A Presentation on... Data Gathering By Gwen Elliott

Methods for Gathering Data Observation Questionnaires Interviews Secondary Data

Types of Observations Structured  Uses procedures to direct the observer as to what type of behavior he or she should be observing Semi-structured  Observation is only minimally structured; recording is specified Unstructured  No specific directions as to what should be observed or what should be recorded

Observations Advantages:  Collects data on behavior, rather than reports of behavior  Real-time, not retrospective Potential Problems:  Interpretation and coding problems  Observer bias/reliability  Costly

Developing the Questionnaire Consultants solicit questions from group members. The CEO and consultants select scales designed to measure various aspects of organizational life. The consultants develop a draft. The CEO and the group members review the draft and make suggestions for changes.

Developing the Questionnaire Changes are made and circulated to the group. The process continues as many times as necessary. The final draft is printed and prepared for distribution. A time is identified to administer questionnaire to the group.

Types of Questionnaires Closed-ended questions  Offer respondents a number of alternative replies  Subjects must choose the one that most closely approximates the right answer Advantages:  easy to administer & analyze  more efficient (can be completed more quickly) Disadvantages:  difficult to construct  sometimes considered superficial

Types of Questionnaires Open-ended questions  Questions that are answered in the respondent’s own words Advantages  May produce information which has not been addressed in closed-ended questions Disadvantages  Hard to analyze  Time-consuming to complete

Questionnaires Advantages  Responses can be quantified and easily summarized  Easy to use with large samples  Relatively inexpensive  Can obtain a large volume of data Potential Problems  Predetermined questions may miss issues  Data may be over-interpreted  Response bias

Types of Interviews Unstructured  Interviewer provides very little guidance in terms of questions or answers Structured, open-ended  The interviewer has predetermined questions covering certain topics, but the respondent may answer any way he/she chooses Structured, fixed-response  The interviewer provides questions and a choice of answers.

Interviews Advantages  Adaptive  allows data collection on a range of possible subjects  Source of “rich” data  The process can build rapport

Interviews Potential Problems  Can be expensive (timely)  Interviewer can bias responses  Self-report bias  Coding/interpretation problems

Types of Secondary Data Vary from organization to organization Examples  Information collected for legal purposes  absenteeism, lateness, turnover, accidents, grievances, etc.  Data collected about employee performance  productivity, repairs, costs, complaints, etc.  Correspondence files  may give information about number of meetings, the nature of contacts between people, etc.

Secondary Data Advantages  Relatively nonreactive to collect.  Little chance for bias  Have extremely high face validity Disadvantages  Access or retrieval is frequently a problem, as many organizations do not keep such records  The data frequently bears little relation to reality.  May pose problems of interpretation.

A Presentation on... Data Gathering By Gwen Elliott