Understanding Data and Ways to Systematically

Collect Data

A lot of data from different sources preoccupy your mind as you go through

the several stages of research. To understand the data; that is, to find

meanings in them in relation to your study, you have conduct an orderly

manner of gathering, identifying, and grouping tem. A set-by-set

arrangement of facts and information is a must in research, because in

arriving at a conclusion about your study on the basis of the collected data,

you don’t only deal with lone proof or evidence but also with several proofs

hinging upon a common theme, concept or theory. (Baraceros, 2017)

At the end of the topic the students should be able to:

1. Discuss the quantitative research;

2. Discuss the areas of quantitative research; and

3. Discuss the most common quantitative research.

The Quantitative Research

Quantitative methods emphasize objective measurements and the statistical,

mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls,

questionnaires, and surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data

using computational techniques. Quantitative research focuses on gathering

numerical data and generalizing it across groups of people or to explain a

particular phenomenon. (Babbie, Earl R. The Practice of Social Research. 12th

ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage, 2010; Muijs, Daniel. Doing

Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. 2nd edition. London: SAGE

Publications, 2010.)

our goal in conducting quantitative research study is to determine the

relationship between one thing [an independent variable] and another [a

dependent or outcome variable] within a population. Quantitative research

designs are either descriptive [subjects usually measured once]

or experimental [subjects measured before and after a treatment]. A

experimental study establishes causality.

Quantitative research deals in numbers, logic, and an objective stance.

Quantitative research focuses on numeric and unchanging data and detailed,

convergent reasoning rather than divergent reasoning [i.e., the generation of

a variety of ideas about a research problem in a spontaneous, free-flowing

manner].

Its main characteristics are:

1. The data is usually gathered using structured research instruments.

2. The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the

population.

3. The research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high

reliability.

4. Researcher has a clearly defined research question to which objective

answers are sought.

5. All aspects of the study are carefully designed before data is collected.

6. Data are in the form of numbers and statistics, often arranged in tables,

charts, figures, or other non-textual forms.

7. Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future

results, or investigate causal relationships.

8. Researcher uses tools, such as questionnaires or computer software, to

collect numerical data.

The overarching aim of a quantitative research study is to classify features,

count them, and construct statistical models in an attempt to explain what is

observed.

Things to keep in mind when reporting the results of a study using

quantitative methods:

1. Explain the data collected and their statistical treatment as well as all

relevant results in relation to the research problem you are investigating.

2. Report unanticipated events that occurred during your data collection.

Explain how the actual analysis differs from the planned analysis. Explain

your handling of missing data and why any missing data does not

undermine the validity of your analysis.

3. Explain the techniques you used to "clean" your data set.

4. Choose a minimally sufficient statistical procedure; provide a rationale

for its use and a reference for it. Specify any computer programs used.

5. Describe the assumptions for each procedure and the steps you took to

ensure that they were not violated.

6. When using inferential statistics, provide the descriptive statistics,

confidence intervals, and sample sizes for each variable as well as the

value of the test statistic, its direction, the degrees of freedom, and the

significance level [report the actual p value].

7. Avoid inferring causality, particularly in nonrandomized designs or

without further experimentation.

8. Use tables to provide exact values; use figures to convey global effects.

Keep figures small in size; include graphic representations of confidence

intervals whenever possible.

9. Always tell the reader what to look for in tables and figures

Areas and Most Common Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is a type of empirical investigation. That means the

research focuses on verifiable observation as opposed to theory or logic.

Most often this type of research is expressed in numbers. A researcher will

represent and manipulate certain observations that they are studying. They

will attempt to explain what it is they are seeing and what affect it has on the

subject. They will also determine and what the changes may reflect. The

overall goal is to convey numerically what is being seen in the research and

to arrive at specific and observable conclusions.

check out Udemy’s course on writing an effective research paper. There you

will find information to help you understand how to conduct your own

research, as well as how to interpret the research of others and arrange it

into a cohesive paper.

There are four basic types of quantitative research: survey, correlational,

causal-comparative, and experimental. But we must first understand how

quantitative research works.

How Quantitative Research Works

To better understand this style of research we need to break down its major

tenets. There are three: observing and explaining something that happens,

collecting information, and analyzing the information. The combination of

these three parts is at work when presenting clear and well-researched

findings.

Observing and explaining occurrences is the first step. The search for this

explanation can be presented in the form of a question. It can also be

expressed as a hypothesis. In the case of a hypothesis the search for an

explanation is made as a statement to be proved of disproved – depending on

the goals of your research.

The collection of information in quantitative research is what sets it apart

from other types. Quantitative research is focused specifically on numerical

information, also known as ‘data.’ Because the research requires its

conductor to use mathematical analysis to investigate what is being

observed, the information collected must be in numbers.

The last step of the research revolves around using mathematics to analyze

the ‘data’ collected. This is done with statistics. When most people think

about quantitative research they think specifically about statistics. You might

want to check out Udemy’s Introductory Statistics course. It can help you to

better understand how to crunch numbers for better quantitative research

Now, let’s go over the four types of quantitative research:

