The Concept of Data: There are various tools which are used for collecting data like numerical figures, ratings, descriptive narrations, responses to open-ended questions, field notes, etc., from various sources using different tools and techniques. The data is categorized as Quantitative and Qualitative Data.
■ Quantitative Data: Quantitative data is information about quantities; that is, information that can be measured and written down with numbers. Some examples of quantitative data are your height, your shoe size and the length of your fingernails. The data is close ended and hardly provide any depth or details. These data may be represented by ordinal, interval or ratio scales and lend themselves to most statistical manipulation.
■ Qualitative Data: Qualitative data is information about qualities; information that can’t actually be measured. Some examples of qualitative data are the softness of your skin, the grace with which you run and the colour of your eyes. The data is verbal or symbolic in nature. Data that represent nominal scales such as gender, socio-economic status, religious preference are usually considered to be qualitative data.
Methods of Data Collection
There are various methods of obtaining data. The three main methods are:
■ By asking questions
■ By observing the behaviour of the person
■ Using existing records or data for other purposes
Asking Questions
The tests are useful tools for research. These tools help in measuring and evaluating the behaviour of a person in a standardized way for the purpose of providing data for most experimental and descriptive studies. The tests help in measuring the best performance of an individual’s capability. Tests and inventories are used frequently to describe the prevailing conditions at a particular time in descriptive research studies.
A researcher should evaluate the validity, reliability and usability of the data in selecting tests or inventories for collecting data in research situations. A researcher can make use of the data and carefully examine the standardized data of the tests/inventories which are available in the accompanying manuals. A test or an inventory is selected keeping in mind the factors like ease of administration, scoring and interpretation. These are used because of their effective administration, scoring and interpretation.
A subject should cooperate at each stage of data collection and should be encouraged to provide objective information. The testing conditions should be made interesting and encouraging to gain the cooperation of the subject in data collection. Some other tools used in the process of data collection includes questionnaire and interview schedules. The reliability of these tools depends upon their design and in the manner of administering the questions or the techniques of interviewing. The schedule is filed out by the researcher who then interprets, expand and explain upon the questions whenever necessary and the questionnaire prepared is sent through mail. If the questionnaire is administered personally by the researcher, it helps in establishing rapport with the subject, explain the purpose of the study and the meaning of the items that may not be clear. In cases where the subject cannot be contacted personally, the mailed questionnaire is always useful. The questionnaire should be sent to those who possess the desired information and are interested to respond objectively. An individual letter can be sent to the respondent to ask for his/her willingness to participate in the study. In case the desired information is delicate and confidential, then the researcher should also consider the possibility of providing anonymous responses.
Observation of Behaviour
A lot of information and reliable data can be obtained by the direct observation of the behaviour of a person, group or organization. Observation is a technique that helps in observing what is occurring in some real-life situation. The technique needs proper planning, expert execution and adequate recording and interpretation. There is a specific goal of each observation which is planned in nature. In the process of observation, the planning part includes the definition of specific activities or units of behaviour to be observed, the nature of the group to be observed and determining the length of each observation and recording.
Observation can be of two types: Structured which is executed in the controlled situations like classroom or laboratory settings and unstructured which are mainly associated with participant observation and is often exploratory technique. The data can be recorded simultaneously when the phenomena is occurring or immediately after the observation when the details are still fresh in mind. An observation schedule is developed and used for the purpose of recording and notes are then taken of the observed behaviour. Observation can be done directly by observing the subject by asking a series of questions or administering a test and the behaviour of the subject is observed and the response is recorded.
Utilisation of Existing Records or Data
During the method of observation, only the interested part of the behaviour of the individual is recorded. The tools used in framing the questions are according to the researcher’s interest. These tools are used by the researcher according to his/her objective. The existing data is readymade and is used by the researcher over which he/she has very little control. The form of the data is already pre-determined by the researcher who has worked or studied the situation for a specific purpose. The documents and records bring together data for scientific analysis from remote period or places and provide unique access to historical and social situations which are difficult and expensive to observe. Some examples of documents and records includes personal letters, life histories, diaries, school attendance, dropout rate, psychological tests, prison record, voting pattern, etc.
