DATA COLECTION

PRIMARY SOURCES OF DATA

Apart from the individuals who provide information when interviewed, administered
questionnaires, or observed discussed at length under Data Collection Methods in this chapter—
another rich source of primary data is focus groups.
Data-collection method
Interviewing
Questionnaire
Observation
Unobtrusive methods
Focus Group
Focus groups consist typically of 8 to 10 members with a moderator leading the discussions for
about 2 hours on a particular topic, concept, or product. Members are generally chosen on the
basis of their expertise in the topic on which information is sought. For example, computer
specialists may be selected to form a focus group to discuss matters related to computers and
computing, and women with children may compose the focus group to identify how
organizations can help working mothers. The focus sessions are aimed at obtaining respondents’
impressions, interpretations, and opinions, as the members talk about the event, concept, product,
or service. The moderator plays a vital role in steering the discussions in a manner that would
draw out the information sought, and keeping the members on track. Focus group discussions on
a specific topic at a particular location and at a specified time provide the opportunity for a
flexible, free-flowing format for the members. The unstructured and spontaneous responses are
expected to reflect the genuine opinions, ideas, and feelings of the members about the topic
under discussion. Focus groups are relatively inexpensive and can provide fairly dependable data
within a short time frame.
Role of the Moderator
The selection of and role played by the moderator are critical. The moderator introduces the
topic, observes, and takes notes and/or tapes the discussions. The moderator never becomes an
integral part of the discussions, but merely steers the group persuasively to obtain all the relevant
information, and helps the group members to get through any impasse that might occur.
The Nature of Data Obtained Through Focus Groups
It should be noted that though data obtained through these homogeneous group
members are the least expensive of the various data collection methods, and also
lend themselves for quick analysis, the content analysis of the data so obtained
provides only qualitative.
In sum, focus groups are used for (1) exploratory studies, (2) making generalizations based on
the information generated by them, and (3) conducting sample surveys. Focus groups have been
credited with enlightening investigators as to why certain products are not doing well, why
certain advertising strategies are effective, why specific management techniques do not work,
and the like.
Videoconferencing
If regional variations in responses are expected, several focus groups could be formed including
trained moderators at different locations. This process is easily facilitated through
videoconferencing. By zooming in on a particular member the nonverbal cues and gestures of
that individual can be captured, as and when desired. This also obviates the need for an observer
looking through a one-way mirror. With the great strides in technological advancement, and with
the facility for communication with the moderator by relaying instant messages,
videoconferencing as a means of gathering information from different groups in distant locations
is indeed a promising prospect for the future. It should be noted that online focus groups are also
common. E-mail, web sites, and Internet chat rooms facilitate focus group sessions as well.
Panels
Panels, like focus groups, are another source of primary information for research purposes.
Whereas focus groups meet for a one-time group session, panels (of members) meet more than
once. In cases where the effects of certain interventions or changes are to be studied over a
period of time, panel studies are very useful. Individuals are randomly chosen to serve as panel
members for a research study. For instance, if the effects of a proposed advertisement for a
certain brand of coffee are to be assessed quickly, the panel members can be exposed to the
advertisement and their intentions of purchasing that brand assessed. This can be taken as the
response that could be expected of consumers if, in fact, they had been exposed to the
advertisement. A few months later, the product manager might think of introducing a change in
the flavor of the same product and explore its effects on this panel. Thus, a continuing set of
“experts” serves as the sample base or the sounding board for assessing the effects of change.
Such expert members compose the panel, and research that uses them is called a panel study.
Static and Dynamic Panels
Panels can be either static (i.e., the same members serve on the panel over extended periods of
time) or dynamic (i.e., the panel members change from time to time as various phases of the
study are in progress). The main advantage of the static panel is that it offers a good and
sensitive measurement of the changes that take place between two points in time—a much better
alternative than using two different groups at two different times. The disadvantage, however, is
that the panel members could become so sensitized to the changes as a result of the
endless continuous interviews that their opinions might no longer be representative of what the
others in the population might hold. Members could also drop out of the panel from time to time
for various reasons, thus raising issues of bias due to mortality. The advantages and
disadvantages of the dynamic panel are the reverse of the ones discussed for the static panel.
Unobtrusive Measures
Trace measures, or unobtrusive measures as they are also called, originate from a
primary source that does not involve people. One example is the wear and tear of
journals in a university library, which offers a good indication of their popularity,
frequency of use, or both. The number of different brands of soft drink cans found
in trash bags also provides a measure of their consumption levels.
INTERVIEWING
One method of collecting data is to interview respondents to obtain information on the issues of
interest. Interviews could be unstructured or structured, and conducted either face to face or by
telephone or online.
Unstructured Interviews
Unstructured interviews are so labeled because the interviewer does not enter the interview
setting with a planned sequence of questions to be asked of the respondent. The objective of the
unstructured interview is to bring some preliminary issues to the surface so that the researcher
can determine what variables need further in-depth investigation.
Structured Interviews
Structured interviews are those conducted when it is known at the outset what information is
needed. The interviewer has a list of predetermined questions to be asked of the respondents
either personally, through the telephone, or through the medium of a PC. The questions are likely
to focus on factors that had surfaced during the unstructured interviews and are considered
relevant to the problem. As the respondents express their views, the researcher would note them
down. The same questions will be asked of everybody in the same manner.
Visual aids such as pictures, line drawings, cards, and other materials are also sometimes used in
conducting interviews. The appropriate visuals are shown to the interviewees, who then indicate
their responses to the questions posed. Marketing research, for example, benefits from such
techniques in order to capture the likes and dislikes of customers to different types of packaging,
forms of advertising, and so on. Visual aids, including painting and drawing, are particularly
useful when children are the focus of marketing research. Visual aids also come in handy while
endeavoring to elicit certain thoughts and ideas that are difficult to express or awkward to
articulate.
Training Interviewers
When several long interviews are to be conducted, it is often not feasible for one individual to
conduct all the interviews. A team of trained interviewers then becomes necessary. Interviewers
have to be thoroughly briefed about the research and trained in how to start an interview, how to
proceed with the questions, how to motivate respondents to answer, what to look for in the
answers, and how to close an interview. They also need to be instructed about taking notes and
coding the interview responses. The tips for interviewing, discussed later, should become a part
of their repertoire for interviewing. Good planning, proper training, offering clear guidelines to
interviewers, and supervising their work all help in profitably utilizing the interviewing
technique as a viable data collection mechanism. Personal interviews provide rich data
when respondents spontaneously offer information, in the sense that their answers do not
typically fall within a constricted range of responses, as in a questionnaire. However, personal
interviews are expensive in terms of time, training costs, and resource consumption.
SECONDARY SOURCES
Secondary data are indispensable for most organizational research. Secondary data refer to
information gathered by someone other than the researcher conducting the current study. Such
data can be internal or external to the organization and accessed through the Internet or perusal
of recorded or published information. Secondary data can be used, among other things, for
forecasting sales by constructing models based on past sales figures, and through extrapolation.
There are several sources of secondary data, including books and periodicals, government
publications of economic indicators, census data, Statistical, Abstracts, data bases the media,
annual reports of companies, etc. Case studies, and other archival records—sources of secondary
data—provide a lot of information for research and problem solving. Such data are, as we have
seen, mostly qualitative in nature. Also included in secondary sources are schedules maintained
for or by key personnel in organizations, the desk calendar of executives, and speeches delivered
by them. Much of such internal data, though, could be proprietary and not accessible to all.