics
Classification of the Data
Avinash Bondu
Professor
School of Business
Meaning of data
Key points
C
O Collection of
N data
T
E Classification of
N data
T
S Questionnaires
Interview
Data
Data can be defined as a group of facts that are
collected for the purpose of analysis. It includes the
facts or characteristics of a specific aspect under
consideration.
It can be either qualitative or quantitative.
KEY POINTS
OPEN
CLOSE
questionnaire
Interview
UNSTRUCTURED
STRUCTURED
PRIMARY
SEMI SECONDAR
STRUCTURE Y DIRECT
D
TELEPHONI
indirect
PERSONAL C
Collection of
Data
Primary Secondary
Collected Collected from a
directly secondary source
Data collection methods:
Data can be broadly classified into two types based on the
methods it was collected as under:
Primary: Secondary:
Primary data includes The secondary data
includes the data which is
the data which is directly
collected from secondary
collected from the people.
sources such as books, websites
and journals etc.
Primary data:
Primary data includes the data which is directly
collected from the people. The following are the
methods that are used in the collection of data.
Questionnaires Observational techniques
Interviews Participant observation
Survey Barometric method
Delphi technique Opinion poll
Focus group Oral history
Sampling Experiment
Observation
Questionnaires
In this method, a set of questions are provided to the respondents
which are formed in a definite order and then, the respondents read
and answer the questions. Questionnaires can be either printed on a
paper or sent online. One should mind the following while preparing a
good questionnaire:
Should be short and simple
Easy and clear to understand
Following a logical sequence
Enough space for answers
Good appearance
Questionnaire
Open Close
ended ended
Can be Respondent to
answered as choose from the
per the given choices
convenience of
the respondent
Types of Questionnaires:
Open ended: Up to the response of the respondent and no restrictions. These types of
questions, are intended to get the complete opinion of the respondent rather than
restricting them with a set of provided answers. These are more powerful source when it
comes to collecting more information from the respondents about any concern. They
allow the researcher to then scrutinize and consider the major opinions of the people that
is going to have more impact on the area of study. They can be considered more as a
form of idea generation.
Types of Questionnaires:
Close ended: Limited options such as yes or no, true or false etc. These types of
questions are designed to restrict the respondent to choose from a set of options. This
can help the data to be limited to a particular extent otherwise there are chances that
data collected would be very huge that includes unnecessary information. Hence the
focus on the area of the study can be higher in this when compared to open ended
questions. Open ended questions provide qualitative data as they are the attributes of
the respondents while a close ended questionnaire gathers the quantitative data.
Difference between open and
close ended questionnaires
Open ended Close ended
Qualitative Quantitative
Contextual Data driven
Personalized Manufactured
Exploratory Focused
Unbound Confined
Starts with What, why, how Options include yes/no,
etc. true/false etc.
Interview:
As a method of data collection, interviews are a form collecting verbal responses
from the respondents. It involves in discussing directly with the people to share the
experiences and perspectives, rather than asking them to answer in a written form as if it
is in the questionnaire. They provide best way to obtaining qualitative data.
Types of interviews:
Direct interview: It can be defined as the interview process
which is controlled by a set of questions and in a prescribed
format.
Indirect interview: Here, the interview is not directed by preset
or format of questions. The interviewer tries to control the
conversation based on what he feels it fits the situation and to
gather the views of the respondents. The questions are to be open
ended and in a general direction.
Types of interviews:
Structured interview: Having a set of predetermined questions. The order is
predetermined as well. This interview helps to make an easy comparison of the
patterns among the respondents for each group of questions that are classified based
on a criterion. These are deemed more formal in nature. Most of the questions in a
structured interview are close-ended.
Unstructured interview: This do not consist any predetermined questions. The
questions are open ended in nature. Has a huge amount of flexibility to deliver
questions and allows the researcher to ask whatever it feels suitable that the
answers would help the research. However, more flexibility may lead to higher
deviations.
Semi-structured: This type of interview consists few questions that are
predetermined. It is a blend of both the structured and unstructured interviews. The
aim od this interview is to provide a flexibility in asking the questions but it sticks to a
prescribed theme.
Types of interviews:
Telephonic interview:
These interviews are designed to be conducted through phone where the interviewer
asks a set of questions to the respondent.
Personal interview: In a personal or face-to-face interview, all respondents are asked
similar questions in the same order using a standard structured questionnaire as per the
scheduled interview. A personal interview is a two-way conversation. In this way, the
interviewer and the respondent understand the skills of a person, and the respondent
understands the company’s requirements and the work structure. This standard structure
is determined by the questions, language, and order, and the interview is conducted
face-to-face.
Thank you
