Summary Data Collection

Unit 03 : Data Collection
Datacollection is a criticalstepin researchthatbeginsafter a researchproblemis set Itis
simplytheprocessofgatheringdatato answerresearchquestions


Sources
ofDatacollection
ofdata 1 Primary sources it includesfirsthanddata gatheredby a researcher tomeet the
collectionsecondaryprimarydocumentary




occurring.sources
method sourcesinterview
method
structuredobservation method
participantquestionnaire
purposeofstudy Underthiswe havethreemethods
which is theprocess
ofstructured observation andrecordingofthe
mailedunstructuredcollectivenon
Observation Method
participant

factsrelatedto an activity or phenomenon

inactivitiesof
researcherparticipates understanding bias non
g roup deeper o bjectivity
ParticipantObservation

NonParticipantObservation notparticipatesimplyobserves noindepthanalysis
does


interviewMethod itinvolves a direct verbalc ommunicationbetweentheresearcherand
therespondent
structuredinterview
standardised set s scalesurveys
large
interviewI
unstructured outlineorb lueprint flexiblesituationorc lient qualitative

Questionnaire Method AQuestionnaire is structured systematic instrument thatcontains a

setof questionsusedto gather information fromthe respondents The researcher prepares a
ofquestions toanalysetheattitudes behaviourandgather information factsfromthe


respondents.I
Mailed Questionnaire by o re lectronicallylower
m ailed post rateeconomicalgeo
response dispersed
r esponde



collective inpresenceof
filled researcherhigher rate
response




Questionnaire11
SecondarySources it is when a researcher usesdatathathasalreadybeencollectedan
bysomeoneelse Insuchcases a researchermustverifythereliabilityandsuitabilit
processed


ofsuchdatabeforeusingitfortheirstudy itincludes
r eports statisticalanalysis
Governmentp ublications ministry
reportspublicationsthesisdissertations
Earlierresearches
Censusreports demographicdata

, institutionsetc
orglikehospitals
databasesin
clientHistory Organisational records

Personalrecords lettersdiariesautobiographies




Measurement Scales

A MeasurementScaleis defined as the assignment ofnumbers or symbols to datavariables
instatistics It is theprocessofmapping wherepropertiesofdatavariables are placedonto a
determines thekind techniquesto be used
variableattributeattributevaluevalue rangeorscale It of forstatistical analysis
numberstoproperties variables
assignmentof
identity of
haveanorderf romlowesttohighest
numbersonscale
Magnitude
l evelo n a scaleis standardised equal
differencebweach
Equalintervals
Absolutezero uniquetoratio
scale absence ofapropertytraitm easured
characteristics
of a soundmeasurementfurtherinclude
Validity accuracy

Reliability
abilitytoprovideconsistentresults

Practicality ifprocessiseconomicalconvenient easyto interpret



ofDataMeasurement
Levels

RatioScale it is themostpowerfullevel measurement It includes properties allthe
of of
aratioquantitative
otherscalesplustheabsolutezero Thedata isnominal definedbyan identityandcan b
a
intervaln
ordinalcategoricalnominalleast
classified
inorder contains intervals can be brokendownintoexactvalue Researchers

can perform allkindsofmathematical operations Eg height weight income distance



rankingsmost
IntervalScale it is a scale inwhichallthelevelsareordered and numerically equi
distantfromoneanother Intervalscalesdonothave a truezero Itallowscalculatingth

mean medianofvariables Eg temperaturescaleslikeCelsius

OrdinalS cale itinvolvesranking ororderingattributes Ittellsyou if an itemismore
lessincomparison to another Thoughtheyhave an undisputableorder there is nofixed
measurement
Eg classrankings goodbadneutral