Survey Research
Survey research uses interviews, questionnaires, and sampling polls to get a
sense of behavior with intense precision. It allows researchers to judge
behavior and then present the findings in an accurate way. This is usually
expressed in a percentage. Survey research can be conducted around one
group specifically or used to compare several groups. When conducting
survey research it is important that the people questioned are sampled at
random. This allows for more accurate findings across a greater spectrum of
respondents.
It is very important when conducting survey research that you work with
statisticians and field service agents who are reputable. Since there is a high
level of personal interaction in survey scenarios as well as a greater chance
for unexpected circumstances to occur, it is possible for the data to be
affected. This can heavily influence the outcome of the survey.
There are several ways to conduct survey research. They can be done in
person, over the phone, or through mail or email. In the last instance they can
be self-administered. When conducted on a single group survey research is
its own category. However survey research can be applied to the other types
of research listed below.
You’ve probably taken part in several survey research projects, since they are
extremely common. Have you ever received a receipt from a store or
restaurant where you’re asked to call a number at the bottom to participate
in a survey and be entered to win? Have you ever been asked to “stay on the
line” to answer a few questions after an experience with a customer service
rep? Have you ever been asked to give your thoughts after visiting a website?
These are all examples of survey research.
2. Correlational Research
Correlational research tests for the relationships between two variables.
Performing correlational research is done to establish what the affect of one
on the other might be and how that affects the relationship. Correlational
research is conducted in order to explain a noticed occurrence. In
correlational research the survey is conducted on a minimum of two groups.
In most correlational research there is a level of manipulation involved with
the specific variables being researched. Once the information is compiled it is
then analyzed mathematically to draw conclusions about the affect that one
has on the other.
Remember, correlation does not always mean causation. For example, just
because two data points sync doesn’t mean that there is a direct cause and
effect relationship. Typically, you should not make assumptions from
correlational research alone.
3. Causal-Comparative Research
Causal-comparative research looks to uncover a cause and effect
relationship. This research is not conducted between the two groups on each
other. Rather than look solely for a statistical relationship between two
variables it tries to identify, specifically, how the different groups are affected
by the same circumstance. Causal-comparative research involves
‘comparison.’ In causal-comparative research the study of two or more
groups is done without focusing on their relationship. As always the use of
statistical analysis is engaged to synthesize the data in a clear method for
presentation.
4. Experimental Research
Though questions may be posed in the other forms of research, experimental
research is guided specifically by a hypothesis. Sometimes experimental
research can have several hypotheses. A hypothesis is a statement to be
proven or disproved. Once that statement is made experiments are begun to
find out whether the statement is true or not. This type of research is the
bedrock of most sciences, in particular the natural sciences. If natural
sciences, such as biology, are something you are interested in you should
check out Udemy’s course on writing an A+ Biology Paper. It will help you
use the types of quantitative research to great effect
(https://blog.udemy.com/types-of-quantitative-research/
Research Instruments
Generally, there are various procedures of collecting data. The main
instruments used in the mixed method researches consist of closed-ended,
open-ended questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations. These
different ways of gathering information can supplement each other and
hence boost the validity and dependability of the data. In the main, the
quantitative data are obtained through closed-ended questionnaires and the
qualitative data through open-ended questionnaires, interviews and
classroom observations. The items of the questionnaires are mainly
developed based on the research objectives and research questions.
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the instrument development;
2. Discuss the measurement of scales;
3. Discuss the nominal scale;
4. Discuss the ordinal scale;
5. Discuss the interval scale;
6. Discuss the ratio scale; and
7. Discuss the data collection and analysis procedures such as survey,
interview, and observation.
The Instrument Development
How to develop research instruments
Before the group can collect any data, the young researchers will need to
design research instruments (the tools they will use to collect the data).
If the group is planning to carry out interviews or focus groups, the young
researchers will need to design an interview schedule or topic guide. This is a
list of questions or topic areas that all the interviewers will use. Asking
everyone the same questions means that the data you collect will be much
more focused and easier to analyse.
If the group wants to carry out a survey, the young researchers will need to
design a questionnaire. This could be on paper or online (using free software
such as Survey Monkey). Both approaches have advantages and
disadvantages.
If the group is collecting data from more than one ‘type’ of person (such as
young people and teachers, for example), it may well need to design more
than one interview schedule or questionnaire. This should not be too difficult
as the young researchers can adapt additional schedules or questionnaires
from the original.
When designing the research instruments ensure that:
They start with a statement about:
1. The focus and aims of the research project
2. How the person’s data will be used (to feed into a report?)
3. Confidentiality – will the report name them or will their data be
anonymised? Who will have access to their data (the research team
only?)
4. How long the interview or survey will take to complete.
They use age-appropriate language
Every question helps the group to answer its research question – take out
those that don’t
Any questionnaires use appropriate scales. For young people ‘smiley face’
scales can work well
Any questionnaires ask people for any relevant information about
themselves, such as their gender or age, if relevant. Don’t ask for so much
detail that it would be possible to identify individuals though, if you have said
that the survey will be anonymous.
If the young researchers are planning to carry out observations, they will
need to agree what to look for. You could consider designing
an observation form.
If the group if planning to use photographs, drawings or video, they will need
to specify the activity for research participants. For example, the group might
want primary school children to take up to five photographs showing the
things they like most about school, or to draw a picture of how they feel
when they a) come to school, b) are on lunch break, and c) are doing their
homework.
The Measurement of Scale
The level of measurement refers to the relationship among the values that
are assigned to the attributes for a variable. What does that mean? Begin
with the idea of the variable “party affiliation” Let ‟assume in a particular
election context the only relevant attributes are republican, democrat and
independent”. For purpose of analyzing the results of this variable we
arbitrarily assign the values 1, 2 and 3 to the three attributes.
(http://www.academia.edu/6616569/Research_Proposal_Measurement_Sca
les)
The Nominal, Ordinal, interval and Ratio Scale
There are four measurement scales (or types of data): nominal, ordinal,
interval and ratio. These are simply ways to categorize different types of
variables. This topic is usually discussed in the context of academic teaching
and less often in the “real world.” If you are brushing up on this concept for a
statistics test, thank a psychologist researcher named Stanley Stevens for
coming up with these terms.
Nominal
Let’s start with the easiest one to understand. Nominal scales are used for
labeling variables, without any quantitative value. “Nominal” scales could
simply be called “labels.” Here are some examples, below. Notice that all of
