Data

Collection
Methods
 Dr. Muhammad Shakir

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health

UVAS Lahore
Email: drshakir844@[Link]
 What is DATA?????
• Data are the set of values of qualitative or quantitative
variables about one or more persons or objects.

• Data are simply units of information.

• Data are measured, collected, reported, analyzed, and

used to create data visualizations such as graphs, tables
or Images.
 Data

Quantitative Data Qualitative Data

Continuous Discrete Nominal Ordinal

 What is Data Collection?
• It is the process by which the researcher collects the
information needed to answer the research problem.

• The task of data collection begins after a research problem

has been defined.
In collecting the data,the researcher must
decide:

Which data is to collect?

How to collect the Data?
Who will collect the Data?
When to collect the Data?
 Methods of Data Collection
Primary Data
Primary data are those which are collected for the first time
and are original in character.

Secondary Data
Secondary data are those which have already been collected-
by someone else.
Methods of Collecting Primary Data

Primary • Observation
Data may • Surveys
be collected • Interviews
through: • Focus Group
Discussion
 1. Observation Method

Observation method is a method under which data from the

field is collected with the help of observation by the observer
or by personally going to the field.
Steps For An Effective Observation

Determine what needs to be

observed

Select participants
Random/Selected

Conduct the observation

(venue, duration, recording materials, take
photographs )

Compile data collected

Analyze and interpret data

 Advantages of observation Method

Produces Large quantities of data.

All data obtained from observations are usable.

The observation technique can be stopped or begun at
any time.
Relative Inexpensive
Disadvantages of observation Method

Interviewing selected subjects may provide

more information, economically, than waiting
for the spontaneous occurrence of the
situation.
Extensive Training is needed.
Limited information
ONE OF THE WIDELY USED RESEARCH
DESIGN TO COLLECT DATA IS

SURVEYS
How to collect Primary information through
survey
• A researcher can collect information
either
by observation

or

by asking.

• WHEN HE/SHE ASKS FOR INFORMATION, WE

SAY THAT HE/SHE IS CONDUCTING A SURVEY
 SURVEY?

• A ‘survey’ is a technique of gathering information by

questioning those individuals who are the object of the
research belong to a representative sample, through
standardized or questioning procedure, with the aim of
studying the relationship among the variables and/or
collecting information that probably describe the whole
population.
There may be different ways to
conduct surveys…
Survey
Methods

Telephonic Personal Electronic

Survey

In-Home Computer-Assisted E-mail Internet

Personal Interviewing
 [Link] Method

• The Interview Method of collecting

data involves presentation of oral-
verbal stimuli and reply in terms of
oral- verbal responses.
• where the questions are asked
personally directly to the respondent.
• Interviewer asks questions to
respondent. (which are aimed to get
information required for study)
Steps For An Effective Interview

Prepare interview schedule

Select subjects/ key Respondent

Conduct the interview

Analyze and interpret data collected from

the interview
Types of Interview Methods

1- Structured Interviews :
In this case, a set of predecided questions are there.

2- Unstructured Interviews :
In this case, we don’t follow a system of pre-
determined questions.
Advantages of Interview Method

More information at greater depth

can be obtained

Resistance may be overcome by a

skilled interviewer

Personal information can be

obtained
Disadvantages of Interview Method

It is an expensive Method

Interviewer bias

Respondent bias

Time consuming
 3- Focused Group Interview

• Unstructured and Free flowing

• Focus Group has one Moderator
• Moderator maintains control and focuses discussion
• It involves 6 to 10 people
• Group interview start with broad topic and focus in on
specific issues
• Relatively homogeneous
• Similar lifestyles and experiences
• Generate discussion and interaction
• Listens to what people have to say
• Everyone gets a chance to speak
[Link]
A set of written questions

Questionnair
e

Open Close
Ended Ended
Steps For An Effective Questionnaire
Prepare questions
(Formulate & choose types of questions, order them, write instructions,
make copies)

Select your respondents

Random/Selected

Administer the questionnaire

(date, venue, time )

Tabulate data

collected Analyze and

Essentials of Good Questionnaire
• Should be short and simple
• Follow a sequence of questions from easy
to difficult one
• Technical terms should be avoided
• Should provide adequate space for
answers in questionnaire
• Directions regarding filling of questionnaire
should be given Physical Appearance –
Quality of paper, Color
• Sequence must be clear
 Advantages of questionnaire Method

Low cost –even when the universe is large and is

widespread

Free from interviewer bias

Respondents have adequate time to think

through the answers.
Respondents who are not easily approachable,
can also be reached conveniently.
Large samples can be used
Disadvantages of questionnaire Method

Time consuming
The respondents need to be educated and
cooperative

This method is slow

Possibility of unclear replies.

QUALITIES OF CLOSE ENDED QUESTIONNAIRES

• Exclusiveness (no repetition )

• There should be no repetition among the options to
answers
• Exhaustiveness (all options should be included)
• All the possible options should be included
How would you like to receive the coupons from
our restaurant in the future? (Select all that
apply)
Newspaper
Magazine
Mailings
Email
Other (Please Specify )
HOW TO DEVELOP A QUESTIONNAIRE?

• What are the aim and objectives

• Write out concepts/information to be collected that
relates to these aims.
• Review the current literature to identify already
validated questionnaires that measure your specific
area of interest.
• Compose a draft of your questionnaire.
• Revise the draft.
• Assemble the final questionnaire.
DEFINE THE AIMS OF THE STUDY

• Write out the problem

• I want to study the meat related food safety
issues
• Write out the primary and secondary aims
using one sentence per aim.
• To assess the knowledge of meat related
hygienic issues in students
• How to change their attitudes and practices
TITTLE OF QUESTIONNAIRE

• Bird eye view (attractive)

• Should be specific
• Accurate
• Short
• Without spelling mistakes
• Public’s Knowledge and Practices regarding COVID-19:
A cross-sectional survey from Pakistan
REVIEW THE LITERATURE
• Review current literature to identify related surveys and
data collection
• instruments that have measured concepts similar to
those related to your study’s aims.
COMPOSE A DRAFT [1]:

• Determine the mode of Questionnaire administration

• Face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews
• Self-completed questionnaires, computer-assisted
approaches.
• Write more questions than will be included in the
final draft.
• Make sure questions flow naturally from one to another.
COMPOSE A DRAFT [2]:

• Question: How many cups of coffee or tea do you drink

in a day?
• Principle: Ask for an answer in only one dimension.
• Solution: Separate the question into two –
• (1) How many cups of coffee do you drink during a
typical day?
• (2) How many cups of tea do you drink during a typical
day?
 COMPOSE A DRAFT [3]:
• Question: What brand of computer do you own?
• (A) IBM PC
• (B) Apple
• Principle: Avoid hidden assumptions. Make sure to accommodate all possible answers.
• Solution:
• (1) Make each response a separate dichotomous item
• Do you own an IBM PC? (Circle: Yes or No)
• Do you own an Apple computer? (Circle: Yes or No)
• (2) Add necessary response categories and allow for multiple responses.
• What brand of computer do you own? (Circle all that apply)
• Do not own computer
• IBM PC
• Apple
• Other
COMPOSE A DRAFT [4]:

• Question: Have you had pain in the last week?

• [ ] Never [ ] Seldom [ ] Often [ ] Very often
• Principle: Make sure question and answer options
match.
• Solution: Reword either question or answer to match.
• How often have you had pain in the last week?
• [ ] Never [ ] Seldom [ ] Often [ ] Very Often
COMPOSE A DRAFT [5]:
• Question: Where did you grow up?
• Village
• Farm
• City
• Principle: Avoid questions having non-mutually
exclusive answers.
• Solution: Design the question with mutually exclusive
options.
• Where did you grow up?
• House in the village
• Farm in the village
COMPOSE A DRAFT [6]:

• Question: Are you against drug abuse? (Circle: Yes or

No)
• Principle: Write questions that will produce variability in
the responses.
• Solution: Eliminate the question.
COMPOSE A DRAFT [7]:
• Question: Which one of the following do you think
increases a person’s chance of
• having a heart attack the most? (Check one.)
• [ ] Smoking [ ] Being overweight [ ] Stress
• Principle: Encourage the respondent to consider each
possible response to avoid the uncertainty of whether a
missing item may represent either an answer that does
not apply or an overlooked item.
• Solution: Which of the following increases the chance of
having a heart attack?
COMPOSE A DRAFT [8]:

• Question:
• (1) Do you currently have a life insurance policy? (Circle:
Yes or No)
• If no, go to question 3.
• (2) How much is your annual life insurance premium?
• Principle: Avoid branching as much as possible to avoid
confusing respondents.
• Solution: If possible, write as one question.
• How much did you spend last year for life insurance?
(Write 0 if none).
REVISE

• Shorten the set of questions for the study. If a question

does not address one of your aims, discard it.
• Refine the questions included and their wording by
testing them with a variety of respondents.
• Ensure the flow is natural
ASSEMBLE THE FINAL QUESTIONNAIRE [1]:

• Decide whether you will format the questionnaire

yourself or use computer-based programs for
assistance:
• [Link]
• Adobe Live Cycle Designer 7.0
• Google forms
ASSEMBLE THE FINAL QUESTIONNAIRE [2]:

• Open-ended questions: the space for the response

should be big enough to allow respondents with large
handwriting to write comfortably in the space.
• Closed-ended questions: line up answers vertically and
precede them with boxes or brackets to check, or by
numbers to circle, rather than open blanks.
• Use larger font size (e.g., 14) and high contrast (black
on white).
ENHANCE RESPONSE RATE

• When writing questions and assembling the final

questionnaire, edit with a view towards saliency:
apparent relevance, importance, and interest of the
survey to the respondent
• Consider either pre-notifying those in your sample or
sending reminders to those who received the survey (if
self-administered). Studies have shown that making
contact with the sampled individuals increases the
response rate.
• If possible, offer an incentive
CONCLUSIONS

• You need plenty of time!

• Design your questionnaire from research hypotheses
that have been carefully studied and thought out.
• Discuss the research problem with colleagues and
subject matter experts is critical to
• developing good questions.
• Review, revise and test the questions on an iterative
basis.
• Examine the questionnaire as a whole for flow and
presentation
Good Questionnaire

Always start from personal information

Name

Age

Gender

Marital status

Residence

Education
Contd….

• A good questionnaire should include maximum close

ended with few open ended questions
• Dichotomous
• MCQs
• Subjective question
THINGS TO AVOID

Double barreled
• Emotional questions questions
Do you smoke and
• Religious questions
drink
• Ambiguous words Yes
• Sometimes no
• Often Double negative
• Occasionally questions
• Perhaps Don’t you think you
• May be should not smoke
Yes
No
TESTING OF QUESTIONNAIRE

• Informal testing
• Testing of questionnaire among colleagues ,friends
• Formal testing
• Pilot survey: testing of questionnaire on a small sample of whole population
Secondary Data Collection Methods

• Secondary data is data that has been collected

for another purpose.
• It involves less cost, time and effort.
• Secondary data is data that is being reused.
Usually in a different context.
• For example: data from a book.
SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION

INTERNAL SOURCES
• Sales Records
• Marketing Activity
• Cost Information
• Distributor reports and feedback
• Customer feedback
EXTERNAL SOURCES

• Journals
• Books
• Magazines
• Newspaper
• Libraries
• The Internet
 Other Secondary Data Sources

• Publications of Central, state , local

government
• Technical and trade journals
• Books, Magazines, Newspaper
• Reports & publications of industry ,bank, stock
exchange
• Reports by research scholars, Universities,
economist
• Public Records
Selection of proper Method for collection of Data

• Nature ,Scope and object of inquiry

• Availability of Funds

• Time Factor

• Accuracy Required
THANK YOU ALL