•Chapter 5

• Methods of
Data Collection & Analysis
 Points of Focus
• Introduction
• Types of Data
• Collection of Primary Data
– Questionnaire
– Interview
– Observation
– Focused Group Discussion
• Collection of Secondary Data
• Selection of Appropriate Method for Data Collection
• Data Analysis Techniques
– Qualitative Data Analysis
– Quantitative Data Analysis
• Summary
 Introduction
• One of the aspects of data analysis is
consideration of the data that is going to be
analyzed.
• How accurate is it?
• How complete is it?
• How representative is it?
• These are some of the questions that should
be asked about any set of data, preferably
before starting to try and understand the data
 Introduction
There are two major sources of data to
carryout a research
The source of data can be categorized into two
major parts
Data can be primary or secondary
Each category data collection and analysis is
different
We will look to both categories
 Types of Data
The primary data:
The primary data are data collected for the
first time and hence they are original

Major sources of primary data are diaries of

eyewitness, tape-records, films, letters and
autobiographies, Survey and etc

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 Types of Data…Cont’d
The secondary data:
 The secondary data are those which have
already been gathered by someone else and
which have already been passed through the
statistical process
 These include historical studies based on the
actual data, statistical research based on
census data, newspaper reports of an event,
company records, government publications
 Types of Data…Cont’d
• Data collection method would depend on type
of data to be collected for the research under
study
• Secondary data can be gathered from the
sources
• Primary data collection requires proper
designing of data collection instruments
 Types of Data…Cont’d

• Primary data collection instruments

are:
–Survey Questionnaire
–Interview
–Observation
–Focused group discussion
 Questionnaire
• The questionnaire is usually mailed, administered personally
or electronically
• Preparation of questionnaire can be tedious, involving several
drafts and more than one pretests
Questions can be asked to gather information on:
• Facts: help to get objective information from respondents.
Examples are gender, age, marital status, education, income,
etc.
• Behaviour: behaviour questions help to get information about
what people do. Examples: “Have you ever attended any
public lecture”

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 Questionnaire…Cont’d
• Opinions: asking people what they think about specific issue
or event
• Attitudes: help to get information on the underlying belief of
the respondent or the way people look at things.
• Motives: asking people why people behave in a particular
manner or hold certain opinions or attitudes.
• Knowledge: It helps to obtain information about the extent of
knowledge an individual has and to what extent the
information is accurate.

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 Questionnaire…Cont’d
Types of Questionnaires: open-ended or closed-ended
 Closed ended questions allow only answers which fit into
categories that have been established in advance by the
researcher.
◦ Open-ended - unrestricted type of questionnaire, free response
in the respondent's own words; leave the respondent to decide
the wording and the length of the answer and the kind of matters
to be raised in the answer.
Advantages of closed- ended questions:
 The answers are standards, and can be compared from person to
person.
 The answers are much easier to code and analyze
 They are easier for a respondent to answer as he or she merely
choose a category,
 Questionnaire: Closed-ended questions
Disadvantages of closed-ended questions:
• guesses or randomly answers if a respondent does not
know the answer or has no opinion
• There is no opportunity for the respondent to clarify or
qualify his or her answer
• Differences in interpretation of what was meant by the
question may go undetected
• Variations in answers among the different respondents may
be eliminated artificially by forced- choice responses
• A likelihood of a clerical error as the respondent circles

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 Questionnaire: Open-ended questions
The advantages of open-ended questions:
• They can be used when not all of the possible answer categories
are known and to see what the respondent views as appropriate
answer categories
• To allow the respondent to answer adequately, in all detail he or
she likes, and to clarify and qualify his or her answer
• They can be used when there are too many potential answer
categories to list on the questionnaire – you can not list too many
questions in a given questionnaire
• They allow the respondent to have more opportunity for creativity
or self-expression