these scales are mutually exclusive (no overlap) and none of them have any
numerical significance. A good way to remember all of this is that “nominal”
sounds a lot like “name” and nominal scales are kind of like “names” or
labels.
Ordinal
With ordinal scales, it is the order of the values is what’s important and
significant, but the differences between each one is not really known. Take a
look at the example below. In each case, we know that a #4 is better than a
#3 or #2, but we don’t know–and cannot quantify–how much better it is. For
example, is the difference between “OK” and “Unhappy” the same as the
difference between “Very Happy” and “Happy?” We can’t say.
Ordinal scales are typically measures of non-numeric concepts like
satisfaction, happiness, discomfort, etc.
“Ordinal” is easy to remember because is sounds like “order” and that’s the
key to remember with “ordinal scales”–it is the order that matters, but that’s
all you really get from these.
Interval
Interval scales are numeric scales in which we know not only the order, but
also the exact differences between the values. The classic example of an
interval scale is Celsius temperature because the difference between each
value is the same. For example, the difference between 60 and 50 degrees is
a measurable 10 degrees, as is the difference between 80 and 70
degrees. Time is another good example of an interval scale in which
the increments are known, consistent, and measurable.
Interval scales are nice because the realm of statistical analysis on these data
sets opens up. For example, central tendency can be measured by mode,
median, or mean; standard deviation can also be calculated.
Like the others, you can remember the key points of an “interval scale” pretty
easily. “Interval” itself means “space in between,” which is the important
thing to remember–interval scales not only tell us about order, but also about
the value between each item.
Ratio
Ratio scales are the ultimate nirvana when it comes to measurement scales
because they tell us about the order, they tell us the exact value between
units, AND they also have an absolute zero–which allows for a wide range of
both descriptive and inferential statistics to be applied. At the risk of
repeating myself, everything above about interval data applies to ratio scales
+ ratio scales have a clear definition of zero. Good examples of ratio variables
include height and weight.
Ratio scales provide a wealth of possibilities when it comes to statistical
analysis. These variables can be meaningfully added, subtracted, multiplied,
divided (ratios). Central tendency can be measured by mode, median, or
mean; measures of dispersion, such as standard deviation and coefficient of
variation can also be calculated from ratio scales.
(http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/types-of-data-nominal-
ordinal-interval-ratio/)
Data Collection
How to collect data
Once the group has designed the research instruments, it can move on to
collecting the data.
Here are some tips to share with the young researchers during this stage of
the project:
1. People are doing you a favor by helping you with your research – thank
them for their time and tell them that you value their input.
2. Invite more people to take part than you actually want to collect data
from, as some people may not want to participate. People have the right
to refuse to take part in your research and to withdraw from the research
at any point - you must respect this, as part of research ethics.
3. Keep an eye on how many people have responded to your survey or
agreed to take part in your project. You may need to send reminders to
some people.
4. It is very easy to introduce your own views but your job is to find out
what other people think and do. Ask interviewees more probing
questions, if you’re not quite sure what they mean, and reflect their views
back to them to check that you’ve understood them correctly.
5. Be organized and ethical - keep all your data responses in one, secure,
Place
Glossary
Interval - measurement the distance between attributes does have meaning
Nominal - measurement the numerical values just "name" the attribute
uniquely
Ordinal - measurement the attributes can be rank-ordered.
Ratio - measurement there is always an absolute zero that is meaningful
Finding Answers through Data Collection
You want to satisfy your curiosity about a certain subject matter. The only
way to do this is to link yourself with people, tings, and other elements in
your surroundings because, by nature, research involves interdependence or
interactions among people and things on earth. The answers to your
investigate acts about the topic you are interested in come from people you
get to communicate with and from things you subject to observation.
Research is an act of gathering opinions, facts and information to prove your
point or to discover truths about your research problem or topic.
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the data collection procedures and skills using varied
instruments; and
2. Discuss the data processing, organizing, and analysis.
Data Collection Procedure and Skills using Varied Instruments
Data Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study.
Inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately
lead to invalid results.
The Quantitative data collection methods, rely on random sampling and
structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into
predetermined response categories. They produce results that are easy to
summarize, compare, and generalize.
Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from
theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of
interest. Depending on the research question, participants may be randomly
assigned to different treatments. If this is not feasible, the researcher may
collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to
statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome,
variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a
larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select
participants.
Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:
Experiments/clinical trials.
Observing and recording well-defined events (e.g., counting the number of
patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day).
Obtaining relevant data from management information systems.
Administering surveys with closed-ended questions (e.g., face-to face and
telephone interviews, questionnaires
etc). (http://www.achrn.org/quantitative_methods.htm)
Interviews
In Quantitative research(survey research),interviews are more structured
than in Qualitative
research.(http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/info/srms/survpamphlet.html
In a structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and
nothing more.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Face -to -face interviews have a distinct advantage of enabling the researcher
to establish rapport with potential participants and therefor gain their
cooperation. These interviews yield highest response rates in survey
research. They also allow the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and
when appropriate, seek follow-up information. Disadvantages include
impractical when large samples are involved time consuming and
expensive.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Telephone interviews are less time consuming and less expensive and the
researcher has ready access to anyone on the planet that has a telephone.
Disadvantages are that the response rate is not as high as the face-to- face
interview as but considerably higher than the mailed questionnaire .The
sample may be biased to the extent that people without phones are part of
the population about whom the researcher wants to draw inferences.
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI): is a form of personal
interviewing, but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer
brings along a laptop or hand-held computer to enter the information
directly into the database. This method saves time involved in processing the
data, as well as saving the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of
questionnaires. However, this type of data collection method can be
expensive to set up and requires that interviewers have computer and typing
skills.
Questionnaires
Paper-pencil-questionnaires can be sent to a large number of people and
saves the researcher time and money. People are more truthful while
responding to the questionnaires regarding controversial issues in particular
due to the fact that their responses are anonymous. But they also have draw
backs. Majority of the people who receive questionnaires don't return them
and those who do might not be representative of the originally selected
