COLLECTING

PRIMARY
DATA
Week 4 (2 Sessions) Practical Research 2 (STEM and HA)
Senior High School
University of Santo Tomas

JEMB, KJEC, MVRT and DTT (2017)

 Review – What is primary data?
• Data that has been observed, experienced or recorded close to the
event are the nearest one can get to the truth
• first and most immediate recording of a
situation
• can provide information about virtually any facet of our life and
surroundings
 However…
• collecting primary data is time consuming and not always possible
• it is costly to organize large surveys and other
studies
• it is not always possible to get direct access to
the subject of research
 Four basic types of primary data
1. Measurement
– collections of numbers indicating amounts
– voting polls, exam results, car mileages, oven
temperatures
2. Observation
– records of events, situations or things experienced
with your own senses and perhaps with the help of
an instrument
 Four basic types of primary data
3. Interrogation
– data gained by asking and probing
– information about people’s convictions, likes and
dislikes, etc
4. Participation
– data gained by experiences of doing things
 Basic methods of collecting primary data
• asking questions
• conducting interviews
• observing without getting involved
• immersing oneself in a situation
• doing experiments
• manipulating models
 Sampling
• process of selecting just a small group of cases
from out of a large group
• Examining a representative of the population and hope that
the data you get are representative (or typical) of all the
rest
• Sampling frame
– Selected category within a population which is of interest to
your study
 Sampling
• the preference for a large sample must be balanced against
the practicalities of the research resources
• If the population is very homogeneous, and the study is not
very detailed, then a small sample will give a fairly
representative view of
the whole
– usually minimum sample sizes are specified so that any
significant results can be obtained
• size of the sample also should be in
direct relationship to the number of variables to be studied
Data collection methods
 Observation
• Used in order to record observations of a
phenomenon
• basic data collecting activity for many branches of
research, particularly the natural and technical
sciences
– results of experiments
– behaviour of models
– appearance of materials, plants and animals
 Observation
• can be used to record both quantitative and
qualitative data
• Involves all the senses
• Tools can used to extend the range of perception
by human senses
 Types of observation
• Unstructured
– No pre-set criteria are used
– Usually done at the beginning of a
study
• Semi-structured
– Pre-prepared list of events which
will be the focus of observation
– Observations are noted as they
happen
• Structured
– Structured list of events
– Observations are scheduled
Process of observation
Identify the data required for the research

Decide on which observation will be carried out

Carry out the observation

Record the observation

“Natural” vs “Laboratory” observations
• In situ vs ex situ
• In vivo vs in vitro
• “Actual” vs “simulation”
 Participant observation
• The researcher is a
participant in the event being
observed
• observations must be carried
out in the natural setting
• researcher tries to ‘fit in’ as
much as possible so as to see
and understand the situation
from the viewpoints of the
group being studied
 Covert observation
• Observation carried out
secretly
• subjects of the study will
not be aware that they
are being observed
• Ethical issues need to be
addressed
 Interviews
• more suitable for
questions that require
probing to obtain
adequate information
• very flexible tool with
a wide range of
applications
 Interviews
• particularly useful when qualitative data are
required
• can be used for subjects, both general or
specific in nature and even, with the correct
preparation, for very sensitive topics
 Types of interview methods
• Structured interview
– standardized questions read out by the interviewer according to an interview
schedule.
– Answers may be closed format.
• Unstructured interview
– flexible format
– usually based on a question guide but where the format remains the choice of
the interviewer,
• Semi-structured interview
– contains structured and unstructured sections with standardized and open
type questions
 Interview methods
• Face-to-face interview
– can be carried out in a variety of situations: in the
home, at work, outdoors, on the move (e.g. while
travelling)
– Visual observations or manner of answering
questions can be noted and maybe useful for
researchers
 Interview methods
• Focus group
– a type of group interview
– tends to concentrate in depth on a particular theme or topic
with an element of interaction.
– The group is often made up of:
• people who have particular experience or knowledge about the
subject of the research
• those that have a particular interest in it
 Questionnaires
• Surveys
• Particularly suitable tool for gaining quantitative data but can also
be
used for qualitative data
• enables you to organize the questions
and receive replies without actually having to talk to every
respondent
 Questionnaires
• commonly used in disciplines that are concerned with
people
• opinions, feelings and reactions of a large number of
people are easily acquired with a survey
• Census
– When the government wants to get answers from
everyone in the population
 Questionnaires
PROs CONs
• very flexible tool, that has the
advantages of having a structured • require a lot of time and
format skill to design and develop
• easy and convenient for respondents
• cheap and quick to administer to a • need to be short and simple
large number of cases covering large
geographical areas to follow
• no personal influence of the researcher
• embarrassing questions can be asked
with a fair chance of getting a true reply
 Types of questions
Closed format
• The respondent must choose
from a set of given answers.
• quick to answer, easy to code
and require no special writing
skills from the respondent
• Limit the range of possible
answers
Open format
• respondent is free to answer in
their own content and style
• permit freedom of expression and allow
the respondents to qualify their
responses
• lack of bias but the answers are more
open to researcher interpretation
• more demanding and time consuming
for the respondent and more difficult to
code
 Key issues questionnaire design
1. Content
2. Construction
3. Presentation
4. Length
 Scaling
• branch of measurement that involves the construction
of an instrument that associates qualitative constructs
with quantitative metric units
• evolved out of efforts in psychology and education to
measure "unmeasurable" constructs
– Attitude, authoritarianism, self esteem, etc.
• remains one of the most arcane and misunderstood
aspects of social research measurement
• attempts to measure abstract concepts
– one of the most difficult of research tasks
 Reliability and validity
Reliability Validity
• consistency or stability of • suitability or
measurement meaningfulness of the
• analogous to variance (low measurement
reliability = high variance) • analogous to unbiasedness
(valid = unbiased)
 Scale characteristics
• Consistent
– Similarity of items
– Tested using
• Intercoder reliability
• Split half method
• Stable / reliable
– correlation computed between two events
– Tested using Test-retest method
 Likert scales