Ensuring the Quality of Data
The criteria used in collection of data include its reliability or consistency, validity and usability. To test the reliability, repeated measurements are required to yield the results which are identical or fall within narrow and predictable limits of variability. Also to measure the validity of data, the measurement should be meaningful and related to the research objectives i.e., it should measure what it purports to measure. The data should be usable means like it should ensure objectivity in the use of a to or technique and economy of time and cost. A good tool and its objective use in the collection of data ensures quality.
The administration part of the process can be administered by psychological tests or inventories. The quality of data is enhanced by active cooperation of the subject. A researcher has to take care of selecting a reliable and valid test from the available standardized tests. The tests can be administered easily and should be interesting and enjoyable for the subject or else boring tests will discourage or antagonize the subjects and will help in collection of quality data. Also the testing conditions must be favourable in order to yield useful and quality data.
A researcher can collect the data by means of questionnaire or interview schedules which is a highly technical and complicated job and requires effort on the part of the researcher. The data obtained is dependent upon the skill with which tools are administered.
One important aspect in data collection is choosing the subject carefully and only that subject which possesses the desired information should be chosen. The scope of questionnaire or a schedule is very limited and hence their validity or reliability cannot be taken seriously. The questionnaire can be made simple by using easy to understand language in which the questions are less ambiguous. The meaning of the terms should carry same meaning for all the respondents. The follow-up of the observations can be done and their response can be compared with those of the first.
The inability or unwillingness of the respondent to communicate can be a major problem in the process of interviewing. The bias of the researcher should be looked carefully by the researcher and also made sure that the researcher does not distort the facts while communicating them to the researcher. Thus, other means of data must be collected to cross-validate the information obtained through a questionnaire or schedule. Another important factor that affects the quality of data obtained through interviews is memory bias and to overcome this problem, the research design should be carried out over a period of time with appropriate tools at reasonable intervals as indicated by the research objectives.
An interview is a highly flexible tool if conducted by a skilful researcher as it provides a more liberal atmosphere. In order to avoid the contradictory statements, questions which are not grasped by the interviewees should be rephrased or repeated with proper emphasis and explanations. The vague and obscure questions must be avoided and the usage of technical terms and unfamiliar expressions must be done with u
The introduction of the interviewer with the interviewee must be done properly and should be personal. Also suitable time and place must be chosen for conducting the interview. In order to gain the confidence of the interviewee, the interviewer must be polite which in turn is helpful in gathering reliable and quality response from the interviewees. The purpose of the interview should be stated in terms that can be understood by the interviewees easily. It is easy to get the frank and sincere response from the interviewees if they are confident and the interviewer works with the motive of collecting the information only for the scientific or research purpose.
A good interviewer must be patient and listen carefully to the interviewee. The interviewer should have the qualities like self-restraint, self-discipline, patience and humility. A meaningful communication is possible only when the interviewer has the ability to listen with understanding, respect and curiosity. Also truthful data can be provided if the interviewee feels that he/she will not meet with interruption, denial, contradictions and other harassments from the interviewer. The atmosphere should be motivating, congenial and permissive for the interviewee. Besides being a good listener, a researcher must be analytical in the approach and the phrased questions must not be only precise but should display concern for the interviewee’s problem. The interviewer must clarify the doubts so as to obtain the correct information from the subject.
A researcher must avoid blunt and direct questions which might give rise to unrelated facts or incidents. The data is useless for scientific purposes. Observation is an important part of the descriptive research and for this a number of devices like check lists, schedules, rating scales and score cards which are used for collecting and recording observations. The researcher must safeguard against the observing techniques and striking events which have hardly any relation with the actual reality. The observations must be made at regular intervals so as to check the validity and reliability of the measurements of the recorded information. In all, it is advisable for a researcher to allow only a small number of traits for rating while making observations. The tools selected require careful calibration of the individuals involved in the data collection and also their orientation for the development of skills in the use of various research tools and techniques.
Another important quality that a researcher must possess is to learn and read the documents with understanding and interpret it which will help in knowing the present trends and possibly in predicting the future events. Also evaluation is done by the researcher in the form of criticism. The process of establishing authenticity of the data is termed as external criticism which checks the genuineness and authenticity of the source material and that of establishing the validity of their content is termed as internal criticism through which the researcher established the validity, credibility and merit of the contents of the document.
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