sample.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Web based questionnaires : A new and inevitably growing methodology is
the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e-mail on
which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web-
site to fill in a questionnaire. This type of research is often quicker and less
detailed. Some disadvantages of this method include the exclusion of people
who do not have a computer or are unable to access a computer. Also the
validity of such surveys are in question as people might be in a hurry to
complete it and so might not give accurate responses.
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/ch2/methods/methods.htm
Questionnaires often make use of Checklist and rating scales. These devices
help simplify and quantify people's behaviors and attitudes. A checklist is a
list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities that the researcher is
looking for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks
whether each item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa.
A rating scale is more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a
continuum. They are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
The Processing, Organizing and Analysis
Raw data is unprocessed/unorganized source data, such as the data from an
eye tracker which records the coordinates and movement of the eye every
millisecond. processed/summarized/categorized data such as the output of
the mean position for a participant immediately after a stimulus was
presented.
Raw data processing is required in most surveys and experiments. At the
individual level, data needs to be processed because there may be several
reasons why the data is an aberration.
The raw data collected is often contains too much data to analyze it sensibly.
This is especially so for research using computers as this may produce large
amounts of data. The data needs to be organized or manipulated using
deconstruction analysis techniques.
Acquiring data: Acquisition involves collecting or adding to the data holdings.
There are several methods of acquiring data:
1. collecting new data
2. using your own previously collected data
3. reusing someone others data
4. purchasing data
5. acquired from Internet (texts, social media, photos)
Data processing: A series of actions or steps performed on data to verify,
organize, transform, integrate, and extract data in an appropriate output
form for subsequent use. Methods of processing must be rigorously
documented to ensure the utility and integrity of the data.
Data Analysis involves actions and methods performed on data that help
describe facts, detect patterns, develop explanations and test hypotheses.
This includes data quality assurance, statistical data analysis, modeling, and
interpretation of results.
Data Gathering Procedure
You want to satisfy your curiosity about a certain subject matter. The only
way to do this is to link yourself with people, tings, and other elements in
your surroundings because, by nature, research involves interdependence or
interactions among people and things on earth. The answers to your
investigate acts about the topic you are interested in come from people you
get to communicate with and from things you subject to observation.
Research is an act of gathering opinions, facts and information to prove your
point or to discover truths about your research problem or topic.
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the observation method;
2. Discuss the interview method;
3. Discuss the questionnaire method; and
4. Discuss the psychological test method
Quantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and
structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into
predetermined response categories.
They produce results that are easy to summarize, compare, and generalize.
Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from
theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of
interest. Depending on the research question, participants may be randomly
assigned to different treatments. If this is not feasible, the researcher may
collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to
statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome,
variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a
larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select
participants.
A probability sampling method is any method of sampling that utilizes some
form of random selection
(http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampprob.php).
In order to have a random selection method, you must set up some process
or procedure that assures that the different units in your population have
equal probabilities of being chosen.
Simple examples of random selection are picking a name out of a hat or
choosing the short straw. Computers are used for generating random
selection in more complex projects.
Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:
 Administering surveys with closed‐ended questions (e.g., face‐to face and
telephone interviews, mail questionnaires, etc.)
(http://www.achrn.org/quantitative_methods.htm)
 Experiments/clinical trials.
 Observing and recording well‐defined events (e.g., counting the number of
patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day).
 Obtaining relevant data from management information systems.
Interview Method
In Quantitative research (survey research), interviews are more structured
than in Qualitative research.
http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/info/srms/survpamphlet.html
In a structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and
nothing more. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
5 Telephone interviews
Advantages:
 Less time consuming
 Less expensive
 Researcher has ready access to anyone who has a landline
telephone.
 Higher response rate than the mail questionnaire.
 Can be fully automated using CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone
Interviewing) saving data processing time.
Disadvantages:
 The response rate is not as high as the face‐to‐face interview.
 The sample may be biased as only those people who have landline
phones are contacted (excludes people who do not have a phone, or only
have cell phones).
Face‐to‐face interviews (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Advantages:
 Enables the researcher to establish rapport with potential
participants and therefore gain their cooperation.
 Yields the highest response rates in survey research.
 Allows the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and when
appropriate, seek follow‐ up information
Disadvantages:
 Impractical when large samples are involved
 Can be time consuming and expensive.
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI): is a form of personal
interviewing, but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer
brings along a laptop or hand‐held computer to enter the information
directly into the database.
Advantages:
 Saves time involved in processing the data.
 Saves the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of questionnaires.
Disadvantages:
 Can be expensive to set up.
 Requires that interviewers have computer and typing skills.
Questionnaires Method
Questionnaires often make use of checklist and rating scales. These devices
help simplify and quantify people's behaviors and attitudes. A checklist is a
list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities the researcher is looking
for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks whether each
item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa. A rating scale is 6
more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a continuum. They
are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Mail questionnaires
Advantages:
 Can be sent to a large number of people.
 Saves the researcher time and money compared to interviewing.
 People are more truthful while responding to the questionnaires regarding
controversial issues in particular due to the fact that their responses are
anonymous.
 Allow the respondent to answer at their leisure.
Disadvantages:
 In most cases, the majority of people who receive questionnaires don't
return them. Therefore: o Over‐sampling may be necessary if doing a one‐
time mail out in order to get enough completed questionnaires to be
generalizable to the population. o Follow‐up reminders to participants
encouraging them to complete the questionnaire may be necessary, thereby
increasing the time and cost to conduct the study. o May need to offer
incentives to increase response rate.
 Time – mail surveys take longer than other types of surveys.
Web‐based questionnaires: A new and inevitably growing methodology is
the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e‐mail on
which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web‐
site to fill in a questionnaire.
Advantages:
 This type of research is often quicker and less detailed.
 Very cost effective.
Disadvantages:
 Excludes people who do not have a computer or are unable to access a
computer.
 Need to have access to email addresses.
 Many worksites have screening mechanisms in place blocking access to
employee emails.
 The validity of such surveys may be in question as people might be in a
hurry to complete it and so might not give accurate responses.
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/ch2/methods/methods.htm)
Observation Method
One of the most common methods for qualitative data collection, participant
observation is also one of the most demanding. It requires that the
researcher become a participant in the culture or context being
observed. Participant observation often requires months or years of
intensive work because the researcher needs to become accepted as a
natural part of the culture in order to assure that the observations are of the
natural phenomenon.
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualmeth.php
Psychological Testing Method
Psychological testing refers to the administration of psychological tests. A
psychological test is "an objective and standardized measure of a sample of
behavior". The term sample of behavior refers to an individual's performance
on tasks that have usually been prescribed beforehand. The samples of
behavior that make up a paper-and-pencil test, the most common type of
test, are a series of items.
Performance on these items produce a test score. A score on a well-
constructed test is believed to reflect a psychological construct such as
achievement in a school subject, cognitive ability, aptitude, emotional
functioning, personality, etc. Differences in test scores are thought to reflect
individual differences in the construct the test is supposed to measure. The
technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics.
Interview - i s the verbal conversation between two people with the objective
of collecting relevant information for the purpose of research
Observation - involves studying the spontaneous behaviour of participants in
natural surroundings.
Psychological testing - - is the foundation of how psychologists better
understand a person and their behavior
Questionnaire - are the most frequently used data collection method in
educational and evaluation research. Questionnaires help gather information
on knowledge, attitudes, opinions, behaviors, facts, and other information.
Finding Answers through Data Collection
You want to satisfy your curiosity about a certain subject matter. The only
way to do this is to link yourself with people, tings, and other elements in
your surroundings because, by nature, research involves interdependence or
interactions among people and things on earth. The answers to your
investigate acts about the topic you are interested in come from people you
get to communicate with and from things you subject to observation.
Research is an act of gathering opinions, facts and information to prove your
point or to discover truths about your research problem or topic.
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the data collection procedures and skills using varied
instruments; and
2. Discuss the data processing, organizing, and analysis.
Data Collection Procedure and Skills using Varied Instruments
Data Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study.
Inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately
lead to invalid results.
The Quantitative data collection methods, rely on random sampling and
structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into
predetermined response categories. They produce results that are easy to
summarize, compare, and generalize.
Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from
theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of
interest. Depending on the research question, participants may be randomly
assigned to different treatments. If this is not feasible, the researcher may
collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to
statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome,
variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a
larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select
participants.
Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:
Experiments/clinical trials.
Observing and recording well-defined events (e.g., counting the number of
patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day).
Obtaining relevant data from management information systems.
Administering surveys with closed-ended questions (e.g., face-to face and
telephone interviews, questionnaires
etc). (http://www.achrn.org/quantitative_methods.htm)
Interviews
In Quantitative research(survey research),interviews are more structured
than in Qualitative
research.(http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/info/srms/survpamphlet.html
In a structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and
nothing more.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Face -to -face interviews have a distinct advantage of enabling the researcher
to establish rapport with potential participants and therefor gain their
cooperation. These interviews yield highest response rates in survey
research. They also allow the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and
when appropriate, seek follow-up information. Disadvantages include
impractical when large samples are involved time consuming and
expensive.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Telephone interviews are less time consuming and less expensive and the
researcher has ready access to anyone on the planet that has a telephone.
Disadvantages are that the response rate is not as high as the face-to- face
interview as but considerably higher than the mailed questionnaire .The
sample may be biased to the extent that people without phones are part of
the population about whom the researcher wants to draw inferences.
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI): is a form of personal
interviewing, but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer
brings along a laptop or hand-held computer to enter the information
directly into the database. This method saves time involved in processing the
data, as well as saving the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of
questionnaires. However, this type of data collection method can be
expensive to set up and requires that interviewers have computer and typing
skills.
Questionnaires
Paper-pencil-questionnaires can be sent to a large number of people and
saves the researcher time and money. People are more truthful while
responding to the questionnaires regarding controversial issues in particular
due to the fact that their responses are anonymous. But they also have draw
backs. Majority of the people who receive questionnaires don't return them
and those who do might not be representative of the originally selected
sample.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Web based questionnaires : A new and inevitably growing methodology is
the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e-mail on
which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web-
site to fill in a questionnaire. This type of research is often quicker and less
detailed. Some disadvantages of this method include the exclusion of people
who do not have a computer or are unable to access a computer. Also the
validity of such surveys are in question as people might be in a hurry to
complete it and so might not give accurate responses.
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/ch2/methods/methods.htm)
Questionnaires often make use of Checklist and rating scales. These devices
help simplify and quantify people's behaviors and attitudes. A checklist is a
list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities that the researcher is
looking for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks
whether each item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa.
A rating scale is more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a
continuum. They are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
The Processing, Organizing and Analysis
Raw data is unprocessed/unorganized source data, such as the data from an
eye tracker which records the coordinates and movement of the eye every
millisecond. processed/summarized/categorized data such as the output of
the mean position for a participant immediately after a stimulus was
presented.
Raw data processing is required in most surveys and experiments. At the
individual level, data needs to be processed because there may be several
reasons why the data is an aberration.
The raw data collected is often contains too much data to analyze it sensibly.
This is especially so for research using computers as this may produce large
amounts of data. The data needs to be organized or manipulated using
deconstruction analysis techniques.
Acquiring data: Acquisition involves collecting or adding to the data holdings.
There are several methods of acquiring data:
1. collecting new data
2. using your own previously collected data
3. reusing someone others data
4. purchasing data
5. acquired from Internet (texts, social media, photos)
Data processing: A series of actions or steps performed on data to verify,
organize, transform, integrate, and extract data in an appropriate output
form for subsequent use. Methods of processing must be rigorously
documented to ensure the utility and integrity of the data.
Data Analysis involves actions and methods performed on data that help
describe facts, detect patterns, develop explanations and test hypotheses.
This includes data quality assurance, statistical data analysis, modeling, and
interpretation of results.
Data Gathering Procedure
You want to satisfy your curiosity about a certain subject matter. The only
way to do this is to link yourself with people, tings, and other elements in
your surroundings because, by nature, research involves interdependence or
interactions among people and things on earth. The answers to your
investigate acts about the topic you are interested in come from people you
get to communicate with and from things you subject to observation.
Research is an act of gathering opinions, facts and information to prove your
point or to discover truths about your research problem or topic.
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the observation method;
2. Discuss the interview method;
3. Discuss the questionnaire method; and
4. Discuss the psychological test method
Quantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and
structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into
predetermined response categories.
They produce results that are easy to summarize, compare, and generalize.
Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from
theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of
interest. Depending on the research question, participants may be randomly
assigned to different treatments. If this is not feasible, the researcher may
collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to
statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome,
variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a
larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select
participants.
A probability sampling method is any method of sampling that utilizes some
form of random selection
(http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampprob.php).
In order to have a random selection method, you must set up some process
or procedure that assures that the different units in your population have
equal probabilities of being chosen.
Simple examples of random selection are picking a name out of a hat or
choosing the short straw. Computers are used for generating random
selection in more complex projects.
Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:
 Administering surveys with closed‐ended questions (e.g., face‐to face and
telephone interviews, mail questionnaires, etc.)
(http://www.achrn.org/quantitative_methods.htm)
 Experiments/clinical trials.
 Observing and recording well‐defined events (e.g., counting the number of
patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day).
 Obtaining relevant data from management information systems.
Interview Method
In Quantitative research (survey research), interviews are more structured
than in Qualitative research.
http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/info/srms/survpamphlet.html
In a structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and
nothing more. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
5 Telephone interviews
Advantages:
 Less time consuming
 Less expensive
 Researcher has ready access to anyone who has a landline
telephone.
 Higher response rate than the mail questionnaire.
 Can be fully automated using CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone
Interviewing) saving data processing time.
Disadvantages:
 The response rate is not as high as the face‐to‐face interview.
 The sample may be biased as only those people who have landline
phones are contacted (excludes people who do not have a phone, or only
have cell phones).
Face‐to‐face interviews (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Advantages:
 Enables the researcher to establish rapport with potential
participants and therefore gain their cooperation.
 Yields the highest response rates in survey research.
 Allows the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and when
appropriate, seek follow‐ up information.
Disadvantages:
 Impractical when large samples are involved
 Can be time consuming and expensive.
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI): is a form of personal
interviewing, but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer
brings along a laptop or hand‐held computer to enter the information
directly into the database.
Advantages:
 Saves time involved in processing the data.
 Saves the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of questionnaires.
Disadvantages:
 Can be expensive to set up.
 Requires that interviewers have computer and typing skills.
Questionnaires Method
Questionnaires often make use of checklist and rating scales. These devices
help simplify and quantify people's behaviors and attitudes. A checklist is a
list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities the researcher is looking
for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks whether each
item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa. A rating scale is 6
more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a continuum. They
are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Mail questionnaires
Advantages:
 Can be sent to a large number of people.
 Saves the researcher time and money compared to interviewing.
 People are more truthful while responding to the questionnaires regarding
controversial issues in particular due to the fact that their responses are
anonymous.
 Allow the respondent to answer at their leisure.
Disadvantages:
 In most cases, the majority of people who receive questionnaires don't
return them. Therefore: o Over‐sampling may be necessary if doing a one‐
time mail out in order to get enough completed questionnaires to be
generalizable to the population. o Follow‐up reminders to participants
encouraging them to complete the questionnaire may be necessary, thereby
increasing the time and cost to conduct the study. o May need to offer
incentives to increase response rate.
 Time – mail surveys take longer than other types of surveys.
Web‐based questionnaires: A new and inevitably growing methodology is
the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e‐mail on
which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web‐
site to fill in a questionnaire.
Advantages:
 This type of research is often quicker and less detailed.
 Very cost effective.
Disadvantages:
 Excludes people who do not have a computer or are unable to access a
computer.
 Need to have access to email addresses.
 Many worksites have screening mechanisms in place blocking access to
employee emails.
 The validity of such surveys may be in question as people might be in a
hurry to complete it and so might not give accurate responses.
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/ch2/methods/methods.htm)
Observation Method
One of the most common methods for qualitative data collection, participant
observation is also one of the most demanding. It requires that the
researcher become a participant in the culture or context being
observed. Participant observation often requires months or years of
intensive work because the researcher needs to become accepted as a
natural part of the culture in order to assure that the observations are of the
natural phenomenon.
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualmeth.php
Psychological Testing Method
Psychological testing refers to the administration of psychological tests. A
psychological test is "an objective and standardized measure of a sample of
behavior". The term sample of behavior refers to an individual's performance
on tasks that have usually been prescribed beforehand. The samples of
behavior that make up a paper-and-pencil test, the most common type of
test, are a series of items.