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 Questionnaire: open-ended questions
Disadvantages of open-ended questions
• The possibility of collecting worthless and irrelevant information
• Data are often not standardized from person to person, making comparison or
statistical analysis difficult
• Coding is often very difficult and subjective
 require a lot of time for analysis
• may require more of the respondent's time and effort, and may engender a
high refusal rate /reduce respondents’ willingness to take part in the research.
• possibly discouraging some respondents who do not wish to answer a lengthy
questionnaire.
 Questionnaire: a list of some dos and don’ts

 make each question brief and the wording clear and concise with
minimal use of jargon
 keep the length of the questionnaire to a minimum: a maximum of
around 20 questions is probably a good guide for most surveys.
 Make all definitions, assumptions, and qualifiers clearly understood
 Avoid making significant memory demands
 make the questions simple to answer
 Keep it interesting – don’t make it monotonous, do have a logical
sequence to the question
 Avoid biased, loaded, leading, or sensitive questions.
◦ Example: ‘are you a heavy smoker?’ Instead use ranges:. Please indicate
your smoking habit: less than 10 cigarettes a day, between 10 and 20,
over 20
◦ Leading: what are your views on the level of VAT in Ethiopia? Is better
than ‘ do you agree that the level of VAT in Ethiopia is too high?

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 Questionnaire: a list of some dos and don’ts

 start with simple questions such as gender, leaving more

complicated questions to be answered late in the
questionnaire.
 avoid asking personal questions
 avoid asking the same questions in a different fashion
◦ Abortion should be legalized - agree / disagree) at one point and
Abortion should not be legalized (agree/disagree)
 Don’t ask two questions in one/ double barrelled
questions- with two purposes or interpretations/
◦ Example: Is your job interesting and well paid? Is unlikely to be
answered with a simple yes or no
 Don’t ask hypothetical question such as winning the
National Lottery).

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 Questionnaire: Important points to note

I. Introductory statement of a Questionnaire

 state the purpose of the study and its significance;
 explain who the data collector is, the basis of its authority/the sponsor-
under whose auspices is the research being undertaken?, and why it is
conducting the study;
 tell how and why the respondents were selected;
 explain why their answers are important;
 tell how to complete the format and list the person to call if help is
needed to complete the form;
 provide assurance of confidentiality and anonymity when appropriate;
 explain how the data will be used;
 explain who will have access to the information; and
 present the response efforts as a favor and thank the respondents for
their cooperation.

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 Questionnaire: Important…

II. Format of the questionnaire

 Cleanly format your questionnaire: margins, spacing,
font, etc.
 Proofread your questionnaire carefully for grammar
and spelling errors
 conduct a pilot survey on a small sample so that to test
the reliability and validity of your measure.
Schedule vs questionnaire method
 Schedule is a device consisting of a set of questions, which
are asked and filled in by the enumerators who are specially
trained for the purpose

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 1.1.2. Interview

 Could be conducted: face-to-face/in-person interview; or

telephone call, through internet/online
 Types of Interview: structured , unstructured and semi-
structured
a) Structured interview
 Set of predetermined questions and of highly standardized
recording technique (audio or digital recorders)
 The same types of questions are presented in the same order
to each interviewee
 The interviewer has no freedom to rephrase or change the
order of questions to be presented
 quite often used in the case of descriptive studies

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 Interview tech…
Unstructured interview
• The interviewer has a general plan of inquiry but not a specific
set of questions that must be asked in particular words and in a
particular order
• characterized by flexibility
• The interviewer is largely free to arrange, rephrase, modify,
and add some new questions
• Very important for exploratory research studies
Semi-structured interview
• Shares the nature of both structured and unstructured interview

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 Interview: Techniques of Interviewing
 Prepare for interview, self-presentation:
objective of the study, its background, how the
respondent was selected, the confidential nature
of the interview, the beneficial values of the
research findings
 Conduct the interview – use your communication
skills here (attentive, non-judgmental), ask the
questions properly, probe meaningfully
 Recording of the interview; record the responses
accurately, record response as they occur; use
some shorthand system (abbreviating words, key
words)
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 Interview…
Advantages:
 More and in-depth information can be
obtained
There is greater flexibility
Personal information can be obtained easily
high response rate
The language of the interview can be adapted
to the ability the person interviewed

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 Interview…
Disadvantages
 Expensive including Cost of selecting, training
and supervising the field-staff
 Bias of interviewer and the respondent -
presence of the interviewer on the spot may
over-stimulate the respondent - may give
imaginary information
 Important officials or executives may not be
easily approachable
 More-time-consuming, when calling the
respondents
 Observation Methods
observing what is occurring in some real - life
situation , without asking questions of
respondents
It is valuable instrument in a wide range of
research studies.
◦ Examples: Cultural study, traffic counts,
direction of traffic flows

