UHB30102: ENGLISH FOR

TECHNICAL PURPOSES
CHAPTER FOUR: CONDUCTING A
SURVEY
 Data collection
• Data collection – a process of collecting data
from different sources
• Data (or datum) – valuable information
collected in a research
 Data collection
• Collecting data:
– Collect data from primary and secondary sources
– Plan and write the questions for data collection
– Administer the questions
– Present the findings after analyzing the data (orally
or in writing)
 Primary data

• The collection of data from your own

investigation
• More difficult and expensive to gain
• Unique to you and your research
• Can be obtained through one or combination
of questionnaire, interview, observation, test,
experiment, document, diary, case study,
portfolio, reflective journal, etc
 Secondary data

• Come from reading people’s work or research

• Information gathered are compiled from
various written and published sources
• 2 types of secondary sources:
– Paper-based sources – books, journals, periodicals,
newspaper, magazines, conference papers, annual
reports, non-confidential government documents
– Electronic-based sources – CD-ROMs, online
databases, videos, websites, e-journals
 Preparing research methodology

• Decide on the following elements:

– Research design – quantitative vs. qualitative
– Sampling – sample and population, types of
sampling
– Instrumentation – collecting primary data for the
research
– Steps taken to collect the data (the protocol)
– Data analysis procedure
Sampling: Sample and population

• Population – the bigger target group of the

study to which the result of the research is
applicable
• Sample:
– A group of individuals involved as respondents in a
research, providing facts or opinions
– Findings derived from data collected from the
sample may be applied and generalised to the
population
 Example

Problem The trend of

investigated social media
usage among Target
UTHM students Population
Target All UTHM students
population Specific
Population
Specific All 1st and 2nd yr
population students of UTHM
Sample 10% of 1st and Sample
2nd yr students
of UTHM
 Sampling: Types of sampling

• Random sampling:
– Every member of population has equal chance to
participate in the research
– Advantage: the result would gain representative
sample
• Non-random sampling:
– Respondents are selected based on the given
criteria in the research
 Instrumentation: Collecting primary
data
• Questionnaire
• Interview
• Observation
• Experiment
 Questionnaire

•  a research instrument consisting of a series of

questions for the purpose of gathering
information from respondents.
• can be carried out face to face, by telephone,
online or post.
• Pilot test– testing the questionnaire on selected
number of sample to find weaknesses
 Questionnaire: Advantages

• Inexpensive • Easy analysis

• Practical • Standardized
• Fast results • Anonymity
• Scalability
• Comparability
 Questionnaire: Disadvantages

• Dishonest answers
• Skipped questions
• Interpretation issue
• Survey fatigue
• Answers may be shallow and insufficient
• Low responses rate
 Types of questions

• Open-ended
• Close-ended
– Yes / No
– Scale
– Ranking
– Rating
– Multiple choice
– Checklist
 Open-ended question

• Respondents are required to give opinions,

ideas, suggestions or comment
• Can provide lengthy responses
• Examples:
Do you like staying at Kolej Bestari? Why?

Which internet service provider do you subscribe?

Why?
 Yes / No question

• The simplest form of close-ended question

• Examples:

Did you apply for semester extension?

Yes [ ] No [ ]

Do you receive a scholarship?

Yes [ ] No [ ]
 Scale question

• To find out the respondents’ opinions or

attitudes to a given situation
• Likert-scale – Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree,
Strongly Disagree
• Respondents will say how much they agree or
disagree with each statement
• Neither agree nor disagree – discarded to force
respondent into making +ve or –ve choice
 Scale question

• Examples:

Statement SA A D SD
The AUTHOR website was easy
to navigate
The materials uploaded have
been useful
 Checklist question

• The respondents will have to choose the

answer from the given list, whichever
appropriate to their situation
 Example

• What is the most important to you in regard

with housing?
Safety
Affordibility of housing
Easy access to transportation
Size of housing acommodations
Aesthetics of local neighbourhood
 Rating question

