Data refers to known facts, especially in numerical form, that are collected for analysis. There are two main types of data: quantitative data, which is measurable and expressed numerically, and qualitative data, which is descriptive rather than numerical. Data collection helps businesses learn about customers, discover trends, segment audiences, facilitate decision making, and improve products and services. Common quantitative data collection methods include closed-ended surveys and observation, while qualitative methods include open-ended surveys, interviews, focus groups, and direct observation. These methods can be used to gather both quantitative and qualitative data.

1. Submitted By,
Shibin S S
S2 MBA
GIMS , Kadakkal

2. What is data?
 The word data means "known facts". Data especially
refers to numbers, but can mean words, sounds, and
images. ... It is used to find data. Originally, data is
the plural of the Latin word datum, from dare,
meaning "give".
Data is distinct pieces of information, usually
formatted in a special way. ... Since the mid-1900s,
people have used the word data to mean computer
information that is transmitted or stored. Strictly
speaking, data is the plural of datum, a single piece of
information.

3. Why collect data?
• Data collection is defined as the “process of gathering
and measuring information on variables of interest, in
an established systematic fashion that enables one to
answer queries, stated research questions, test
hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes.”
• There are numerous reasons for data collection, but
here I’m going to focus primarily on business and
marketing related ones:

4. It helps you learn more about your customers
It enables you to discover trends in the way people
change their opinions and behavior over time or in
different circumstances
It lets you segment your audience into different
customer groups and direct different marketing
strategies at each of the groups based on their
individual needs
It facilitates decision making and improves the quality
of decisions made
It helps resolve issues and improve the quality of your
product or service based on the feedback obtained

5. Before we dive deeper into different data collection
techniques and methods, let’s just briefly make a
difference between the two main types of data –
quantitative and qualitative.
• Quantitative Data
• This type of data deals with things that are measurable
and can be expressed in numbers or figures, or using
other values that express quantity. That being said,
quantitative data is usually expressed in numerical
form and can represent size, length, duration, amount,
price, and so on.

6. • Quantitative research is most likely to provide answers
to questions such as who? when? where? what? and
how many?
• Quantitative survey questions are in most cases
closed-ended and created in accordance with the
research goals, thus making the answers easily
transformable into numbers, charts, graphs, and
tables.

7. Qualitative Data
• Unlike quantitative data, which deals with numbers
and figures, qualitative data is descriptive in nature
rather than numerical. Qualitative data is usually not
easily measurable as quantitative and can be gained
through observation or open-ended survey or
interview questions.
• Qualitative research is most likely to provide answers
to questions such as “why?” and “how?”

8. • As mentioned, qualitative data collection methods are
most likely to consist of open-ended questions and
descriptive answers and little or no numerical value.
Qualitative data is an excellent way to gain insight into
your audience’s thoughts and behavior (maybe the
ones you identified using quantitative research, but
wasn’t able to analyze in greater detail).
• Data obtained using qualitative data collection
methods can be used to find new ideas, opportunities,
and problems, test their value and accuracy, formulate
predictions, explore a certain field in more detail, and
explain the numbers obtained using quantitative data
collection techniques.

9. • As quantitative data collection methods usually do not
involve numbers and mathematical calculations but
are rather concerned with words, sounds, thoughts,
feelings, and other non-quantifiable data, qualitative
data is often seen as more subjective, but at the same
time, it allows a greater depth of understanding.
• Some of the most common qualitative data collection
techniques include open-ended surveys and
questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observation,
case studies, and so on.

11. Data Collection Methods
 Today businesses and organizations are connected to
their clients, customers, users, employees, vendors,
and sometimes even their competitors. Data can tell
a story about any of these relationships, and with this
information, organizations can improve almost any
aspect of their operations.

12. Quantitative data collection
methods
1. Closed-ended Surveys and Online Quizzes
Closed-ended surveys and online quizzes are based
on questions that give respondents predefined
answer options to opt for. There are two main types
of closed-ended surveys – those based on categorical
and those based on interval/ratio questions.
Categorical survey questions can be further classified
into dichotomous (‘yes/no’), multiple-choice
questions, or checkbox questions and can be
answered with a simple “yes” or “no” or a specific
piece of predefined information.

13. • Interval/ratio questions, on the other hand, can
consist of rating-scale, Likert-scale, or matrix
questions and involve a set of predefined values to
choose from on a fixed scale.
• Once again, these types of data collection methods are
a great choice when looking to get a simple and easily
analyzable counts, such as “85% of respondents said
surveys are an effective means of data collection” or
“56% of men and 61% of women have taken a survey
this year” (disclaimer: made-up stats).

14. • Here’s an example of a closed-ended survey question:

15. Qualitative data collection
methods
2. Open-Ended Surveys and Questionnaires
• Opposite to closed-ended are open-ended surveys and
questionnaires. The main difference between the two
is the fact that closed-ended surveys offer predefined
answer options the respondent must choose from,
whereas open-ended surveys allow the respondents
much more freedom and flexibility when providing
their answers.

16. • Here’s an example that best illustrates the difference:

17. • Compared to closed-ended surveys, one of the
quantitative data collection methods, the findings of
open-ended surveys are more difficult to compile and
analyze due to the fact that there are no uniform
answer options to choose from.
3. 1-on-1 Interviews
• One-on-one (or face-to-face) interviews are one of the
most common types of data collection methods in
qualitative research. Here, the interviewer collects data
directly from the interviewee. Due to it being a very
personal approach, this data collection technique is
perfect when you need to gather highly-personalized
data.

18. • Depending on your specific needs, the interview can
be informal, unstructured, conversational, and even
spontaneous (as if you were talking to your friend) – in
which case it’s more difficult and time-consuming to
process the obtained data – or it can be semi-
structured and standardized to a certain extent (if you,
for example, ask the same series of open-ended
questions).

20. 4. Focus groups
• The focus groups data collection method is essentially
an interview method, but instead of being done 1-on-1,
here we have a group discussion.
• Whenever the resources for 1-on-1 interviews are
limited (whether in terms of people, money, or time)
or you need to recreate a particular social situation in
order to gather data on people’s attitudes and
behaviors, focus groups can come in very handy.
• Ideally, a focus group should have 3-10 people, plus a
moderator. Of course, depending on the research goal
and what the data obtained is to be used for, there
should be some common denominators for all the
members of the focus group.

21. For example, if you’re doing a study on the
rehabilitation of teenage female drug users, all the
members of your focus group have to be girls
recovering from drug addiction. Other parameters,
such as age, education, employment, marital status do
not have to be similar.
5. Direct observation
• Direct observation is one of the most passive
qualitative data collection methods. Here, the data
collector takes a participatory stance, observing the
setting in which the subjects of their observation are
while taking down notes, video/audio recordings,
photos, and so on.

22. • Due to its participatory nature, direct observation can
lead to bias in research, as the participation may
influence the attitudes and opinions of the researcher,
making it challenging for them to remain objective.
Plus, the fact that the researcher is a participant too
can affect the naturalness of the actions and behaviors
of subjects who know they’re being observed.

23. Conclusion
• Here, I’ve presented you with 5 different data
collection methods that can help you gather all the
quantitative and qualitative data you need. Even
though I’ve classified the techniques according to the
type of data you’re most likely to obtain, many of the
methods used above can be used to obtain both
qualitative and quantitative data.
• Surveys, as you may have noticed, are particularly
effective in collecting both types of data, depending on
whether you structure your survey questions as open-
ended or closed-ended.