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Dec 31, 2013 | #1
Data Collection Methods
You are required to critically discuss how various data collection methods affect the validity, reliability and generality of research findings. You must limit your discussions to research within the field of the social sciences.
Introduction
There have been widespread debates amongst social scientists over what ought to be the ideal data collection method to be used in order to ensure that the validity and reliability of results of a study are not tampered with. Social scientists can either choose qualitative or quantitative data collection methods for the studies which they carry out. For the most part, the choice of data collection method is determined either by the researcher's personal conviction about which of the two data collection methods is more efficient or the nature of the subject to be analysed.
Irrespective of the researcher's personal choice, there are some studies that include measurements and for the most part require quantitative data collection methods. Most marketing experts prefer to make use of quantitative data collection methods because they prefer to measure the data which they use to base their decisions.
Marketing research is often carried out to determine a company's marketing strategy, which most often includes millions of pounds that have been put at stake. For this reason, many companies prefer to have highly reliable results that can be as close as possible to the reality on the ground. This does not in any way imply that quantitative data collection is more reliable than qualitative methods (Fricker, 2008). It is difficult to measure some phenomena in the social sciences. For example, if a researcher wants to carry out a study on the behavioural patterns of Muslims in a particular community, it might be difficult to accurately measure some phenomena. He or she could opt for qualitative research that might not include questionnaires or seek to measure phenomena in numerical terms. The goal of this study is to analyse the various ways through which data collection methods could influence the reliability and validity of the results of social science research.Quantitative Data Collection Method
Quantitative data collection methods refer to the use of structure data collection instruments; such as the use of questionnaires which include a set of response categories that have been predetermined by the researcher and from which respondents can choose answers. This approach relies on random sampling and makes it easier to gather data that can be easily compared, summarise and even generalised. Quantitative research includes the testing of a hypothesis which has been drawn from a theory. Quantitative research most often includes well structured interviews. The researcher asks respondents a particular set of questions and writes down the answers. Alternatively, the researcher could hand out the same questionnaires with the same questions to different respondents to fill out. Face-to-face interviews have been touted by many researchers because they help to build a rapport between the respondent and researcher. As such, respondents can easily provide much information to the researcher. Face to face interviews often have high response rates because those who accept to take up the interview provide more information than they would have otherwise provided if interviewed over the phone. However, face to face interviews are expensive and time consuming considering the fact that the researcher ha to physically move from one location to the next. This becomes even more complex when the research includes a large sample. Telephone interviews are less expensive and also less time consuming to carry out. However, it has a major weakness which includes the fact that the researcher cannot build the kind of rapport that is built in face to face interview. This can affect the validity of the results of the study especially when the research has to do with subjects that people sometimes shy away from such as sexual issues.
Strengths of Qualitative Data Collection
Qualitative data collection methods have been acclaimed for their ability to provide precision results in social science research (Pawluch et al, 2005). This method makes use of quantitative and reliable measurements which can be easily compared over a specified period of time. One of the most important qualities when it comes to measuring validity and reliability of research results is precision. For this reason, some social scientists prefer to use quantitative data collection techniques. It is relatively easier to maintain control over data collected with the use of questionnaires and which include figures to measure indices. The sampling and research design method makes it possible to set standards which can be maintained through out the data collection process. Questionnaires help to standardise the research data because all respondents are exposed to the same questions and have to choose from predefined answers included on the questionnaires.
Standardization Helps to Make the Results More
Quantitative studies are replicable because the same standards that are used to collect data in one area can be accurately used in another location (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002). This is because the data collection tool remains the same with same questions and predefined answers in studies that do not make use of open ended questions. Unlike other forms of data collection such as verbal interviewing and focus group discussions in which the direction of the conversations can be derailed by something happening in that environment (Patton, 2002). Focus group discussions have a major disadvantage in that the answers provided by some participants are influenced by what they have heard others say during the session. This affects the validity and reliability of the results of the study because some of the data which is used to determine the outcome of the study does not truly reflect the opinions of the participants (Hunter & Erin, 2008). On the other hand, the use of questionnaires helps to collect more accurate data because each respondent answers the questions as an individual. For this reason, it s less likely that the opinions of other respondents to affect other participants in the study.
Quantitative data collection is easier to analyse with the use of computer software like SPSS. Analysing data for studies which include a huge sample number, such as thousands of questionnaires is a complex procedure which can include errors and take a long time to analyse manually. However, quantitative studies which include numerical values are easy to analyse with accuracy using computers. Qualitative data collection procedures are complex to standardise. This is because respondents are expected to answer questions without predefined answers. As such, it is difficult to encode the questions and enter the data into a computer for rapid and accurate analysis. Such data can be easily compared to previous studies and analysed from time to time in comparison to other factors. This makes quantitative data collection method a commendable choice when it comes to gathering, analysing and reporting research data.
Limitations of Quantitative Data Collection Procedure
Considering the complex nature of human experience, it is not easy to effectively control and measure the various variables that are analysed in a study (Hunter & Erin, 2008). If respondents are called upon to answer a questionnaire from MacDonald's which seeks to analyse the quality of a burger. The questionnaire might not be able to best gather the information which McDonald's needs. This is because some of the questions include in the questionnaire have to do with relative concepts. For instance, if respondents are asked to describe the sugar content of a burger, they can only do so based on their relative sense of taste. There is no precise measurement meter in the brain that can measure the taste of sugar in percentages. Those who taste the burger might only be able to describe the sugar content using the adjectives such as, sweet, too sweet or not sweet. However, what respondent A might consider to be too sweet might just be sweet for respondent B. These variations can lead to the questioning of the validity of the findings of a study.