• In rating scale questions (sometimes referred

to as ordinal questions), the question displays
a scale of answer options from any range (0
to 100, 1 to 10, etc.).
• The respondent selects the number that most
accurately represents their response.
 Example

• How likely you are going to recommend

Celcam to a friend?
Not at all likely Extremely likely

1 2 3 4 5
 Ranking question

• A ranking question asks respondents to order

answer choices by way of preference.
• ranking questions can take more time to
answer.
 Example

• Please rank the following features in order of

importance where 1 is the most important to
you
Location
Comfort
Service
Value for money
 Multiple choice question

• Respondents need to select the answer which

is appropriate from the options given
• Example:
How did you know about our programme?

a. Website
b. Magazine
c. Newspaper
d. Word-of –mouth
e. Others (please specify)…………………
 Constructing questions

• Biased questions
– The questions that encourage participants to
respond in a certain way

Biased qs : Don’t you agree that campus parking

is a problem?

Revised qs : Is parking in campus a problem?

 Constructing questions

• Questions that assume/ predict what they

ask
– A type of biased question and lead participants to
agree
Assumption qs : There are many people who
believe that campus parking is a problem. Are you
one of them?

Revised qs : Do you agree or disagree that campus

parking is a problem?
 Constructing questions
• Double- barreled questions
– The questions have more than one question
embedded within it
– Participants may answer one but not both, or
disagree with a part all of the question
Double- barreled qs: Do you agree that campus
parking is a problem and that the administration
should be working diligently on a solution?

Revised qs: Is campus parking a problem? If yes,

what does the administration do to solve the
problem?
 Constructing questions

• Confusing or wordy questions

Confusing qs: What do you think about parking?

(this is confusing because the question isn’t clear
about which parking involves)

Revised qs: What is your opinion of the parking

situation on campus?
 Constructing questions

• Unrelated questions
– Make sure the questions are related to the study
to be conducted

Unrelated qs: Have you ever encountered problems

in the parking garage on campus? Do you like or
dislike the shuttle bus system?
 Ideal questionnaire?

• Theme and covering letter

– It should be clear and have explicit general theme
of the questionnaire
• Who you are, why the data is required
• Assurance of confidentiality / anonymity
• Contact person / address / phone no.
• Action to be taken by the respondents
 Ideal questionnaire?

• Instructions for completion

– Clear and unambiguous
– General opening instruction
– Specific instruction for each part
– Methods of responses (tick, circle, cross, write,
etc)
 Ideal questionnaire?

• Appearance
– Neat and professional look
– Careful thought to layout will assist your analysis
• Liberal spacing for easy reading
• Consistent positioning of responses boxes
• Differentiate instructions and questions
• Choose font type and font size to maximise readability
 Ideal questionnaire?

• Length and order

– Avoid temptation to write vague and excessive
questions
– Introduction – demographic questions
– Subsequent – according to importance
• Essential information appear earlier
• Unimportant questions towards the end
• Provoking questions at the end
 Ideal questionnaire?

• Ending courtesy
– Finish the questionnaire with further thank you to
show your appreciation to the respondents
 Interview

• Used to gain an understanding of the

underlying reasons and motivations for
people’s attitudes, preferences or behaviour
• Two-ways communication – permit exchange
of ideas and information
• Can collect information which cannot be
collected via questionnaire
 Interview: Advantages

• Good response rate

• Immediate and completed responses
• Interviewer can control the interview session
and offer help if possible
• Can use recording devices
• Can assess respondents sincerity – tone of
voice, facial expression, hesitation, etc
 Interview: Disadvantages

• Need to set up the interviews

• Time consuming
• Geographic limitations
• Can be expensive
• Respondent bias – embarrassment, false
impression, early end of session
• Subjectivity in analysis
 Types of interview

