Chapter 9-METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

What is data collection?

 The process by which the researcher collects
the information needed to answer the
research problem.

 In collecting the data, the researcher must
decide:

 Which data to collect
 How to collect the data

 Who will collect the data

 When to collect the data

 The selection of data collection method should
be based on the following:

 The identified hypothesis or research problem

 The research design

 The information gathered about the variables

The methods of data collection vary according
to:

 Degree of structure

 Degree of quantifiability

 Degree of obtrusiveness

 Degree of objectivity

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
 Instrument or a Tool
 described as a device used to collect the data.
 facilitate variable observation and measurement.

 The type of instrument used by the researcher
depends on the data collection method selected.

 “Massey states that the “Instrument development requires a
high degree of research expertise, as the instrument must
be reliable and valid.”

Ways of Searching for
Research Instruments

Ways of Searching for Research
Instruments
 Read professional journals to learn what kind of
instruments are being used for similar studies, their format, style, and how
they are used by the writers.

 Read books that provide a description or an actual copy of various
instruments for the reader.

 Talk with other researchers who may know of certain tools they
have developed for themselves, or may have used tools developed by
others.

 Combine or adapt one or more tools used by other researchers.
 Develop his/her own instrument to fulfill a specific need.

Guidelines for Developing an
Instrument

Instrument
 The instrument must be suitable for its function.

 The research tool will only be effective only as it
relates to its particular purpose.

 The instrument must be based on the theoretical
framework.

 The instrument must be based on the theoretical
framework selected for the study.

Instrument
 The instrument should be valid.

 The content of the instrument must be appropriate to test the
hypothesis or answer the question being studied.

 The instrument should be reliable.

 The devised research tool should provide comparable data
every time the subject uses the instrument.

 An instrument should include an item that directly asks the
hypothesis.

 The research tool should be designed and constructed in such a
way that cheating is minimized

Instrument
 The instrument should be free of bias.

 A good instrument is free of build-in clues.

 The instrument should not contain measures that
function as hints for desired responses.

 The researcher may need to read extensively to
identify which aspects of the theory are appropriate
for investigation.

Instrument
 The researcher, through the instrument, must be able
to gather data that are appropriate in order to test the
hypothesis or to answer the question under
investigation.

 The researcher should gather a group of items from such
sources.

 The researcher should gather a group of items from such
sources as persons knowledgeable in the field, accepted
theories or hypotheses, personal experience, or material from
studies reported in books and professional journals.

Instrument
 The response given by each respondent in the
research study should solely be his own. There
should be no contamination through outside
influences, such as someone else’s ideas or
products.

 Therefore, the respondent who agrees to participate in
a study is responsible for supplying information or
for exhibiting behavior that is truly his own.

Types of Research
Instruments

Types of Research Instruments
1. Questionnaire
2. Checklist
3. Distribution
4. Interview
5. Observation
6. Records
7. Experimental Approach
8. Survey Approach

Types of Research Instruments
1. Questionnaire

 A series of questions designed to elicit information, which
is filled in by all participants in the sample.

 This can be gathered either by oral interview or by written
questionnaire.

 This is the most common type of research instrument.

 Advantages of a Questionnaire

1. Relatively simple method of obtaining data.

3. Less time is consumed.

5. Researcher is able to gather data from a widely
scattered sample.

 Disadvantages of a Questionnaire

1. Responses to a questionnaire lack depth.
2. Respondent may omit or disregard any item he chooses.
3. Some items may force the subject to select responses that are
not his actual choice.
4. Length of the questionnaire is limited according to the
respondent’s interest.
5. Printing may be costly especially if it is lengthy.
6. Data are limited to the information that is voluntarily
supplied by the respondents.
7. Some items maybe misunderstood.
8. The sample is limited to those who are literate.

Techniques for Developing
Questionnaire
2. Researcher may read literatures about the topic look through
available questionnaires or obtain help from experts.

4. Open - ended questions are preferable than closed questions since
they reflect respondent’s attitudes, feelings, which are expressed
in his own words.

6. If yes - no questions are used; additional information may be
gained by leaving space for respondent’s own idea.

8. The possibility of a middle ground statement is also important.

10. Every item in a questionnaire should relate to the topic under study.

Criteria of a Good
Questionnaire

Criteria of a Good Questionnaire
1. Clarity of Language
 It must meet the level of understanding of the respondents
in order to generate needed responses.

2. Singleness of Objective
 An item must have one and only one answer

3. One-to-One Correspondence
 The questionnaire as a whole must correspond with the
objectives of the study

4. Correct Grammar, Spelling, and Construction
 The questionnaire must be constructed observing
grammatically correct sentences, correctly spelled words,
coherence in construction of sentences, etc.

