Data Collection

1. STATISTICS –
DATA COLLECTION

2. The data required for a research can be primary or secondary in nature.
Primary data, by definition is the data that has been collected first hand by the researcher
specially for addressing the population at hand.
A survey research can be objectivist or subjectivist in nature.
An objectivist approach is a more rigid and scientific approach.
In this the hypothesis is tested using publicly standard procedure.
There is little or no latitude available to deviate from the stated procedures or questions.
A subjectivist approach, requires a hypothesis test, but is not that rigid in following the
procedures.

3. The researcher is allowed to use unstructured methods, at his discretion, to record data.
The research data can be classified as follows:

4. INTERVIEW
A form of communication approach to collecting data from respondent's interview is to oral
or verbal questioning. Bingham and Moore have described interview as 'conversation with a
purpose.' Lindsey Gardner, has defined interview as a 'two-person conversation, initiated by
the interviewer for the specific purpose of obtaining research-relevant information and
focused by him on the content specified by the research objectives of description and
explanation.

5. CONTIN.
It is thus clear that interview is a verbal conversation between two people with the
objective of collecting research relevant information from the respondent. Interview
can be classified into various types’ personal interview, telephone interview, focus
group interview, depth interview and projective techniques also called as indirect
interviewing.

6. TYPE OF INTERVIEW
The interview techniques can be grouped in the following categories:
PERSONAL INTERVIEW
TELEPHONE INTERVIEW
FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW
DEPTH INTERVIEW
INDIRECT INTERVIEW

7. PERSONAL INTERVIEW
A Personal interview is a face to face way communication between the interviewer and the
respondent. Generally the personal interview is carried out in a planned manner and is
referred to as 'structured interview'.

8. The personal interviews can be conducted in many forms.
Example: Door to door interviewing where the respondents are interviewed in their home, or
as planned formal executive meeting, most commonly used to interview officials and
business persons, or as a mall intercept survey where respondents are interviewed at select
places where the chances of finding respondents is maximum.

9. METHOD OF CONDUCTING AN INTERVIEW
A personal interview involves a lot of preparation. Generally an interview should go through
the following stages.

10. Rapport Building - The first reaction of a respondent on being asked to give interview is to
say 'No'. Hence in the initial stage the interviewer should increase the receptiveness of the
respondent by making him believe that his opinions are very useful to the research, and the
interview is going to be a pleasure rather than an ordeal. It is important that the interviewer
should convey his confidence to the respondent and satisfy his mental reservations if any.
Wherever possible an appointment should be sought.

11. Introduction - An introduction involves the interviewer identifying himself by giving him his
name, purpose and sponsorship if any. An introductory letter goes a long way in conveying
the study's legitimacy. If the respondent is unavailable, then the interviewer should ensure
that he seeks a reappoint.

12. Probing - In this stage the interviewer collects data by asking questions from an interview
schedule which contains questions in prearranged sequence. Generally the questions
should be asked the way they are worded in order to avoid bias, but if they are not
understood or heard properly they may be repeated. An advantage of interview is that it
allows for probing. Probing is the technique of encouraging the respondents to answer
freely, completely and relevantly.

13. Some of the frequently used probing styles are use of comments like "I understand", "Uh-
huh", repeating the respondents reply to incite him to rethink his reply, give an expectant out
pause to convey interest etc. However probing should be used carefully and should not bias
the respondent's reply.

14. Recording - The last stage in an interview, is recording responses. The interviewer 'can
either write the response at the time of interview or after the interview. Normally, the
recording should take place side by side. The interviewer can use short hand and
abbreviate responses. Recording response later on has the disadvantage that one way
forgets what had been said earlier. In certain cases, where the respondent allows for it,
audio or visual aids can be used to record answers.

15. Closing - After the interview is over, the interviewer should thank the respondent
and once again assure him about the worth of his answers and the confidentiality of
the same.

16. TELEPHONE INTERVIEW
In telephone interviewing the information is collected from the respondent by asking
the questions on phone. The marriage of telephone and computer has made this
method even more popular. Traditional telephone interviews call for phoning a
sample of respondents, asking them questions written on a paper and recording
them with a pencil.

17. In case of Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) uses a computerized
questionnaire is used which prompts the interviewer with introductory statements, and
qualifying questions to be asked to the respondents.

18. The computer replaces the paper and pen. The computer randomly dials a number
from the sample; upon contact the interviewer reads the questions and diretly into
the computer's memory bank. Another variant is 'Computer Administered
Telephone Surveys (CATS) where the interviewer is replaced by computer.