pg
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/79/29/c7/7929c7203409dbce5bed2ead90563fd0.j
• Named after Rensis Likert
• One-dimensional scale
• Agree-disagree response scale
– Odd-numbered scales
• 1-5,1-7
• Has a neutral/undecided value
– Even-numbered scales
• Forced-choice type
• respondent is forced to decide https://rmsbunkerblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/likert-scale-2.jpg

whether they lean more towards the

agree or disagree end of the scale for
each item

https://www.rasch.org/rmt/gifs/rmt264q.gif
 Bogardus social distance scale
• pioneered by Emory S. Bogardus in the 1930s
• A scaling technique for measuring social
distance
• usually applied to the study of ethnic
relations, social classes, and social values
generally
 Bogardus social distance scale
• attempts to measure respondents’ degree of
warmth, intimacy, indifference, or hostility to
particular social relationships, by having them
indicate agreement or disagreement with a
series of statements
 Semantic differential scale
• scale used for measuring the meaning of
things and concepts
• measures connotative meaning
– suggestive significance of a word, apart from its
explicit and recognized meaning
• set up using polar adjectives (opposite-
meaning terms) at each end
 Experiments
• aims to isolate a particular event so that it can be
investigated without disturbance from its
surroundings.
• primarily aimed at gaining data about causes and
effects
 Experiments
• commonly associated with work in laboratories
where it is easiest to impose control, they can be
carried out in almost any other location
 Experiments
Laboratory
• have the advantage of
providing a good degree of
control over the
environment
• studies the effects
on the material or subjects
involved
Field
• subjects are more likely to
react and behave normally
rather than being affected by
artificial conditions
• more willing to take part in the
research because they don’t
need to attend at a particular
place and time
 References
• Walliman N. (2011). Research Methods: The Basics. Taylor & Francis e-Library
• Micahel, R. Measurement: Reliability and validity. URL
http://www.indiana.edu/~educy520/sec6342/week_05/reliability_validity_2up.pdf
• Intercoder reliability. SAGE research methods. URL
http://methods.sagepub.com/reference/encyclopedia-of-survey-research-methods/n228.xml
• Semantic differential. University of California Davis. URL
http://psc.dss.ucdavis.edu/sommerb/sommerdemo/scaling/semdiff.htm
• Bogardus social distance scale. Oxford index. URL
http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095515287
• Likert scaling. Knowledge base. URL https://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scallik.php
• Scaling. Knowledge base. URL https://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scaling.php