Characteristic of a Good Questionnaire
1. Well-stated title

3. Has statement of purpose

5. It assures the respondents about the confidentiality of
responses

7. It is designed to achieve the objectives of the study

9. It has a clear direction

11. There are no double-negative questions

13. It avoids double barreled questions

15. The design corresponds to an easy tabulation of data

Degree of Structure Questions
1. Open-ended questions
 This gives the respondents the ability to respond in
their own words.

2. Close-ended or fixed alternative
 This allows the subject to choose one of the
given alternatives.

 Specific Types of Closed-ended Question:

1. Dichotomous questions
 This requires the respondent to make a choice between two
responses such as yes/no, male/female, or married/unmarried.
Example:
Have you been ligated?
___ Yes
___ No

2. Multiple questions
 This offers more than one choice.
Example:
How favorable is it to you to become pregnant at this time?
___ Very favorable
___ Favorable
___ Not sure
___ Unfavorable
___ Very unfavorable

3. Cafeteria questions
 A special type of multiple-choice question. The respondents are
asked to select a response according to their own point of view.

 Example:

People have different views on “family planning”, which of the following
best represent your views?

___1. Family planning is necessary to quality life.
___2. Family planning is immoral and should be totally banned.
___3. Family planning has undesirable side effects that suggest
need for caution.
___4. Family planning has beneficial effects that merit its
practice.
___5. Family planning is moral and should be practiced.

4. Rank-Order questions
 The respondents are asked to choose a response
from the “most” to the “least”.

 Example:
Why must family planning be practiced? Rank your
answers from the 1-most reasonable to 5-least
reasonable?
___Limits maternal disabilities.
___Gives parents more time to meet family needs.
___Helps maintain financial viability of the family.
___Affords more working hours for couples.
___Ensures family capability to educate all the children
in the future.

5. Rating questions
 The respondents are asked to judge something along an
ordered dimension.
 This is typically bipolar in nature, with the end points
specifying the opposite extremes of a continuum.

 Example:
On the scale of 1 to 5 where 1 means strongly disagree and 5
means strongly agree, the Health Center in Barangay
A provides you the necessary services.
Scale
___ 5 - Strongly agree
___ 4 - Agree
___ 3 - Uncertain
___ 2 - Disagree
___ 1 - Strongly disagree

2. Checklist

 These are items that comprise several questions on a
topic and require the same response format.

 Example:
Here are some characteristics of birth-control devices that
are of varying importance to different people. How
important are the following in choosing a birth-control
method?
Characteristic of birth- Of very Of great Of some Of no
control device great importance importance importance
Importan
ce
1. Comfort

2. Cost

3. Ease of Use

4. Effectiveness

5. Noninterference of
spontaneity
6. Safety

7. Safety to partner

3. Interview
 This involves either structure or
unstructured verbal communication between
the researcher and subject, during which
information is obtained for a study.

Types of Interview
1. Unstructured Interviews
 more conversational
 long sometimes (hours) and
 conducted in a usual situation.
 This allows the researcher flexibility in questioning the
subject.

2. Structured Interviews
 always operates within formal written instrument referred
as interview schedule.
 researcher designed the questions to be asked prior to
interview including the order of the questions.
 The questions are asked orally in either face to face or
telephone format.

 Advantages of Interview
1. Data from interview are usable
2. Depth of response can be assured
3. In an exploratory study, the interview technique provides
basis for the formulation of questionnaire
4. Clarification is possible
5. No items are overlooked
6. Higher proportion of responses is obtained
7. Greater amount of flexibility is allowed

 Disadvantages of Interview
1. Time element
2. Biases may result
3. Costly

4. Observation
 most commonly used in qualitative research.

 Types of Observation
1. Unstructured observation
 a method of collecting research data that has both
opponents and proponents.

2. Structured observation
 preparation of record-keeping forms such as category
systems, checklists and rating scales.
 researcher typically has some prior knowledge about the
behavior or event of interest

 Advantages of Observation

3. Produces large quantities of data w/ relative case.

5. All data obtained from observation are usable.

7. Relatively inexpensive.

9. All subjects are potential respondents.

11. Subjects are usually available.

13. The observation technique can be stopped or begun at any
time.

7. Observation may be recorded at the time they occur
eliminating bias because of recall.

 Disadvantages of Observation
1. Accurate prediction of a situation or event to be observed
is unlikely.

2. Interviewing selected subjects may provide more
information, economically, than waiting for the
spontaneous occurrence of the situation.

3. The presence of an observer gives the subjects a quality
normally absent.

4. Observed events are subject to biases.

5. Extensive training is needed.

5. Records
 A record refers to all the numbers and statistics
that institutions, organizations and people keep
as a record of their activities.

 Sources
1. Census data
2. Educational records
3. Hospital/clinic records

 Advantages of Records
1. Records are unbiased
2. Records often cover a long period of time
3. Inexpensive

 Disadvantages of Records
1. All the researcher can have is what is there. If the
record is incomplete, there is no way it can be
completed.