Different people interpret things differently. As such, it is only by explaining further questions that respondents might be able to clarify researchers about the true meaning of the answers which they provide during studies. Unfortunately, most quantitative studies do not take this into account because most of the questionnaires are too rigid and do not give respondents the opportunity to properly express themselves. Even when questionnaires have open ended questions, most researchers depend too much on the questionnaires to the extent that they even fail to ask follow up questions where necessary. This can be a limitation in the sense that the questionnaire does not address every issue in the field. In order to properly collect data from the field, researchers need to use flexible methods making it possible to easily adapt to situations in the quest to gather data from respondents. This can affect the validity of the findings of a study. This is because human beings have varying opinions and behavioural patterns. The answers which they sometimes write on questionnaires might not exactly reflect what they intend to say. At times, some respondents choose and answer from the predetermined answers suggested on the questionnaire just because there is no other answer which exactly describes their opinion about the subject.
Qualitative Data Collection
Quantitative data collection methods refer to a combination of ways in which social scientists collect research data aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of human behaviour. Qualitative data collection is done through interviews, observations, field notes, focus group discussions, narratology, classical ethnography and storytelling. Most studies that make use of qualitative research seek to uncover trends, behavioural patterns and other phenomena that are difficult to measure numerically. Qualitative data collection methods have been the method of choice for many social scientists who want to gain and insider's view into the issues which they set out to investigate when it comes to studies that investigate phenomena linked to behavioural patterns.
Strengths of Qualitative Data Collection
Qualitative data collection helps to see beyond what other social scientific procedures fail to see. Collecting data via discussion with a villager in an impoverished African country, a researcher can gain a better inside about the way of life and challenges of those who live in that community. Designing a questionnaire in Coventry to be administered in that village might miss out on so many points. To begin with, the questionnaires would likely have predetermined answers that have been suggested by the researcher based on his or her understanding of the subject under investigation. This could limit the quality and quantity of data collect and analysed to arrive at the findings of the study. On the other hand, a qualitative study would suggest having discussions with members of that community. The discussions would not be limited to the questionnaires. This would give more room for the respondents to give more information, touching even issues that the researcher would not have imagined if he or she designed a questionnaire.
Qualitative data collection leads to the collection of data which can help the researcher to identify many aspects about the topic under analysis such as the possible effects, causes and relationships between different phenomena. Meanwhile quantitative studies provide leads to possible answers that a respondent can provide qualitative study leaves more room for respondents to express themselves. This leads the researcher to make intriguing discoveries based on what he or she meets in the field, and not what he or she had in mind before going to the field (Patton, 2002). Instead of focusing on figures and statistics, qualitative research includes more narration and discussions that can enable the researcher to understand more about the broad subject that the study set out to analyse. An example is that a study to find out the various reasons why workers in agricultural establishments come late to work would throw more light about the community and the way of life of the members of that community in general. This is because during the data collection procedures, respondents would provide much necessary background information to the researchers. This background information prepares researchers to better understand and interpret phenomena about the studies.
Limitations of Qualitative Data Collection
One of the major criticisms of qualitative data collection is that it some times lacks adequate validity. It is difficult to apply conventional standards of reliability and validity considering the subjective nature of most of the data gathered using qualitative methods. Data gathered need to be interpreted in the light of the situation and context in which the respondent provided the data. This makes it difficult to make comparisons or general information collected via this procedure. This can question the validity and reliability of the findings of a particular study. For instance, if a child in Coventry complaints that he is studying in difficult conditions, he or she might mean that he or she is using the same old shoes he or she used the previous year. Another child who lives in a village in Kenya might say that he is studying in difficult conditions because he has not had shoes or text books in school. Suffering becomes a relative concept and cannot be generalised or compared. The two children mentioned in the example above are living in obviously very different circumstances. But both of them use the word "suffering" to describe their conditions.
The length of time required for data collection and analysis in a qualitative study is lengthy and expensive. The researcher also has huge influence in the outcome of the study. The manner in which a researcher moderates a focus group discussion session can affect the direction in which the discussion flows. For this reason, the view points of the researcher have to be removed when reporting the findings; otherwise, it becomes easy for the researcher to include his or her viewpoint when reporting the findings of the study. This can influence the validity and reliability of the study.
Conclusions
The above analysis will help me to complete my research in this module to acceptable standards so as to ensure that the findings reported at the end of my study can be reliable and valid. I would like to keep the margin of error in my study to the lowest possible minimum so as to ensure that the information that I report in my findings is authentic and can contribute a wealth of knowledge to other HRM practitioners and scholars. In order to ensure that the reliability and validity of my study is not jeopardised, I will take the following steps:
- I would make use of quantitative data collection methods. After a comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of both methods, I have resolved that a quantitative data collection procedure would enable me to arrive at accurate findings at the end of my study.
- I would ensure that my questionnaires also include open ended questions and gives room to respondents to write what they think about the subject at the end of the questionnaire. This would help the respondents to raise issues which I fail to address when designing the questionnaires.
- I will also design my questionnaires after preliminary discussions with a handful of members of the sample population. This encounter would help me to have a better background about the issues to be addressed by the questionnaires in particular and the study in general, thereby improving the validity of the study.
- I will also make sure that I take of time to talk with the respondents so that what ever information they write in the questionnaires would be interpreted in the light of their intentions. For the purpose of clarity, I will keep my questionnaire simple and straight forward to minimise the chances of misinformation.
- I will have several qualitative consultations with members of the population under study. This would help to deepen my knowledge and understanding of the issues that I would see to uncover during the study. This would help me to better interpret the questionnaires.
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