Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Collection of Data
Objectives
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
appreciate the need and significance of data collection
edit the primary data and know the sources of secondary data and its use at
Structure
5.1
Introduction
5.2
5.3
5.4
Designing a Questionnaire
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.9
5.10 Summary
5.11 Key Words
5.12 Self-assessment Exercises
5.13 Further Readings
5.1
INTRODUCTION
To make a decision in any business situation you need data. Facts expressed in
quantitative form can be termed as data. Success of any statistical investigation
depends on the availability of accurate and reliable data. These depend on the
appropriateness of the method chosen for data collection. Therefore, data collection is
a very basic activity in decision-making. In this unit, we shall be studying the
different methods that are used for collecting data. Data may be classified either as
primary or secondary.
5.2
5.3
Primary data may either be collected through the observation method or through the
questionnaire method.
In the observation method, the investigator asks no questions, but he simply observes
the phenomenon under consideration, and records the necessary data. Sometimes
individuals make the observation; on other occasions, mechanical and electronic
devices do the job.
In the observation method, it may be difficult to produce accurate data, Physical
difficulties on the part of the observer may result in errors. Because of these
limitations in the observation method, the questionnaire method is more widely used
for collecting data. In the questionnaire method, the investigator draws up
questionnaire containing all the relevant questions which he wants to ask from his
respondents, and accordingly records the responses. Questionnaire method may be
conducted' through personal interview, or by mail or telephone.
Personal Interviews: In this method the interviewer sits face-to-face with the
respondent and records his responses. In this method, the information is likely to be
more accurate and reliable because the interviewer can clear up doubts and crosschecks the respondents. This method is time-consuming and can be very costly if the
number of respondents is large and widely distributed.
Mail Questionnaire: In this method a list of questions (questionnaire) is prepared
and mailed to the respondents. The respondents are expected to fill in the
questionnaire and send it back to the investigator. Sometimes, mail questionnaire are
placed in respondents' hands through other means such as attaching them to
consumers' products or putting them in newspapers or magazines. This method can
be easily adopted where the field of investigation is very vast and the respondents are
spread over a wide geographical area. But this method can be adopted only where
the. respondents are literates and can understand written questions and answer them.
Telephone: In this method the investigator asks the relevant questions from the
respondents over the telephone. This method is less expensive but it has limited
application since only those respondents can be interviewed who have telephones;
moreover, very few questions can be asked on telephone.
The questionnaire method is a very efficient and fast method of collecting data. But it
has a very serious limitation as it may be extremely difficult to collect data on certain
sensitive aspects such as income, age or personal life details, which the respondent
may not be willing to share with the investigator. This is so with other methods also
different people may interpret the questions differently and consequently there may
be errors and inaccuracies in data collection.
Activity A
Explain clearly the observation and questionnaire methods of collecting primary data.
Highlight their merits and limitations.
Activity B
Describe the personal interviews and mail questionnaire method of data collection.
.
Activity C
Point out the advantages of telephonic method of data collection. Does it have any
limitations?
Once the investigator has decided to use the questionnaire method, the next step is to
draw up a design of the survey.
Collection of Data
a) Designing a questionnaire
b) Pre-testing a questionnaire
c) Editing the primary data.
5.4
DESIGNING A QUESTIONNAIRE
One specimen format for a questionnaire used by IGNOU to elicit background of the
participants and their expectations from the Diploma in Management course is shown
below:
INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT
OBJECTIVE-EXPECTATION ASSESSMENT FORMAT
Collection of Data
Activity D
You have been directed, by your employer to carry out a market survey to ascertain
the probable demand for the new drug your company is going to introduce. Prepare a
suitable questionnaire in this connection. State also the type of respondents you
expect to cover.
5.5
Once the questionnaire has been designed, it is important to pre-test it. The pretesting of a questionnaire is also known as pilot survey because it precedes the main
survey work. Pre-testing allows rectification of problems, inconsistencies, repetitions
etc. If changes are required, the necessary modifications can be made before
administering the questionnaire, some questions are found irrelevant, they can be
deleted and if some questions have to be included, the same can be done. Pre-testing
must be done with utmost care, otherwise unnecessary and unwanted changes may be
introduced. If time and resources permit, a second pre-testing can also be done to
ensure greater reliability of results. Proper testing, revising and re-testing would yield
high dividends.
5.6
Once the questionnaires have been filled and the data collected, it is necessary to edit
this data. Editing of data should be, done to ensure completeness, consistency,
accuracy and homogeneity.
Completeness. Each questionnaire should be complete in all respects, i.e., the
respondent should have answered each and every question. If some important
questions have been left unanswered, attempts should be made to contact the
respondent and get the response. If despite all efforts, answers to vital questions are
not given, such questionnaires should be dropped from final analysis.
Consistency. Questionnaire should also be checked to see that there are no
contradictory answers. Contradictory responses may arise due to wrong answers
filled up by the respondents or because of carelessness on the part of the investigator
in recording the data. For example, the answers in a questionnaire to two successive
questions "Are you married?" and "Number of children you have?" may be given by
a respondent as `No' and `Two' respectively. Obviously, there is some inconsistency
in the answers to these two questions which should be sorted out with the respondent.
Accuracy. The questionnaire should also be checked for the accuracy of information
provided by the respondent. It may be pointed out that this is the most difficult job of
the investigator and at the same time the most important one. If inaccuracies are
permitted, this would lead to misleading results. Inaccuracies may be checked by
random cross-checking.
Homogeneity. It is equally important to check whether the questions have been
understood in the same sense by all the respondents. For instance, if there is a
question on income, it should be very clearly stated whether it refers to weekly,
monthly, or yearly income. If it is left ambiguous then respondents may give different
responses and there will be no basis for comparison because we may take some
figures which are valid for monthly income and some for annual income.
5.7
The sources of secondary data may be divided into two broad categories, published
and unpublished.
Published Sources. There are a number of national and international organisations
which collect statistical data and publish their findings in statistical reports
periodically. Some of the national organisations which collect, compile and publish
statistical data are: Central Statistical Organisation (CSO); National Sample Survey
Organisation (NSSO); Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of
India; Labour Bureau; Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry;
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR); The Economic Times; The
Financial Express etc. Some of the international agencies which provide valuable
statistical data on a variety of socio-economic and political events are: United
Nations Organisation (UNO); World Health Organisation (WHO); International
Labour Organisation (ILO); International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Bank etc.
Unpublished Sources. All statistical data need not be published. A major source of
statistical data produced by government, semi-government, private and public
organisations is based on the data drawn from internal records. This data based on
internal records provides authentic statistical data and is much cheaper as compared
to primary data. Some examples of the internal records include employees' payroll,
the amount of raw materials, cash receipts and cash book etc. It may be pointed out
that it is very difficult to have access to unpublished information.
5.8
10
A careful scrutiny must be made before using published data. The user should be
extra-cautious in using secondary data and he should not accept it at its face value.
The reason may be that such data is full of errors because of bias, inadequate sample
size, errors of definitions and computational errors etc. Therefore, before using such
data, the following aspects should be considered.
Collection of Data
Suitability. The investigator must ensure that the data available is suitable for the
purpose of the inquiry on hand. The suitability of data may be judged by comparing
the nature and scope of investigation.
Reliability. It is of utmost importance to determine how reliable is the data from
secondary source and how confidently we can use it. In assessing the reliability, it is
important to know whether the collecting agency is unbiased, whether it has a
representative sample, the data whether has been properly analysed, as so on.
Adequacy. Data from secondary sources may be available but its scope may be
limited and therefore this may not serve the purpose of investigation. The data may
cover only a part of the requirement of the investigator or may pertain to a different
time period.
Only if the investigator is fully satisfied on all the above mentioned points, he should
proceed with this data as the starting point for further analysis.
5.9
When secondary data is not available for the problem under study, a decision may be
taken to collect primary data through original investigation. This original
investigation may be obtained either by census (or complete enumeration) method or
sampling method. When the investigator collects data about each and every item in
the population, it is known as the census method or complete enumeration survey.
But when the investigator studies only a representative part of the total population
and makes inferences about the population on the basis of that study, it is known as
the sampling method. In both the situations, the investigator is interested in studying
some characteristics of the population.
The advantage of the census method is that information about every item in the
population can be obtained. Also the information collected is more accurate. The
main limitations of the census method are that it requires a great deal of money and
time. Moreover in certain practical situations of quality control, such as finding the
tensile strength of a steel specimen by stretching it till it breaks is not even physically
possible to check each and every item because quality testing result in the destruction
of the item itself. In most cases, it is not necessary to study every unit of the
population to draw some inference about it. If a sample is representative of the
population then our study of the sample will yield correct inference about the total
population.
It should be noted that out of the census and sampling methods, the sampling method
is much more widely used in practice. There are several methods of sampling which
would be discussed in detail in unit 13 on `sampling methods'.
5.10 SUMMARY
Statistical data is a set of facts expressed in quantitative form. The use of facts
expressed as measurable quantities can help a decision maker to arrive at better
decisions. Data can be obtained through primary source or secondary source. When
the data is collected by the investigator himself, it is called primary data. When the
data has been collected by others it is known as secondary data. The most important
method for primary data collection is through questionnaire. A questionnaire refers to
a device used to secure answers to questions from the respondents. Another important
distinction in considering data is whether the values represent the complete
enumeration of some whole, known as population or universe, or only a part of the
population, which is called a sample.
11
Distinguish between primary and secondary data. Discuss the various methods of
collecting primary data. Indicate the situation in which each of these methods
should be used.
Discuss the validity of the statement: "A secondary source is not as reliable as a
primary source."
Discuss the various sources of secondary data. Point out the precautions to be
taken while using such data.
Describe briefly the questionnaire method of collecting primary data. State the
essentials of a good questionnaire.
As the personnel manager in a particular industry, you are asked to determine the
effect of increased wages on output. Draft a suitable questionnaire for this
purpose.
Distinguish between the census and sampling methods of data collection and
compare their merits and demerits. Why is the sampling method unavoidable in
certain situations?
12