research methodology: data collection

Research Methodology: Data Collection

Presented byDr. Chan Chang Tik

September 2006 Short-term Training 2

Research Process (Recall)

Research Topic

Literature Review

Research Strategy

Negotiating Access

Data Collection

Data Analysis

Project Report


Contents

• Negotiating Access

• Data Collection


Negotiating Access

• The following strategies may be used to help you gain physical and cognitive access in the form of personal entry to an organization:– Allowing yourself sufficient time.– Using existing contacts and developi

ng new ones.


Negotiating Access (2)

• Strategies to gain access:– Clear account of purpose and type of

access required.– Overcoming organizational concerns

. – Identifying possible benefits.


Negotiating Access (3)

• Strategies to gain access:– Using suitable language.– Facilitating ease of reply.– Developing access on an incrementa

l basis.– Establishing your credibility.


Sufficient Time• Physical access may take weeks or even

months to arrange.• You may have to necessitate several telephone

calls simply to make the contact with the appropriate person. You may send emails too.

• Once a contact is made it may take a number of weeks before you conduct the actual interviews, engage in observations or use the secondary data.


Existing Contacts

• Use your existing contacts to gain access.

• The use of known contacts is suitable for case study strategy and non-probability sampling.


Existing Contacts (2)• Using your work placement

organization for your research project.• To develop new contacts you may

consider:– Professional association– Trade union– Employers’ association– Chamber of commerce


Purpose of Research• You must be very specific of your

requirements.• Send an introductory letter requesting

access. Your letter should:– Outline your proposed research and

requirement.– How the person being contacted might be able

to help. Refer to Appendix C.


Organizational Concerns

• The concerns may fall into three categories, namely:– Concerns about the amount of time or resources

(avoid multiple requests).– Sensitivity (avoid presenting the organization in a

bad light).– Confidentiality of data and anonymity of the

organization or individual participants (make these assurance repeatedly).


Organizational Benefits

• Applicability of proposed research to the organization.

• Report of your findings.


Suitable Language

• Avoid terms that may be perceived as threatening or not interesting. For example– Research learn from your experience– Publish write an account– Interview conversation

• Your language should be appropriate to the person you are contacting so that it does not sound patronizing or just boring.


Ease of Reply

• Use a simple pro forma for recipients.

• Include stamped, addressed envelope or a fax number or an email address.


Incremental Access

• To overcome organizational concerns about time-consuming and multiple requests, consider incremental access.

• This strategy allows you the opportunity to develop positive relationship with the person who grants you initial access.

• Incremental access is time consuming.


Establish Credibility

• Once you have gained physical access you have to establish your credibility in order to gain cognitive access.

• Provide assurances about confidentiality and anonymity.

• Consider ethical issues.


Data Collection

• Questionnaire techniques

• Interviews

• Observations


Questionnaire Techniques

• When do you use questionnaire?

• Types of questionnaire

• Designing individual questions

• Administrating the questionnaire


When to Use Questionnaire?

• Suitable for descriptive or explanatory research.

• Descriptive research • Using attitude and opinion questionnaires

• Explanatory research• Cause-and-effect relationships between variables

• Not suitable for exploratory research that requires large numbers of open-ended questions.


Types of Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Self-Administered Interviewer Administered

Online Postal TelephoneStructuredInterview

Delivery


Types of Questionnaire (2)

• Your choice of questionnaire is influenced by the following factors:– Importance of reaching a particular

person as respondent.– Importance of respondent’s answer

not being contaminated.


Types of Questionnaire (3)

• Factors affecting choice of questionnaire:– Size of sample required, taking into

account the likely response rate.– Types of questions you need to ask to

collect your data.– Number of questions you need to ask to

collect your data.


Designing Individual Questions

• Open Questions– Used widely in exploratory research where you

require a detailed answer or when you want to find out what is uppermost in the respondent’s mind.

– Open questions are difficult to analyze and you are advised to keep them to a minimum.


Designing Questions (2)

• List Questions– List questions offer the respondents a list

of responses any of which they can choose.

– The response categories can include ‘yes/no’, ‘agree/disagree’ and ‘applies/does not apply’. You can also add a catch-all category of ‘other’.



• Category Questions– Category questions are designed so that

each respondent’s answer can fit only one category.

– Useful to collect data about attributes and behaviour.

– You should have no more than five response categories.



• Ranking Questions– A ranking question asks the respondent to

place things in rank order. This means that you can discover their relative importance to the respondent.

– Keep the list of items to seven or less.



• Scale Questions– Scale questions are often used to collect attitude

and belief data. – We usually used five-point Likert scale.– You can also capture the respondent’s attitude

using a 10-point numeric scale.

Poor value for money Good value for money1 2 3 8 9 104 5 6 7


Designing Question (6)

• Another variation of the scale questions is the bi-polar scale often used in consumer research to rate a simple object or idea. This scale has a pair of opposite adjectives.

Fast Slow


Open Question

• An example of an open question:– What do you think of INTI Online? .………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………….


List Question• An example of a list question:

– Please tick the box provided for places you have visited in Malaysia. For places you have not visited, please leave the box blank.

KLCC Museum Pulau Redang Ipoh Other (please state)

…………………………………………………………


Category Question

• An example of a category question:– How often do you login to INTI Online?

never login

1 – 4 times per week

5 – 9 times per week

more than 10 times per week


Ranking Question• An example of a ranking question:

– Please number each of the factors listed below in order of importance to you in your choice of a course. Number the most important 1, the next 2 and so on. If a factor has no importance at all, please leave blank.

Lecturer teaching Course fees Library facilities Lab Other (please specify)

………………………………………………………………….


Scale Question

• An example of a scale question:– For the following statement please tick the box

which matches your view most clearly.

Agree Neutral Disagree

I find the course

interesting.


Administrating the Questionnaire

• Online questionnaire through email:– Contact recipients by email and advise them to

expect a questionnaire.– Email questionnaire with a covering letter (avoid

attachment).– Email the first follow-up one week after.– Email the second follow-up after three weeks. This

should include another covering letter and a copy of the questionnaire.

– A third follow-up can also be used if time allows or your response rate is low.


Postal Questionnaire • Ensure that questionnaire and letter are printed, and

envelopes addressed.• Pre-survey contact through email, phone or post.• Post the survey with a covering letter, and a return envelope.• Post (or email) the first follow-up one week after using a

postcard.• Post the second follow-up after three weeks. This should

contain another copy of the questionnaire, a new return envelope and a new covering letter.

• A third follow-up can also be used if time allows or your response rate is low. For this it may be possible to use telephone calls or even call in person.


Delivery and Collection Questionnaire

• Ensure that all questionnaires and covering letters are printed and a collection box is ready.

• Contact respondents and advise them to attend a meeting.

• At the meeting hand over the questionnaire with a covering letter to each respondent.

• Introduce the questionnaire and stress its anonymous or confidential nature.

• Ensure that respondents place their completed questionnaire in a collection box before they leave the meeting.


Telephone Questionnaire

• Ensure that all questionnaires are printed.• Where possible contact respondents by post, email or

telephone advising them to expect a telephone call.• Record the date and time of call and whether or not the

questionnaire was completed. • You should note any specific times that have been

arranged for callbacks. • For calls that were not successful, you should note the

reason such as no reply or telephone disconnected.• Make callback calls at the time arranged.


Interviews• Interview approach is suitable for questions

which are complex or open-ended, or large in number.

• In an explanatory study you need to conduct interview to infer causal relationships between variables.

• You are likely to include interviews in an exploratory study too.


Interviewing Competence• Opening the interview• Questioning• Listening• Testing and summarizing understanding• Behavioural cues• Recording data• Appropriate language


Opening Comments• Thanked the participants.• The purpose of the research, its funding and progress

to date were briefly outlined.• Right to confidentiality and anonymity was reiterated.• Participant’s right not to answer any question was

carefully emphasized.• Offer of any written documentation.• Nature of the outputs to which the research was

intended to lead.


Questioning• You can use open questions which are designed to

encourage the interviewee to provide an extensive and developed answer.

• Open questions are likely to start with one of the following words:– What– How– Why– Example: Why did the organization introduce five-day

week?


Questioning (2)• Probing questions can be used to explore responses

that are of significance to the research topic.• Probing questions can also be used to seek

explanation where you do not understand the interviewee’s meaning.

• Use of reflection may also help you to probe a theme by paraphrasing their words.

• Specific and closed questions may be used to obtain specific information or to confirm a fact or opinion.


Listening Skills

• Listen and build understanding so as to explore with the interviewee.

• Deliberately holding back own thoughts which would divert or compete with the other’s.

• Provide the interviewee with reasonable time to develop their responses.


Test Understanding

• Summarizing an explanation provided by the interviewee.

• If possible, ask the interviewee to read thorough the factual account that you need to produce of the interview.


Interviewer’s Behaviour• Comments or non-verbal behaviours which

indicate any bias in your thinking should be avoided.

• Your posture and tone of voice may encourage or inhibit the flow of the discussion.

• Sit slightly inclined towards the interviewee and adapt an open posture, avoiding folded arms.


Recording Data

• A full record of the interview should be compiled as soon as possible after it has taken place.

• Permission should always be sought to tape record an interview. You have to explain why you need a recorder.


Observations

• Participant observation

• Structured observation


Participant Observation• Researcher attempts to participate fully in the

lives and activities of subjects and thus becomes a member of their organization or community.

• Very commonly used in sociology and anthropology.

• You can adopt the participant observer role as an existing member of an organization you work with.


Participant Observation (2)

• What participant observers do? There are four roles to choose from, namely– Complete participant– Complete observer– Observer as participant– Participant as observer

• Data Collection


Complete Participant

• You attempt to become a member of the group without revealing your true purpose to the group members.

• Aware of ethical issues.


Complete Observer

• You do not take part in the activities of the group, you merely observe without revealing your identity to the group.

• You may observe the consumers behaviours at the checkout of a supermarket.


Observer as Participant

• You observe the participants of the group without taking part in the activities in the same way as the ‘real’ participants.

• Your identity as a researcher would be clear to all concerned.


Participant as Observer

• Your purpose as a researcher is revealed.

• Both you and the subjects are aware of the fact that it is a fieldwork relationship.


Data Collection• Recording must take place on the same day as the

fieldwork in order that you do not forget valuable data.• Data may be classified as

– Descriptive observations– Narrative account

• Descriptive Observations– Physical setting– Key participants and their activities– Events and their sequence– Emotions involved

• Narrative Account– Function as investigative journalist and go beyond to develop a

framework of theory to explain your research setting.


Structured Observation

• It is systematic and it deals with quantifying behaviour.

• Data collected can tell you how often things happen rather than why they happen.

• You can use ‘off-the-shelf’ coding schedule or design your own to collect data.


Thank you