19. The questions are voice synthesized and the respondent's answer and computer timing
decide whether to continue or disconnect. The chief disadvantage of this method is that the
rejection of this mode of data collection affects the refusal rate (and thus non-response
bias) because people hang up more easily on a computer than on a human. Telephone
interview has the following advantages over personal interview:
❑Low cost
❑Faster collection of data
❑Reduces biases (caused by personal presence of interviewer)

20. FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW
A kind of unstructured interview. It involves a moderator leading discussion between small
groups of respondents on a specified topic. A focus group interview involves 8 to 12
respondents having homogeneous characteristics, seated in a comfortable relaxed informal
atmosphere. The interview generally continues for 1 to 3 hour during which the respondents
develop a rapport and share their views. The proceedings are recorded on an audio or
visual device.

21. The moderator keeps the discussion going and probes the respondents whenever
necessary to elicit insightful responses. These responses are better analyzed to
derive conclusive results. Focus group interview results in advantages summed up
as following 10 "S"

22. • Synergism - When group of people produce better insight into a problem than individual.
• Snowballing - One person's response initiates a chain of responses.
• Stimulation - As the interview progress respondents are more and more encouraged to
give responses.
• Security - Since an individual generally finds somebody in the group who might endorse
his opinion, he feels secure in answering.
• Spontaneity - Since there are no pre designed questions being asked, responses are
spontaneous.

23. • Serendipity - Often new ideas are generated.
• Specialization - Since response is being sought from large number of respondents, the
interviewer or moderator is a highly trained person.
• Scientific Scrutiny - Since the proceedings are being recorded, they can be analyzed in
a great detail scientifically.
• Structure - It allows for topic to be discussed flexibly and in great depth.
• Speed - Since a large number of respondents are being interviewed simultaneously, data
is collected quickly.

24. However, like the two sides of a coin, focus group interview suffers from certain
disadvantages like; the results can be wrongly interpreted since the response is not to any
specific question. Focus group interviews make coding and analysis of data also very
difficult. Most importantly, it is difficult to find a moderator who can conduct these interviews
successfully.

25. DEPTH INTERVIEWS
Like the focus group interview in an unstructured type of interview used to collect
qualitative data. However it is involves a one to one interaction between the
interviewer and respondent. The depth interview can be 'non directive in nature
where the respondent is given freedom to answer within the boundaries of topic of
interest.'

26. The other form of depth interview is 'semi structured' in nature where the interviewer
covers a specific list of topics although the linking, the sequence and the wording of
each question is left to the interviewer's discretion.

27. In depth interviews, the interviewer asks the initial question and thereafter it is the
response of the respondents from which further questions may be generated. The
interviewer using probing techniques looks for more elaboration.

28. The interviewer only follows a rough outline of questions. The depth interviews have
the advantage of uncovering much uncovering much deeper feelings and insights
than focus group interviews, since they are dealing with just one respondent.
However it suffers from the drawback of being expensive, time consuming and
demands skilled interviewer.

29. PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
The techniques involve highly unstructured and indirect form of questioning. The central
feature of all projective techniques that is the presentation of an ambiguous, unstructured
object, activity or person that to respondent is asked to interpret and explain. These
techniques are best suited in situation where the respondent is not sure of his feelings and
hence cannot express his answers directly. The projective techniques can be classified as
construction techniques, association techniques and completion techniques.

30. In projective techniques, the respondents are asked to interpret the behavior of others and
this way they indirectly reveal their own behavior in the same situation. Some of these
techniques are discussed below.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) - The respondent is shown a set of pictures and then
asked what he perceives of these pictures.
Item Substitution Test. This test involves creating two groups of respondents, the test
group and the control group. The stimulus, presented as a list of items, is given to both the
groups which is similar in all respect except for the substitution of items relevant to the
study

31. Word Association Test - Respondents are presented with a list of words one at a time and
they are asked to respond immediately with the first things that come to their mind.
This method allows respondents to reveal their inner feelings on the topic.

32. Rorschach Test - It consists of ten cards that have print of ink blots that are
although symmetrical but defy all meaning. The respondents are asked to interpret
these cards/inkblots and their responses are interpreted on the basis of some
predetermined framework.

34. • Cloud Picture Test - This shows two or more characters conversing with each
other and cloud of one character is left empty as a response to be filled by the
respondent according to his interpretation of what the other characters are saying.
It could even be a single character with an empty cloud overhead indicating his
would be response to a particular situation.

35. Sentence Completition Test - It is similar to a word association test where instead
of a word, a sentence is left incomplete and the respondent is asked to fill it with the
first thought that comes to his mind e. g.
People who enter politics are...................................................................
A person who gives money to a charity
is.....................................................................

36. Story Completion Study - A step further to sentence completion is the story
completion study: Under this a story is created by the researcher which defines the
topic of research and the respondents are asked to complete the story.