Performance on these items produce a test score. A score on a well-
constructed test is believed to reflect a psychological construct such as
achievement in a school subject, cognitive ability, aptitude, emotional
functioning, personality, etc. Differences in test scores are thought to reflect
individual differences in the construct the test is supposed to measure. The
technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics.
Interview - i s the verbal conversation between two people with the objective
of collecting relevant information for the purpose of research
Observation - involves studying the spontaneous behaviour of participants in
natural surroundings.
Psychological testing - - is the foundation of how psychologists better
understand a person and their behavior
Questionnaire - are the most frequently used data collection method in
educational and evaluation research. Questionnaires help gather information
on knowledge, attitudes, opinions, behaviors, facts, and other information
Finding Answers through Data Collection
You want to satisfy your curiosity about a certain subject matter. The only
way to do this is to link yourself with people, tings, and other elements in
your surroundings because, by nature, research involves interdependence or
interactions among people and things on earth. The answers to your
investigate acts about the topic you are interested in come from people you
get to communicate with and from things you subject to observation.
Research is an act of gathering opinions, facts and information to prove your
point or to discover truths about your research problem or topic.
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the data collection procedures and skills using varied
instruments; and
2. Discuss the data processing, organizing, and analysis.
Data Collection Procedure and Skills using Varied Instruments
Data Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study.
Inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately
lead to invalid results.
The Quantitative data collection methods, rely on random sampling and
structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into
predetermined response categories. They produce results that are easy to
summarize, compare, and generalize.
Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from
theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of
interest. Depending on the research question, participants may be randomly
assigned to different treatments. If this is not feasible, the researcher may
collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to
statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome,
variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a
larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select
participants.
Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:
Experiments/clinical trials.
Observing and recording well-defined events (e.g., counting the number of
patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day).
Obtaining relevant data from management information systems.
Administering surveys with closed-ended questions (e.g., face-to face and
telephone interviews, questionnaires
etc). (http://www.achrn.org/quantitative_methods.htm)
Interviews
In Quantitative research(survey research),interviews are more structured
than in Qualitative
research.(http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/info/srms/survpamphlet.html
In a structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and
nothing more.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Face -to -face interviews have a distinct advantage of enabling the researcher
to establish rapport with potential participants and therefor gain their
cooperation. These interviews yield highest response rates in survey
research. They also allow the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and
when appropriate, seek follow-up information. Disadvantages include
impractical when large samples are involved time consuming and
expensive.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Telephone interviews are less time consuming and less expensive and the
researcher has ready access to anyone on the planet that has a telephone.
Disadvantages are that the response rate is not as high as the face-to- face
interview as but considerably higher than the mailed questionnaire .The
sample may be biased to the extent that people without phones are part of
the population about whom the researcher wants to draw inferences.
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI): is a form of personal
interviewing, but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer
brings along a laptop or hand-held computer to enter the information
directly into the database. This method saves time involved in processing the
data, as well as saving the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of
questionnaires. However, this type of data collection method can be
expensive to set up and requires that interviewers have computer and typing
skills.
Questionnaires
Paper-pencil-questionnaires can be sent to a large number of people and
saves the researcher time and money. People are more truthful while
responding to the questionnaires regarding controversial issues in particular
due to the fact that their responses are anonymous. But they also have draw
backs. Majority of the people who receive questionnaires don't return them
and those who do might not be representative of the originally selected
sample.(Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Web based questionnaires : A new and inevitably growing methodology is
the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e-mail on
which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web-
site to fill in a questionnaire. This type of research is often quicker and less
detailed. Some disadvantages of this method include the exclusion of people
who do not have a computer or are unable to access a computer. Also the
validity of such surveys are in question as people might be in a hurry to
complete it and so might not give accurate responses.
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/ch2/methods/methods.htm)
Questionnaires often make use of Checklist and rating scales. These devices
help simplify and quantify people's behaviors and attitudes. A checklist is a
list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities that the researcher is
looking for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks
whether each item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa.
A rating scale is more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a
continuum. They are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
The Processing, Organizing and Analysis
Raw data is unprocessed/unorganized source data, such as the data from an
eye tracker which records the coordinates and movement of the eye every
millisecond. processed/summarized/categorized data such as the output of
the mean position for a participant immediately after a stimulus was
presented.
Raw data processing is required in most surveys and experiments. At the
individual level, data needs to be processed because there may be several
reasons why the data is an aberration.
The raw data collected is often contains too much data to analyze it sensibly.
This is especially so for research using computers as this may produce large
amounts of data. The data needs to be organized or manipulated using
deconstruction analysis techniques.
Acquiring data: Acquisition involves collecting or adding to the data holdings.
There are several methods of acquiring data:
1. collecting new data
2. using your own previously collected data
3. reusing someone others data
4. purchasing data
5. acquired from Internet (texts, social media, photos)
Data processing: A series of actions or steps performed on data to verify,
organize, transform, integrate, and extract data in an appropriate output
form for subsequent use. Methods of processing must be rigorously
documented to ensure the utility and integrity of the data.
Data Analysis involves actions and methods performed on data that help
describe facts, detect patterns, develop explanations and test hypotheses.
This includes data quality assurance, statistical data analysis, modeling, and
interpretation of results.
Analyzing - is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling
data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions,
and supporting decision-making. Data analysis has multiple facets and
approaches, encompassing diverse techniques under a variety of names, in
different business, science, and social science domains.
Organizing - is a systematic process of structuring, integrating, co-
