Different Data Collection and

Analysis Procedures
 Learning Objective

 To identify and describe the

different data collection and
analysis procedures
Key Understanding
 Knowledge of the different data collection
and analysis procedures is central in
preparing the plan for data gathering
procedures.
Key Question
 What are the different data collection and
analysis procedures?
Survey
 It is a data-gathering procedure that makes you
obtain facts or information about the subject or
object of your research through the data-
gathering instruments of interview and
questionnaire.
 This is the most popular data-gathering technique
in quantitative and qualitative researcher studies
for the researchers are free to use not just one
survey instrument but also these two following
data-gathering instruments.
Questionnaire
 Questionnaire is a paper containing series of
questions formulated for an individual and
independent answering by several respondents for
obtaining statistical information.
 Making up a questionnaire are factual and
opinionated questions.
 Questions to elicit factual answers are formulated in a
multiple-choice type and those to ask about the
respondents’ views, attitudes, preferences, and other
opinionated answers are provided with sufficient
space where the respondents could write their
sentential answers to opinionated questions.
Questionnaire
 Responses yielded by this instrument are given
their numerical forms (numbers, fractions,
percentages) and categories and are subjected to
statistical analysis.
 Questionnaire is good for collecting data from a
big number of respondents situated in different
places because all you have to do is either to
hand the paper to the respondents or to send it to
them through postal or electronic mail.
Interviews
 The purpose of the research interview is to explore
the views, experiences, beliefs and/or motivations of
individuals on specific matters (e.g. factors that
influence their attendance at the dentist).

 Qualitative methods, such as interviews, are believed

to provide a 'deeper' understanding of social
phenomena than would be obtained from purely
quantitative methods, such as questionnaires.
Interviews
 Interviews are, therefore, most appropriate where
little is already known about the study phenomenon
or where detailed insights are required from individual
participants.

 They are also particularly appropriate for exploring

sensitive topics, where participants may not want to
talk about such issues in a group environment.
Interviews
 There are three fundamental types of research
interviews: structured, semi-structured and
unstructured.

 Structured interviews are, essentially, verbally

administered questionnaires, in which a list of
predetermined questions are asked, with little or no
variation and with no scope for follow-up questions to
responses that warrant further elaboration.
Interviews
 Unstructured interviews do not reflect any
preconceived theories or ideas and are performed
with little or no organization.
 Such an interview may simply start with an opening
question such as 'Can you tell me about your
experience of visiting the dentist?'
 Unstructured interviews are usually very time-
consuming (often lasting several hours) and can be
difficult to manage, and to participate in, as the lack
of predetermined interview questions provides little
guidance on what to talk about.
Interviews
 Semi-structured interviews consist of several key
questions that help to define the areas to be
explored, but also allows the interviewer or
interviewee to diverge in order to pursue an idea
or response in more detail.

 This interview format is used most frequently in

social issues and other phenomenon, as it
provides participants with some guidance on what
to talk about, which many find helpful.
Interviews
 Similar to a questionnaire, interviews make you
ask a set of questions, only that, this time, you do
it orally.
 Some, however, say that with the advent of
modern technology, oral interview is already a
traditional way of interviewing, and the modern
ways happen through the use of modern
electronic devices such as mobile phones,
telephones, smart phones, and other wireless
devices.
Order of Interview Questions
 First set of questions – opening questions to
establish friendly relationships, like questions
about the place, the time, the physical
appearance of the participant, or other non-verbal
things not for audio recording.

 Second set of questions – generative questions

to encourage open-ended questions like those
that ask about the respondents’ inferences,
views, or opinions about the interview topic.
Order of Interview Questions
 Third set of questions – directive questions or
close-ended questions to elicit specific answers
like those that are answerable with yes or no, with
one type of an object, or with definite period of
time and the like.

 Fourth set of questions – ending questions that

give the respondents the chance to air their
satisfaction, wants, likes, dislikes, reactions, or
comments about the interview.
Guidelines in Formulating Interview Questions

1. Use clear and simple language.

2. Avoid using acronyms, abbreviations, jargons,
and highfalutin terms.
3. Let one question elicit only one answer; no
double-barrel question.
4. Express your point in exact, specific, bias-free,
and gender-free language.
Guidelines in Formulating Interview Questions

5. Give way to how your respondents want

themselves to be identified.
6. Establish continuity or free flow of the
respondents’ thoughts by using appropriate
follow-up questions (e.g., Could you give an
example of it? Would you mind narrating what
happened next?).
7. Ask questions in a sequential manner; determine
which should be your opening, middle, or closing
questions.
Focus groups
• Focus groups share many common features with
less structured interviews, but there is more to
them than merely collecting similar data from
many participants at once.

• A focus group is a group discussion on a

particular topic organized for research purposes.
This discussion is guided, monitored and
recorded by a researcher (sometimes called a
moderator or facilitator).
Focus groups
• Focus groups are used for generating information on
collective views, and the meanings that lie behind those
views. They are also useful in generating a rich
understanding of participants' experiences and
beliefs. Suggested criteria for using focus groups include:
 As a stand alone method, for research relating to group norms,
meanings and processes
 In a multi-method design, to explore a topic or collect group
language or narratives to be used in later stages
 To clarify, extend, qualify or challenge data collected through
other methods
 To feedback results to research participants.
Focus groups
 The composition of a focus group needs great care to get
the best quality of discussion. There is no 'best' solution
to group composition, and group mix will always impact
on the data, according to things such as the mix of ages,
sexes and social professional statuses of the participants
.
 Interaction is key to a successful focus group discussion.

 Group size is an important consideration in focus group

research.
Observation
 Using your sense organs, you gather facts or
information about people, things, places, events, and
so on, by watching and listening to them; then, record
the results of the functioning of your eyes and ears.
 Expressing these sensory experiences to quantitative
data, you record them with the use of numbers. For
instance, watching patients lining up at a medical
clinic, instead of centering your eyes on the looks of
the people, you focus your attention on the number,
weight, and height of every patient standing up at the
door of the medical clinic.
Observation
 Seeing, touching, and hearing the sources of
data personally, you engage yourself in direct
observation.
 It is an indirect observation, if you see and hear
them, not through your own eyes and ears, but by
means of technological and electronic gadgets
like audiotapes, video records, and other
recording devices used to capture earlier events,
images, or sounds.
Content Analysis
• It is another qualitative data-collection technique
that makes you search through several oral or
written forms of communication to find answers
to your research questions.
• Used in quantitative and qualitative research
studies, this data-collection method is not only for
examining printed materials but also for
analyzing information coming from non-book
materials like photographs, films, video tapes,
paintings, drawings, and the like.
Content Analysis
• Here, you focus your study on a single subject or
on two entities to determine their comparative
features.
• Any content analysis you want to do is preceded
by your thorough understanding of your research
questions because these are the questions to
guide you in determining which aspect of the
content of the communication should you focus
on to find the answers to the main problem of
your research.