ARC481.

3
SETTLEMENT PLANNING
B.ARCH IV/I

Prepared by : Ar. Nirjana Shrestha

DATA COLLECTION
 Statistics
Origin and meaning
 The word “statistics” has been driven from the Latin word’ status’ or
Italian word ‘statistia’ meaning of a political state considered to be a
science used for fulfilling the needs of state administration eg. The
population, military strength, etc.
 But in modern times its scope touches every field like planning,
business, etc.
 In modern times statistics is defined as science that collects, analyze
and interprets conclusion from a set of data
 Statistics
Definition:
 A.l Bowley defined statistics as “ the science of counting” or “ science of
averages”
 Neter and Wasserman defined as “statistics refers to the body of
techniques and methodology which has been developed for the
collection, presentation and analysis of quantitative data and for the
use of such data in decision making.”
 Data
 Data is a Fact or information used for decision making
 Data refer to measurements or observations of a set of variables
 Data are often viewed as a lowest level of abstraction from which
information and knowledge are derived
 Data is classified into 2
 Primary data

 Secondary data
 Types of Data
1. Primary data
 Also known as original data/ first hand data

 Directly collected b the investigator himself on the field

 Original in character

 Collected by research bodies

 Shows subject matter in details and

 May not contain mistakes

Eg. Census survey by central bureau of statistics.

 Types of Data
2. Secondary data
 Data of second hand
 Not original one but obtained from primary data collected
 Published/unpublished sources
 Key informant >> provided other known information
 A. Data collection
Before decision making, statistics deals with following aspects of data
 Collection of data
 Presentation of data
 Analysis of data
 Interpretation of data
 Data collection
 First step of statistical investigation
 After collection the data, further process of presentation, analysis and
interpretation is done and only then decision is made.

 Points that should be considered while collecting data:

 The purpose of enquiry has to be very clearly defined
 The place of enquiry has to be defined
 Determination of sources of information
 The degree of accuracy desired must be determined
 Methods of Data Collection
1. 2
Documentat 3
ion Archival Interview
Records

4A 4B
5
Direct Participant
Observation Sampling
Observation

6
Questionnai
re survey
 Method of Data Collection
1. Interview
 Interview is the process of conversation
 Oral questioning to respondents, either individually or as a group
 Can be recorded or written down or by a combination of both
(recording must be done with consent)
 Its used only in such cases where field of investigation is narrow
 Guided conversation rather than structured query
 Long interviews or short or in focus groups
 Open ended/ structured questions
 Interviews
Merits:
 More accurate information can be obtained
 Easy method
 Due to personal presence of investigator there is flexibility of cross
enquiry
Demerits:
 Be careful: Verbal report>> shortcomings could be-
 Bias, poor recall, inaccurate articulation
 Reasonable approach= verify it with other sources
 Interviews
Demerits:
 This method may become costly & time consuming
 Not applicable where the field of information is vast & informants are
scattered.
 2. Observation
 Observation= systematically selecting, watching and recording
behavior and characteristics of living beings, objects or phenomena
Types
 Non-participant observation: the observer watches the situation,
openly or concealed but does not participate
 Participant observation: not passive- but taking variety of roles
 Social interaction taking functional activity within neighborhood
 Being a resident
 Staff member in an organizational setting
 Direct Observation
 Opportunity to visit site
 Assumption- some behaviors/ envt. Conditions are still available
 Eg meetings/ sidewalk activities/ factory work/ classroom/ spatial
data for planning
Use
 To provide additional info.
 To add new dimension for understanding
 To get photographs- for outsiders
 Direct Observation
Some considerations:
 In some case might need permission
 For reliability: have more observer than single
 Participant Observation
+ve: as unusual opportunity
 Access to evidence
 Perceive reality from someone’ viewpoint
 Accurate portrayal
 Access to other sources (record, interview, meetings)
 Can make manipulations- can create variety of situations to collect
data
 Participant Observation
-ve:
 Potential bias
 Became a supporter of group
 Require too much attention in roles- hence less time to take notes
and raise questions
 In case if disperse locality-difficult to match right time and right place
 3. Questionnaires
 A Questionnaire is a data collection tool in which written question are
presented that are to be answered by the respondents in written
form.
 A written questionnaire can be administered in different ways, such
as by:
 Sending questionnaire by mail with clear instructions on how-to answer
the questions and asking for mailed response
 Gathering all or part of the respondents in one place at one time
 Giving oral or written instructions and letting the respondents fill out
the questionnaire; or
 3. Questionnaires
 Hand –delivering questionnaires to respondents and collecting them later.
 The questions can be either open-ended or closed (with pre-
categorized answers)
Merits
 The information can be easily obtained where the scope of he
investigation is very vat
 The method is least expensive, as the informants are not
approached personally
 3. Questionnaires
 Since the information are supplied by the informants themselves, the
bias of the investigator is eliminated
Demerits:
 Where the informants are illiterate this method could not be used
 The greatest draw back is considered non response. Most of the
informants don’t fill up the questionnaire and destroy it
 It is difficult to verify the answer given again.
 4. Sampling
 A sample is the smaller representation of large whole
 Population is the entire observations
 In this method, information is obtained only from a part of the
population (sample) & based on its data; inferences are drawn for
entire population
 4. Sampling
Different types of sampling
1. Random sampling
2. Stratified sampling
3. Systematic sampling
4. Cluster sampling
 4. Sampling
Random sampling
• Picking up the informant randomly
 4. Sampling
Stratified sampling
• Picking up the informants in inclusive way
 4. Sampling
Systematic sampling
• Selection of informants on certain predetermined/
systematic criteria
 4. Sampling
Cluster sampling
• Surveyed on selected representative clusters
 4. Sampling
Merits: Demerits:
• Less costly • Non reliable representative
• Less time consuming can mislead the data

• More detailed information • Inexperienced investigator

can be collected can not male the best choice
of the informants
• It is adequate when the area
of survey is vast/large
 B. Presentation of Data
 After collection of data the next step to proceed is presentation of data
 Data presentation can be done in various ways
 E.g. tubular form, graphs pie charts, etc

Characteristic of diagrams, graphs & charts

 Presenting in simple & intelligible form
 Diagrams are more attractive>> long
lasting memorizing effect
 Diagrams, graphs facilitate comparisons
and several trends
 C. Analysis of Data
After the data has been classified, analysis f data can ebe done by
various ways like
 Measure of central tendency (mean, median, mode)
 Dispersion (standard deviation)
 D. Interpretation of Data
 This is the final stage in statistical investigation
 It means drawing appropriate conclusion from the data that has been
collected and analyzed
 It’s a very difficult task and requires high degree of skill and
experience
 Since it’s a conclusion drawn from the data collected and analyzed, so
it should be properly interpreted.