DATA COLLECTION

PRIMARY
DATA

SECONDARY
DATA
Primary Data

 •Primary data are those which are collected for

the first time.
 •It is real time data which are collected by the
researcher himself.
 •This is the process of Collecting and making use
of the data.
 •This Data originated by the researcher
specifically to address the research problem.

Primary & Secondary sources of Data: By Ajay Anoj & Gokul

Secondary Data

 •Secondary data are those that have already been

collected by others.
 •These are usually in journals, periodicals, dailies,
research publications, official records etc.
 •Secondary data may be available in the published or
unpublished form. When it is not possible to collect
the data by primary method, the investigator go for
Secondary method.
 •This Data collected for some purpose other than the
problem at hand.

Primary & Secondary sources of Data: By Ajay Anoj & Gokul

 BASIS FOR
PRIMARY DATA SECONDARY DATA
COMPARISON
Primary data refers to Secondary data means data
Meaning the first hand data collected by someone else
gathered by the earlier
researcher himself.
Real time data Past date
Data
Very involved Quick and easy
Process
Source 1. Surveys,
2. observations,
1. Books
2. journal articles
3. experiments, 3. Websites,
4.questionnaire, 4. Government publications
5.personal interview etc. Internal records etc.
5. Public records, Historical Documents
5. Reports – by scholars, Universities, etc
Expensive Economical
Cost effectiveness Cheap and No time consuming process.
Long Short
Collection time
Always specific to the May or may not be specific
Specific researcher’s needs to the researcher’s need.
Crude form Refined form
Available
More Relatively les
Accuracy and Reliabi
lity
What are Data Collection Tools?

These are instruments used to collect information for

use in performance assessment, self-evaluation and
external evaluation.
 Face to Face (In-Person) Interviews
An interactive process in which trained interviewers visit people in
their homes or work to directly collect data from them.
Advantages Disadvantages
There is a high response rate. Travel costs for interviewers can be
Interviewers can make relevant high.
observations on sensible variables.
The interviewers to not always visit
The researcher can adapt the at times convenient to the
questions as necessary, clarify doubt interviewee and hence may have to
and ensure that the responses are revisit.
properly understood.
High cost to train and recruit
interviewers.
Interviewer bias communicated by
demeanor, tone of voice and
questioning style may influence
respondents.
 Mail Surveys or Self-Administered
Questions
This involves posting out the data collection instrument to the
respondents which they are required to complete in privacy and return.
Advantages Disadvantages
It is relatively less expensive than Researcher will have to compile an up to date
mailing list of all persons to be included in the
face to face interviews but costs survey.
can increase if sample size is large. Lower response rate than other methods of
It is convenient for distributing data collection.
large numbers of questionnaire in Ineffective if respondents are not literate.
a short time over large Slow response rate even though reminder
letters and incentives can be used to speed up
geographical areas. rate of return.
Respondents can complete Researcher cannot control condition of the
questionnaire at their response.
convenience and privacy.
Respondents can check personal
information if memory fails.
It avoids interview bias.
 Telephone Interviews
This involves trained interviewers calling persons to collect data.
Advantages Disadvantages
Possible coverage of wide Only people with telephones can be
geographic area. interviewed.
High costs involved for long distance
It is quicker and less expensive calls; may need several call backs.
than the face-to-face method. Respondents can terminate interview
Random digital dialing can be by hanging up the phone.
used to make sampling easy. Anonymity is limited.

High response rate possible.

Interviewer can control
questioning sequence.
 Computer Assisted Telephone
Interview (CATI)
This is similar to the telephone interview except that the responses are
immediately keyed into a computer to save time spent processing data.