coordinating task goals, and activities to resources in order to attain
objectives.
Processing - movement of data or material towards a known goal or end
result, by passing it through a series of stages or a sequence of actions.
Data Gathering Procedure
You want to satisfy your curiosity about a certain subject matter. The only
way to do this is to link yourself with people, tings, and other elements in
your surroundings because, by nature, research involves interdependence or
interactions among people and things on earth. The answers to your
investigate acts about the topic you are interested in come from people you
get to communicate with and from things you subject to observation.
Research is an act of gathering opinions, facts and information to prove your
point or to discover truths about your research problem or topic.
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Discuss the observation method;
2. Discuss the interview method;
3. Discuss the questionnaire method; and
4. Discuss the psychological test method
Quantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and
structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into
predetermined response categories.
They produce results that are easy to summarize, compare, and generalize.
Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from
theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of
interest. Depending on the research question, participants may be randomly
assigned to different treatments. If this is not feasible, the researcher may
collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to
statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome,
variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a
larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select
participants.
A probability sampling method is any method of sampling that utilizes some
form of random selection
(http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampprob.php).
In order to have a random selection method, you must set up some process
or procedure that assures that the different units in your population have
equal probabilities of being chosen.
Simple examples of random selection are picking a name out of a hat or
choosing the short straw. Computers are used for generating random
selection in more complex projects.
Typical quantitative data gathering strategies include:
 Administering surveys with closed‐ended questions (e.g., face‐to face and
telephone interviews, mail questionnaires, etc.)
(http://www.achrn.org/quantitative_methods.htm)
 Experiments/clinical trials.
 Observing and recording well‐defined events (e.g., counting the number of
patients waiting in emergency at specified times of the day).
 Obtaining relevant data from management information systems.
Interview Method
In Quantitative research (survey research), interviews are more structured
than in Qualitative research.
http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/info/srms/survpamphlet.html
In a structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and
nothing more. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
5 Telephone interviews
Advantages:
 Less time consuming
 Less expensive
 Researcher has ready access to anyone who has a landline
telephone.
 Higher response rate than the mail questionnaire.
 Can be fully automated using CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone
Interviewing) saving data processing time.
Disadvantages:
 The response rate is not as high as the face‐to‐face interview.
 The sample may be biased as only those people who have landline
phones are contacted (excludes people who do not have a phone, or only
have cell phones).
Face‐to‐face interviews (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Advantages:
 Enables the researcher to establish rapport with potential
participants and therefore gain their cooperation.
 Yields the highest response rates in survey research.
 Allows the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and when
appropriate, seek follow‐ up information
Disadvantages:
 Impractical when large samples are involved
 Can be time consuming and expensive.
Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI): is a form of personal
interviewing, but instead of completing a questionnaire, the interviewer
brings along a laptop or hand‐held computer to enter the information
directly into the database.
Advantages:
 Saves time involved in processing the data.
 Saves the interviewer from carrying around hundreds of questionnaires.
Disadvantages:
 Can be expensive to set up.
 Requires that interviewers have computer and typing skills.
Questionnaires Method
Questionnaires often make use of checklist and rating scales. These devices
help simplify and quantify people's behaviors and attitudes. A checklist is a
list of behaviors, characteristics, or other entities the researcher is looking
for. Either the researcher or survey participant simply checks whether each
item on the list is observed, present or true or vice versa. A rating scale is 6
more useful when a behavior needs to be evaluated on a continuum. They
are also known as Likert scales. (Leedy and Ormrod, 2001)
Mail questionnaires
Advantages:
 Can be sent to a large number of people.
 Saves the researcher time and money compared to interviewing.
 People are more truthful while responding to the questionnaires regarding
controversial issues in particular due to the fact that their responses are
anonymous.
 Allow the respondent to answer at their leisure.
Disadvantages:
 In most cases, the majority of people who receive questionnaires don't
return them. Therefore: o Over‐sampling may be necessary if doing a one‐
time mail out in order to get enough completed questionnaires to be
generalizable to the population. o Follow‐up reminders to participants
encouraging them to complete the questionnaire may be necessary, thereby
increasing the time and cost to conduct the study. o May need to offer
incentives to increase response rate.
 Time – mail surveys take longer than other types of surveys.
Web‐based questionnaires: A new and inevitably growing methodology is
the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e‐mail on
which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web‐
site to fill in a questionnaire.
Advantages:
 This type of research is often quicker and less detailed.
 Very cost effective.
Disadvantages:
 Excludes people who do not have a computer or are unable to access a
computer.
 Need to have access to email addresses.
 Many worksites have screening mechanisms in place blocking access to
employee emails.
 The validity of such surveys may be in question as people might be in a
hurry to complete it and so might not give accurate responses.
(http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/power/ch2/methods/methods.htm)
Observation Method
One of the most common methods for qualitative data collection, participant
observation is also one of the most demanding. It requires that the
researcher become a participant in the culture or context being
observed. Participant observation often requires months or years of
intensive work because the researcher needs to become accepted as a
natural part of the culture in order to assure that the observations are of the
natural phenomenon.
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualmeth.php
Psychological Testing Method
Psychological testing refers to the administration of psychological tests. A
psychological test is "an objective and standardized measure of a sample of
behavior". The term sample of behavior refers to an individual's performance
on tasks that have usually been prescribed beforehand. The samples of
behavior that make up a paper-and-pencil test, the most common type of
test, are a series of items.
Performance on these items produce a test score. A score on a well-
constructed test is believed to reflect a psychological construct such as
achievement in a school subject, cognitive ability, aptitude, emotional
functioning, personality, etc. Differences in test scores are thought to reflect
individual differences in the construct the test is supposed to measure. The
technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics.
Interview - i s the verbal conversation between two people with the objective
of collecting relevant information for the purpose of research
Observation - involves studying the spontaneous behaviour of participants in
natural surroundings.
Psychological testing - - is the foundation of how psychologists better
understand a person and their behavior
Questionnaire - are the most frequently used data collection method in
educational and evaluation research. Questionnaires help gather information
on knowledge, attitudes, opinions, behaviors, facts, and other information.