THE DATA AND DATA
COLLECTION
What is data?
Data is all the information that you will
gather throughout your research.
There are two classifications of
data based on their use and
source.
⬢PRIMARY DATA refers to first-hand
information based on actual experiences
or observations. This kind of data is more
reliable to use because it is gathered by
the actual researchers.
Examples of primary data includes:
data taken personally through 3
⬢SECONDARY DATA are data that are
gathered from secondary sources,
meaning it is not you that have
obtained the information but rather, it
comes from previous research, audio
recordings or books. One advantage of
secondary data is that it is readily
available to use, comparing it to
primary data where you have to gather 4
DATA COLLECTION
INSTRUMENTS
These are the tools that you need to
use so that you can gather your
primary data when you conduct your
research. You can even choose one or
more instruments to use.
TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION
INSTRUMENTS OR DATA
GATHERING TOOLS
1. Interview
⬢In qualitative research, doing
interviews is the most common type
of instrument that is being used.
Interviews are done by having a set
of questions to your respondents and
6
Three types of interview:
⬢a. Structured Interview - this type
of interview has a set of
predetermined questions that are
ready to use. If you are using a
structured interview as your
instrument to gather data, take note
that you should not ask beyond what
7
⬢b. Unstructured Interview - this type
of interview is the opposite of structured
interview. You are not required to make a
set of pre-made questions, but rather
make an OUTLINE or what kind of
questions you want to ask your
respondents. Dawson (2002) calls this
type of interview as life history interview.
That is because you want to understand 8
⬢c. Semi-structured Interview - this
type of interview is a mix of structured
and unstructured interview. It may be
one of the most common types of
interviews. You have to prepare a set of
questions; however, you are also free to
ask to follow up questions to your
respondents if you want to clarify
something or add information that is not 9
2. Observations
⬢Another data gathering instrument
that is being used most in
ethnography is observations. This
happens when a researcher
observes and takes notes of the
behavior of people that they want to
be a part of their research. 10
Three types of observations:
a. Naturalistic Observation -
this happens when a researcher
observes the behavior of a group of
people in their natural setting. For
example, you want to observe the
behavior of students inside a
classroom without putting any
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b. Participative Observation - this
observation happens when a researcher
takes part on the activities of the group of
people that they are observing. Say for
example you want to study the daily
routine of a Lumad community. To have a
better understanding of what their
everyday activities are, you as a
researcher decided to join a community so12
c. Non-naturalistic Observation - this
type of observation happens when you take
your respondents out of their natural
environment and put them in an environment
of your choice. You observe how people behave
when they are not in their usual settings. One
situation for this is taking a group of high
school students and letting them attend one or
two college classes where you must observe
their learning behaviors. Non-naturalistic 13
3. Questionnaires
Questionnaires are also one of the
most common types of instruments
that is being used by qualitative
researchers. This is somewhat
similar to interviews based on the
format of questions that is being
14
Three types of questionnaires:
a. Closed-ended questionnaires - this
type of questionnaire is similar to a
structured interview. This is mostly used
when you want to conduct surveys on your
respondents. This is mostly for statistical
purposes and the questions are already
prepared for your respondents to answer.
These types of questionnaires usually have15
b. Open-ended questionnaires
- unlike close-ended
questionnaires, this type of
questionnaire leaves a blank space
for the respondents to give their
point of view about a specific
question. 16
c. Combination of both - this
type of questionnaire combines
both the close-ended and open-
ended questionnaires. For example,
you may want to ask a yes or no
question to your respondents and
also want them to explain why they
17
4. Focus Group Discussion
This type of data gathering instrument
focuses on groups of people being
interviewed at the same time. This relies on
the respondents to give a discussion amongst
themselves on the questions that you, the
researcher, give. You will serve as the
moderator or facilitator. Put three or more
people around a table and give them guide
questions for them to discuss among18
Take note: Before proceeding with your
observation and interview, you need to
make a communication letter to the
community, school where you plan to
gather the data or to the participants
whom the data will come from.