2. No one can be sure of the conditions under which the
records were collected.

3. There is no assurance of the accuracy of the records.

6. Experimental Approach
 A powerful design for testing hypothesis of causal
relationships among variables.
 Researcher controls the independent variable &
watches the effect on the dependent variable.

 Two Groups of Experimental Approach
1. Treatment / Experimental group
2. Control group

 Advantages of Experimental Approach

1. It is difficult to minimize all the variables in which the control
and experimental groups might differ.

2. Causal relationships are difficult if not impossible to
establish.

3. The time element may confound the results of experimental
research.

4. In an experimental laboratory setting it may be difficult to
obtain subjects, especially subjects who are unaware of the
experiment

7. Survey Approach
 Non-experimental type in which the researcher
investigates a community or a group of people.

 Another name is FORMULATIVE OR
EXPLORATORY research.

 Advantages of Survey Approach
1. Can provide information about the possibilities of undertaking
different types of research methods.

3. Provides data about the present.

5. Has a high degree of representativeness.

7. Easy to get respondents and information often do not express their
true reactions to the questions.

 Disadvantages of Survey Approach

1. Yields a low degree of control over
extraneous variables.

2. Verbal behavior is quite unreliable and that
people

MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES
 Measurement is the process by which the
researcher assigns

 specific number to the collected data (Massey,
1991).

Levels of Measurement
1. Nominal level (the lowest level)
 This level includes assignment of numbers simply to
classify characteristics into categories.
 “ASSIGNING A CODE TO LABEL”

 Example:
 In relation to marital status, 0 might represent single
and 1 married.
 Nominal level variables include sex, marital status and
health status

2. Ordinal level (the second lowest level)

 This permits the sorting of objects on the basis of
their standing on an attribute relative to each other.

 Data are categorized and ranked, ordered from
“most” to “least: according to frequency of
occurrence as explained by Dr. Barrientos-Tan.

 represent the rank order (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.)

1. Likert scale
2. Guttman scale
3. Graphic Rating Scale
4. Semantic Differential Scale

3. Interval level (the second highest level)
 This occurs when the researcher can specify both the rank-
ordering of objects attribute and the distance between those
objects.
 do not have an absolute or rational zero point.
 Use of mode, median, mean

 Example:
 Fahrenheit and centigrade temperatures
 anxiety levels measured on a Likert scale

4. Ratio level (the highest level)

 The ratio level has a rational, meaningful zero.

RELIABILITY AND
VALIDITY OF
MEASUREMENT

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY
OF MEASUREMENT
 Reliability
 means the degree of consistency and accuracy with
which an instrument measures a variable.

 Validity
 refers to the extent to which an instrument
measures what it is designed to measure.

Testing Validity of Data
Collection

Testing Validity of Data Collection
 There are three categories of testing the
validity of a data collection instrument.
2. Self-evident measures
3. Pragmatic Measures

 Self-evident measures
 refers to the fact that the instrument appears what
it is supposed to measure.

1.1 Face validity (VALIDITY OF THE OBSERVER)
 most basic level, when little or nothing is known about the
variable being measured;
 the researcher typically verifies face validity by asking
experts to evaluate the instrument’s intent.

1.2 Content validity
 relies on the assurance that you can demonstrate an adequate
coverage of the known field.

 The researcher typically verifies this by conducting a literature
review to determine which content should be covered and by
asking experts to evaluate the instrument’s
representativeness of the content.

 Pragmatic Measures

 the procedure essentially tests the practical value of a
particular research instrument or tool

 Thus attempting to answer the question, “Does it work?”
 Concurrent validity
 Predictive validity
 Construct validity

 Concurrent validity

 refers to the extent to which an instrument can
accurately identify subjects that differ with respect to a
given characteristic.

 Researcher typically validates concurrent validity by
using the instrument in conjunction with a second
instrument already known to be valid.

 Ex. a measure of job satisfaction might be correlated with
work performance.
 Note that with concurrent validity, the two measures are taken at
the same time.

 Predictive validity

 to predict some future occurrences.

 the researcher commonly validates this by using
the instrument, then comparing the
results with some future outcomes.

 Construct validity

 useful mainly for measuring the traits or feelings such as
generosity, grief or satisfaction.

 is related to the theoretical ideas behind the
personality trait under consideration

Testing the Reliability of
Research Instrument

Testing the Reliability of Research
Instrument
1. Stability

 The best indicator of an instrument’s reliability.

 This refers to the extent to which the same results
are obtained with repeated use of an instrument

 There are two categories for tests of stability:
 Test / Retest
 Repeated observations

Testing the Reliability of Research
Instrument
2. Internal consistency
 This refers to the extent to which all parts of
the measurement techniques are measuring the
same concept.

3. Test of Equivalence
 This refers to the consistency of the results by
different investigators or similar tests at the same
time.

Chapter 9-METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

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Chapter 9-METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION