Step 2: Describe your data collection methods
Once you have introduced your reader to your methodological approach, you should
share full details about your data collection methods.
Quantitative methods
In order to be considered generalizable, you should describe quantitative
research methods in enough detail for another researcher to replicate your study.
Here, explain how you operationalized your concepts and measured your variables.
Discuss your sampling method or inclusion and exclusion criteria, as well as any tools,
procedures, and materials you used to gather your data.
Surveys
Describe where, when, and how the survey was conducted.
How did you design the questionnaire?
What form did your questions take (e.g., multiple choice, Likert scale)?
Were your surveys conducted in-person or virtually?
What sampling method did you use to select participants?
What was your sample size and response rate?
TipYou may also want to include the full questionnaire as an appendix. This way, your readers can see
exactly how your questions and data align.
Experiments
Share full details of the tools, techniques, and procedures you used to conduct your
experiment.
How did you design the experiment?
How did you recruit participants?
How did you manipulate and measure the variables?
What tools did you use?
Existing data
Explain how you gathered and selected the material (such as datasets or archival data)
that you used in your analysis.
Where did you source the material?
How was the data originally produced?
What criteria did you use to select material (e.g., date range)?
Example: Quantitative methods
The survey consisted of 5 multiple-choice questions and 10 questions measured on a 7-point
Likert scale.
The goal was to collect survey responses from 350 customers visiting the fitness apparel
company’s brick-and-mortar location in Boston on July 4–8, 2022, between 11:00 and 15:00.
Here, a customer was defined as a person who had purchased a product from the company on the
day they took the survey. Participants were given 5 minutes to fill in the survey anonymously. In
total, 408 customers responded, but not all surveys were fully completed. Due to this, 371 survey
results were included in the analysis.
NoteKeep in mind that quantitative methods are at risk for a few types of research bias arising from data
collection and statistical analysis in research settings. These include:
Information bias
Omitted variable bias
Regression to the mean
Survivorship bias
Undercoverage bias
Sampling bias
Qualitative methods
In qualitative research, methods are often more flexible and subjective. For this reason,
it’s crucial to robustly explain the methodology choices you made.
Be sure to discuss the criteria you used to select your data, the context in which your
research was conducted, and the role you played in collecting your data (e.g., were you
an active participant, or a passive observer?)
Interviews or focus groups
Describe where, when, and how the interviews were conducted.
How did you find and select participants?
How many participants took part?
What form did the interviews take (structured, semi-structured, or unstructured)?
How long were the interviews?
How were they recorded?
Participant observation
Describe where, when, and how you conducted the observation or ethnography.
What group or community did you observe? How long did you spend there?
How did you gain access to this group? What role did you play in the community?
How long did you spend conducting the research? Where was it located?
How did you record your data (e.g., audiovisual recordings, note-taking)?
Existing data
Explain how you selected case study materials for your analysis.
What type of materials did you analyze?
How did you select them?
Example: Qualitative methods
In order to gain better insight into possibilities for future improvement of the fitness store’s
product range, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 returning customers.
Here, a returning customer was defined as someone who usually bought products at least twice a
week from the store.
Surveys were used to select participants. Interviews were conducted in a small office next to the
cash register and lasted approximately 20 minutes each. Answers were recorded by note-taking,
and seven interviews were also filmed with consent. One interviewee preferred not to be filmed.