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 Observation Methods….
Planning and execution of observation
 Selecting an appropriate group of subjects to
observe
 Identifying the specific activities or units of
behavior to be observed and focusing attention on
same at the time of implementation
 Proper arrangement of specific conditions for the
subject(s) to be observed
 Assuming the proper role or physical positions for
observing
 Handling well the recording instruments to be
used
 Classification of observation methods
Direct versus Indirect observation
Direct observation: the observer is physically present
and personally monitors what takes place
 Very flexible - the observer can react to events
 The observer is free to shift places, change the focus of
observation, or concentrate on unexpected events
 weakness - the observers' perception may become
overloaded as events move quickly; they must later try
to reconstruct what they are not be able to record
 Observer fatigue, boredom, and distracting events can
reduce the accuracy and completeness.

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 Observation
Indirect observation
 The recording is done by mechanical/adjusted
instruments
◦ Example: a special camera that takes one frame
every second is mounted in a department of a
large store to study customer and employee
movement
 Less flexible but much less biasing, less
unpredictable or erratic in accuracy
 The permanent record can be analyzed to include
any different aspects of an event
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 Observation…
Disguised Vs undisguised observation
 The role of the observers should be disguised in situations
where people behave differently if they know they were
being observed
 Often technical means are used such as one-way mirrors,
hidden cameras, or microphones
 Reduce the risk of observer bias but bring up a question of
ethics
◦ Hidden observation is a form of intelligence work
 A modified approach - the presence of the observer is not
concealed, but the observer´s real purpose and subject of
interest are hidden

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 Observation…
Participant Vs non-participant observation
 Participant observation: The observer
becomes one of the groups under observation
Non-participant observation: Observer takes
position where his presence is not disturbing
the group.

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 Observation…
Structured Vs. unstructured observation
 Structured observation is systematic and has a
high level of predetermined steps
 Objective: To quantify behavior (your focus is to
determine how often things happen rather than
why they happen. Ex: Time and motion study
 Unstructured observation: The observer has no
definite ideas of the particular aspects that need
focus.
 Observing events that are happening may also be
a part of the plan as in many qualitative studies.
 Focus group discussion
a special type of interview that offers
opportunity to interview a number of people
at the same time.
Made by a panel of 8 to 12 respondents led by
a trained moderator
The moderator uses group dynamics
principles to focus or guide the group in an
exchange of ideas, feelings, and experiences
on a clearly understood topic