• Structured
– Rigid and standardised interview = less flexibility
to adapt the questioning technique according to
responses given by respondents
– Need to exactly follow the prepared questions
– Not really thought provoking
– Disadvantage: respondents may get irritated to
give over-simplified answer
 Types of interview

• Semi-structured
– More flexibility to adapt the questioning technique
according to responses given by respondents
– Need to exactly follow the prepared questions, but
able to add questions during the process
– Longer responses
 Types of interview

• Unstructured
– Flexible, conversational, in-depth interview
– Only have the expected content to ask, but not the
exact questions itself = questions change across
respondents
– The direction of the interview is determined by the
respondents’ reply
– Allow freedom to the interviewer and interviewee
 Steps for interviewing

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4
 Identify the interviewee

• Write or call the person(s) to inform about

your intention
• Make an appointment – set the time, date and
place
 Do your homework

• Prepare a set of questions

• Learn the terminologies and vocabulary
related to the topic
• Tryout the questions on a friend or relative
 Carry out the interview

• Arrive on time
• Dress appropriately
• Ask permission if you want to use the voice
recorder
• Get to know the person before interviewing
• Ask questions that produce extended
responses
• Let the person finish before continuing
 Carry out the interview

• Be attentive for the chance to ask follow up

question
• Probe to clarify ambiguous responses
• Summarize ideas discovered from the
interview
• Show your appreciation for the time and
cooperation provided
 Analyse the responses

• Before you forget, look over your notes and

write any responses you missed
• Reflect upon the interview by giving your
honest opinion
 Observation

• To record the behavioural patterns of people,

objects and events in a systematic manner
• Able to gain firsthand information of the
respondents’ actions performed and see their
patterns of behaviour (Norazman et al., 2009)
• Data collected through observation can
strengthen the data collected by other methods
 Observation

• Devices can be used to record the

phenomenon
• May or may not require respondent’s direct
participation
 Observational methods

• Structured or unstructured
Structured Unstructured
• The details on what to be • All aspects of the
observed and how the phenomenon that seem
measurements are to be relevant are monitored
recorded are specified • Problem has yet to be
• Appropriate when the formulated precisely
problem is clearly defined • Flexibility needed to identify
and the information needed key components and develop
is specified hypotheses
• High potential for bias
 Observational methods

• Disguised or undisguised
Disguised
• Respondents are unaware of
the action; behave naturally
• Achieved by hiding, using
hidden equipment or
disguised as someone in the
sample
Undisguised
• Respondents are aware they
are being observed
• People might behave
differently
 Observational methods

• Natural or contrived
Natural Contrived
• Observing behaviour as it • Behaviour observed in an
takes place in the artificial environment
environment • E.g. Food tasting session
• E.g. Eating hamburgers in
fast food restaurant
 Observational methods

• Participant or non-participant
Participant Non-participant
• The researcher becomes part • The researcher does not
of the group being question or communicate
investigated with the people being
observed
 Conducting an observation

• Prepare observation guide sheet

• Identify specifically what you hope to observe
and the duration of observation
• Take note within the observation period
 Experiment

• Common in engineering and agriculture fields

• Conduct experiment to test various technique,
assumption or product
• Social science research – quasi-experiment
– Pre-test and post-test
– One group under certain controlled situation, one
group in normal condition
Guidelines: Planning for data collection

• Questionnaire
– Who are your target group of respondents? How
many people would you distribute the
questionnaire to?
– How many questions do you want to ask?
– What types of questions do you want to include in
the questionnaire?
– Write the questions
– Write the covering letter
Guidelines: Planning for data collection

• Interviews
– Who are your target group of respondents? How
many people would you like to interview?
– What types of interview you would like to conduct?
– How many questions do you want to ask?
– Write the questions
– Write your plan for the interview sessions
Guidelines: Planning for data collection

• Observations
– Who and what do you want to observe?
– Which method do you want to adopt for your
research?
– Give reasons and write how you are going to do
about it
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK…