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Data Collection Approaches

Chapter 5. Data Collection Approaches. Learning Objectives : Understand data collection principles and practices. Describe the differences between collecting qualitative and quantitative data. Understand the differences between observation and survey methods.

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Data Collection Approaches

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  1. Chapter 5 Data Collection Approaches Learning Objectives: • Understand data collection principles and practices. • Describe the differences between collecting qualitative and quantitative data. • Understand the differences between observation and survey methods. • Assess the use of questionnaires as instruments for data collection. • Appreciate the role of the various interviewing methods in obtaining data.

  2. Data Collection Approaches Data Collection Observation Survey Methods Mechanical & Electronic Self - Completion Interviewer Administered Human

  3. Qualitative Research • Role of Qualitative Research • Search of academic, trade and professional literature. • Use of interviews, brainstorming, focus groups. • Internalization of how others have undertaken both qualitative and quantitative research. • Use of existing questionnaires/constructs. • Outcome of Qualitative Research • Improve conceptualization. • Clarify research design, including data collection approach. • Draft questionnaire.

  4. Quantitative Research • Role of Quantitative Research • Quantify data and generalize results from sample to population. • Facilitates examination of large number of representative cases. • Structured approach to data collection. • Enables extensive statistical analysis. • Outcome of Quantitative Research • Validation of qualitative research findings. • Confirmation of hypotheses, theories, etc. • Recommend final course of action.

  5. OBSERVATION Data are collected by systematically recording observations of people, events or objects. Observational data can be obtained by use of human, mechanical or electronic observation.

  6. ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH . . . a form of observational data collection in which researchers spend long periods of time with a respondent and then write narratives that describe the respondent’s behavior.

  7. CONTENT ANALYSIS . . . . obtains data by systematically observing and analyzing the content or message of written text.

  8. Content Analysis Software: TextSmart is a software package that enables users to view, manipulate and automate the coding or categorization of responses to narative data. The ability to automate the examination and organization of narrative data is particularly helpful when a ‘large scale’ survey is undertaken. It can be used to analyze any textual data, and its output can be exported to SPSS for further analysis. For example, you can do correspondence analysis* on a contingency table from a TextSmart analysis. For more information about TextSmart and related SPSS products visit the WWW site www.spss.com. QSR NUD*IST stands for Non-Numerical Unstructured Data Indexing and Theorizing. It is a popular computer software package used by researchers to analyze text from focus group or interview transcripts, literary documents and so on. It examines non-textual data such as photographs, tape recordings, films and so on. Users can to index and link several documents in a structured way to produce categorical data in a form amenable to further analysis. NUD*IST output can be exported to software programs such as SPSS and Excel. For more information about QSR NUD*IST and its related product NVIVO visit their website (http://www.scolari.co.uk/qsr/qsr_n4.htm).

  9. SURVEY METHODS . . . a procedure used to collect primary data from individuals. The data sought can range from beliefs, opinions, attitudes and life styles to general background information on individuals such as gender, age, education and income, as well as company characteristics like revenue and number of employees.

  10. SURVEY METHODS Go On-Line www.ropercenter.com Self-Completion Interviewer Administered

  11. SELF-COMPLETION SURVEYS Mail • Regular • Fax • Overnight Electronic • Email • Internet • Diskette

  12. PURPOSE OF QUESTIONNAIRES . . . . to obtain data that cannot be easily observed or is not already available in written or electronic form..

  13. USES OF QUESTIONNAIRE DATA • Description • Explanation • Hypothesis Testing • Model Building

  14. PANELS Panelsare a special type of survey method in which data is collected from the same group of respondents over a period of time.

  15. MAIL QUESTIONNAIRES • Good cover letter. • Anonymity. • Allows large samples with wide coverage. • Relatively low cost. • Low response rates. • Do not know who responded. • Requires highly structured questionnaire with predominantly closed-end questions.

  16. ELECTRONIC SURVEYS • Administered electronically across network through use of e-mail or Internet. • Relatively low cost. • Easy to administer. • Eliminates interview bias. • Fast data collection and analysis. • Sample restricted to users of network through use of e-mail or Internet. • Complexity of designing and programming the questionnaire – cost in terms of time and money.

  17. INTERVIEWER ADMINISTERED SURVEYS Face-to-Face • Focus Groups • Mall • In Home, at Work, etc. Telephone Computer Dialogue

  18. INTERVIEWS Interviewsinvolve the researcher “speaking” to the respondent directly, asking questions and recording answers.

  19. TYPES OF INTERVIEWS Go On-Line www.ropercenter.com Structured Semi-structured Unstructured

  20. TYPES OF INTERVIEWS • Structured Interviews – the interviewer uses an interview sequence with predetermined questions that are asked in exactly the same way. • Semi-structured Interviews – the researcher follows a predetermined structure and direction, but can ask related, unanticipated questions that were not originally included. • Unstructured Interviews – the researcher does not follow an interview sequence and elicits information by engaging the interviewee in a free and open discussion on the topic of interest.

  21. FOCUS GROUPS • Semi-structured interviews that use an exploratory research design and are considered qualitative research. • Informal discussions among 8 to 12 respondents that share something in common. • Guided by a moderator who encourages discussion and keeps the group “on track”. • Random samples are not required.

  22. FOCUS GROUP MODERATORS • Personability. • Attentive. • Professional Training. • Organization. • Objectivity. • Listening Skills.

  23. UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS . . . are conducted without the use of an interview sequence, which allows the researcher to elicit information by engaging the interviewee in free and open discussion on the topic of interest.

  24. DEPTH INTERVIEWS . . . . also referred to as “in-depth” interviews, they are an unstructured one-to-one discussion session between a trained interviewer and a respondent who has some specialized insight.

  25. PERSONAL INTERVIEWS • Approaches can vary from very informal to very formal. • Expensive in terms of interviewing and travel costs. • Expensive in terms of time to complete the process: • need to gain access. • training of interviewers. • co-ordination and supervision of fieldwork. • time for interview. • Unlikely to be used with large samples. • Problem of lack of anonymity. • Opportunity to probe complex questions. • Opportunity to record additional information.

  26. TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS: • Low cost form of personal interviewing. • Obtain information quickly. • More costly than mail questionnaires but less than personal interviews. • Administration relatively easy. • Interview bias less of a problem. • Problem with unlisted numbers. • Need to make sure that interviewees are convinced approach is genuine. • Questions are short and focused. • If questions are open-ended, make sure question does not exceed 15 words; interviewee should not be expected to give lengthy answers. • For closed-end questions the number of pre-coded options should not exceed five. • Response rates can be a problem.

  27. COMPUTER DIALOGUE • . . . the answering of questions online through the use of PC’s. Typically, it involves an emailed questionnaire that facilitates discussion on a one-to-one basis or by a group.

  28. Types of Errors • Nonresponse = refusal or sampling. • Response = respondent or interviewer. • Data Collection Instrument: • Construct Development. • Scaling Measurement. • Questionnaire Design/Sequence, etc. • Data Analysis. • Interpretation.

  29. DATA COLLECTION APPROACHES Go On-Line www.acnielsen.com What is A. C. Nielsen saying about its latest scanner technology?

  30. DATA COLLECTION APPROACHES Go On-Line www.dssresearch.com/mainsite/surveys.htm Review the surveys on this site and complete two of them. How is the information on this website valuable to business researchers?

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