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 Focus group discussion….. Cont’d
Good for exploratory research
Qualities of a moderator: (Kindness with
firmness, Tolerance, Involvement,
understanding, Encouragement, Flexibility,
Sensitivity / emotional response)
Benefits of FGD : (Synergism , Snowballing,
Stimulation, Security, Spontaneity—/natural
behavior/, Serendipity/discovery of something
fortunate, Specialization, Scientific Scrutiny,
Structure, Speed)
• Secondary Data Collection
 Secondary Data Collection
• Secondary data means data that are already
available i.e., they refer to the data which
have already been collected and analysed by
someone else.
• When the researcher utilises secondary data,
then you have to look into various sources
from where you can obtain them.
• Secondary data may either be published data
or unpublished data
 Secondary Data Collection….Cont’d
• The researcher must see that the secondary data
should possess following characteristics:
• 1. Reliability of data: The reliability can be tested
by finding out such things about the said data:
• (a) Who collected the data?
• (b) What were the sources of data?
• (c) Were they collected by using proper methods
(d) At what time were they collected?
• (e) Was there any bias of the compiler?
• (t) What level of accuracy was desired?
 Secondary Data Collection….Cont’d
• 2. Suitability of data: The data that are
suitable for one enquiry may not necessarily
be found suitable in another enquiry.
• Hence, if the available data are found to be
unsuitable, they should not be used by the
researcher.
 Secondary Data Collection….Cont’d
• 3. Adequacy of data: If the level of accuracy
achieved in data is found inadequate for the
purpose of the present enquiry, they will be
considered as inadequate and should not be
used by the researcher.
• The data will also be considered inadequate, if
they are related to an area which may be
either narrower or wider than the area of the
present enquiry.
 Selection of Method for Data Collection
• There are various methods of data collection.
As such the researcher must judiciously select
the method/methods for his own study,
keeping in view the following factors:
• 1. Nature, scope and object of enquiry: This
constitutes the most important factor
affecting the choice of a particular method.
• The method selected should be such that it
suits the type of enquiry that is to be
conducted by the researcher.
 Selection of Method …..Cont’d
• 2. Availability of funds: Availability of funds
for the research project determines to a large
extent the method to be used for the
collection of data.
• When funds at the disposal of the researcher
are very limited, he will have to select a
comparatively cheaper method which may not
be as efficient and effective as some other
costly method.
 Selection of Method …..Cont’d
• 3. Time factor: Availability of time has also to
be taken into account in deciding a particular
method of data collection.
• Some methods take relatively more time,
whereas with others the data can be collected
in a comparatively shorter duration.
• 4. Precision required: Precision required is yet
another important factor to be considered at
the time of selecting the method of collection
of data.
• Data Analysis Techniques
 Analysis: Qualitative
• Best for issues not well analyzed through
statistical techniques
• Analysis of data in a way is summarizing of data
obtained from respondents
• Qualitative data analysis starts by reading and
memoing of data and then giving code to the
collected data
• The code will help to create temporary categories
• Categories might help to the development of
themes
 Analysis: Qualitative, Cont’d
• To make sense of massive amounts of data,
reduce the volume of information, identify
significant patterns and construct a framework
for communicating the essence of what the data
reveal
• working with data, organizing it, breaking it into
manageable units, synthesizing it, searching for
patterns, discovering what is important and what
is to be learned, and deciding what you will tell
others
Common stages of qualitative analysis
• Familiarization with the data through review,
reading, listening etc.
• Transcription of tape recorded material.
• Organisation and indexing of data for easy
retrieval and identification.
• Anonymising of sensitive data.
• Coding (or indexing).
• Identification of themes.
• Re-coding.
Common stages of qualitative analysis
• Development of provisional categories.
• Exploration of relationships between
categories.
• Refinement of themes and categories.
• Development of theory and incorporation of
pre-existing knowledge.
• Testing of theory against the data.
• Report writing, including excerpts from
original data if appropriate (e.g., quotes from
interviews).
 Tools for qualitative data analysis
• Does not alter analysis process.
• Usually not a shortcut or timesaver.
• Programs fit different data & needs.
Computer Software
• Atlas-ti: large datasets, unstructured coding,
mimic paper code & sort.
• NUDIST: large datasets, structured coding, mimic
quant analysis.
• NVivo: less data, unstructured coding, find
patterns/relationships in codes.
• Folio Views: huge datasets, focused coding,
search & sort.
 Qualitative Analysis: Example
• Wondimeneh (2014). Assessment of
institutional framework for undertaking
research in Private Higher Education
Institutions (PHEIs)
• Research Question
• Does the research strategy stipulate ways of research
output disseminations?
 Quantitative Data Analysis
• Data must lend themselves for quantitative
analysis
• Designing instruments bearing in mind
quantitative analysis is helpful (avoids coding)
• Data entry must be handled cautiously
• Good knowledge of the software to be used is
helpful
 Quantitative Data Analysis, Cont’d
Quantitative data analysis is making sense of the
numbers to permit meaningful interpretation
It involves:
1. organizing the data
2. doing the calculations
3. interpreting the information
• lessons learned
4. explaining limitations
 Organizing the data
• Organize all forms/questionnaires in one place
• Check for completeness and accuracy
• Remove those that are incomplete or do not
make sense; keep a record of your decisions
• Assign a unique identifier to each
form/questionnaire
 Enter your data
• By hand
• By computer
–Excel (spreadsheet)
–Microsoft Access (database mgt)
–Quantitative analysis: SPSS (statistical
software)
 Mixed Data Analysis
• A combination of quantitative and qualitative
techniques.
– Under what circumstances might mixed methods
work?
– Under what circumstances might mixed methods
not work?
• Think epistemological perspectives.
 Summary
• The result or findings of any research depend
on the quality of data and appropriate analysis
technique
• The appropriate data can be determined by
the research questions on hand
• Designing data collection instrument needs
understanding the type of data
• Here, you can read the book with you on data
•“End of Chapter 5”