Advantages Disadvantages
 If the respondent changes an
 The whole process is speeded earlier answer during the
up because data is entered as interview it is difficult to make
it is obtained. alterations than with paper
 Data is entered directly and questionnaire.
the subsequent transaction of  Getting a questionnaire up and
running fault free on CATI
data processing are
system takes time
eliminated.
 The Internet (On-Line Surveys)
This involves posting the questionnaire to a website and
respondents complete in online.
Advantages Disadvantages
 Working online is relatively  Those with no internet access cant
inexpensive participate.
 Responses can be collected  Difficult to guarantee a representative
form a vast geographical area sample online.
 Quick electronic capture of  Multiple responses from the same
data and easy compilation. person is hard to detect.
 Anonymity is possible through  Difficult to use open-ended questions.
secure browsers and
encryption.
Questionnaires
Definition:
List of a research or survey questions askedto respondents,
and designed to extract specific information.
Purpose:
⦿ (1) collect the appropriate data.
⦿ (2) make data comparable and amenable to analysis.
⦿ (3) minimize bias in formulating and asking question.
⦿ (4) to make questions engaging and varied.

Steps in preparing questionnaires

⦿ Define the topics with details of information needed to answer
research question
⦿ Prepare a list of variables
⦿ Think ahead about analyzing the information and statistics to be used.
⦿ Prepare first draft
⦿ Revise. Change technical terms. Use short sentences.
⦿ Pre-test to find out how respondents understand the questions
⦿ Further sorting out of words and phrases.
⦿ If possible, do a large pre-test.
⦿ Administer the questionnaire

Measuring Attitude:
There are two possible formats:
⦿ The Likert Type ( 7- points format): Strongly agree; agree;
undecided; disagree; strongly disagree.
⦿ Forced Choice (4 - points format): Strongly agree; agree;
disagree; strongly disagree.
Pitfalls to avoid:
⦿ Long complex questions
⦿ Double-barreled questions
⦿ Leading questions
⦿ Double negatives
⦿ Jargon or abbreviations
⦿ Words with double meanings
 ⦿ Emotionally slanted questions
Questionnaire Layout

►The Cover Page

Placing a cover page on your survey questionnaire increases
the level of motivation and willingness to participate. The
survey cover can instantly connect the respondents to the
survey and make them feel that they are important to make
the survey a success.
The cover should contain the following:
1. The title of the survey or study
2. A one or two-sentence description of the survey, stating its purpose
3. Initial instructions
The cover, as well as the back cover, should look simple to
give an impression that the survey is conducted in a
professional manner. However, studies show that using
colored covers increase response rates by 2% to 4%, so feel
free to add some spark on your cover.

►The Instructions Page

In this page, explain further the purpose of the survey.

Provide brief and specific instructions on how the respondent
should answer the questions. Also, instruct the respondent
about the deadline for completing the survey.
In addition, inform the respondent about confidentiality
matters, and offer contact numbers that the respondent may
call if there are any problems or comments regarding the
survey questionnaire.

The Questionnaire Proper

In forming the survey layout, the order of questions should

be taken into consideration.

1. The questions should be arranged from general to

specific.
2. The very first question should be a general one but is
pertaining to goals or purpose of the survey, so that the
respondent won’t get intimidated but rather, become
slowly engaged to the questionnaire.
 3. Being “general” means that the first question should be
applicable to all respondents and is easy to answer in
just a few seconds.
4. The questions should be grouped according to their
content. This helps the respondent to organize his
thoughts and reactions, leading to a more accurate
response to the questions.

With regards to the appearance, the questions should be

consistent in font style, font size, and even the indentation.
The Navigational Path
In a survey, the navigational path simply means the path that
should be followed by the respondents when answering the
questionnaire. There are four types of navigational paths:
verbal, numerical, and symbolic or graphical. Here are
examples for each type:
1. Verbal (e.g. Skip to No. 12 ; Proceed to the Next Page)
2. Numerical (e.g. Page 1, 2, 3…)
3. Symbolic (e.g. →, and other arrows )
Remember that the navigational path you utilize should be
consistent in all the pages of the questionnaire.

Survey Length
According to Dillman (2000), the length of the survey varies
depending on three factors relating to the respondent:

-his sense of commitment,

-interest and
-sense of responsibility in completing the survey. As a rule of
thumb, keep the questions as short as possible to keep these
three levels at their peaks.