1 Learning Objectives: 1.Understand data collection principles and practices. 2.Describe the differences between collecting qualitative and quantitative data. 3.Understand the differences between observation and survey methods. 4.Assess the use of questionnaires as instruments for data collection. 5.Appreciate the role of the various interviewing methods in obtaining data. Primary Data Collection Approaches

2 Data Collection ObservationSurvey Methods Interviewer Administered Self - Completion Mechanical & Electronic Human

3 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Role of Qualitative Research Role of Qualitative Research Search of academic, trade and professional literature. Use of interviews, brainstorming, focus groups. Internalization of how others have undertaken both qualitative and quantitative research. Use of existing questionnaires/constructs. Outcome of Qualitative Research Outcome of Qualitative Research Improve conceptualization. Clarify research design, including data collection approach. Draft questionnaire. Qualitative Research

4 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Role of Quantitative Research Role of Quantitative Research Quantify data and generalize results from sample to population. Facilitates examination of large number of representative cases. Structured approach to data collection. Enables extensive statistical analysis. Outcome of Quantitative Research Outcome of Quantitative Research Validation of qualitative research findings. Confirmation of hypotheses, theories, etc. Recommend final course of action. Quantitative Research

5 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Data are collected by systematically recording observations of people, events or objects. Observational data can be obtained by use of human, mechanical or electronic observation. OBSERVATION

6 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH... a form of observational data collection in which researchers spend long periods of time with a respondent and then write narratives that describe the respondent’s behavior.

7 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, obtains data by systematically observing and analyzing the content or message of written text. CONTENT ANALYSIS

8 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, SURVEY METHODS... a procedure used to collect primary data from individuals. The data sought can range from beliefs, opinions, attitudes and life styles to general background information on individuals such as gender, age, education and income, as well as company characteristics like revenue and number of employees.

9 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Go On-Line Interviewer Administered Self-Completion SURVEY METHODS SURVEY METHODS

10 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, SELF-COMPLETION SURVEYS Mail Regular Fax Overnight Electronic Internet Diskette

11 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, to obtain data that cannot be easily observed or is not already available in written or electronic form.. PURPOSE OF QUESTIONNAIRES

12 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, USES OF QUESTIONNAIRE DATA Description Explanation Hypothesis Testing Model Building

13 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, PANELS Panels are a special type of survey method in which data is collected from the same group of respondents over a period of time.

14 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Good cover letter. Anonymity. Allows large samples with wide coverage. Relatively low cost. Low response rates. Do not know who responded. Requires highly structured questionnaire with predominantly closed-end questions. MAIL QUESTIONNAIRES

15 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Administered electronically across network through use of or Internet. Relatively low cost. Easy to administer. Eliminates interview bias. Fast data collection and analysis. Sample restricted to users of network through use of or Internet. Complexity of designing and programming the questionnaire – cost in terms of time and money. ELECTRONIC SURVEYS

16 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, INTERVIEWER ADMINISTERED SURVEYS Face-to-Face Focus Groups Mall In Home, at Work, etc. Telephone Computer Dialogue

17 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Interviews involve the researcher “speaking” to the respondent directly, asking questions and recording answers. Interviews involve the researcher “speaking” to the respondent directly, asking questions and recording answers. INTERVIEWS

18 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Unstructured Semi-structured Structured TYPES OF INTERVIEWS Go On-Line

19 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, TYPES OF INTERVIEWS Structured Interviews – the interviewer uses an interview sequence with predetermined questions that are asked in exactly the same way. Semi-structured Interviews – the researcher follows a predetermined structure and direction, but can ask related, unanticipated questions that were not originally included. Unstructured Interviews – the researcher does not follow an interview sequence and elicits information by engaging the interviewee in a free and open discussion on the topic of interest.

20 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Semi-structured interviews that use an exploratory research design and are considered qualitative research. Informal discussions among 8 to 12 respondents that share something in common. Guided by a moderator who encourages discussion and keeps the group “on track”. Random samples are not required. FOCUS GROUPS

21 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Personability. Attentive. Professional Training. Organization. Objectivity. Listening Skills. FOCUS GROUP MODERATORS

22 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, are conducted without the use of an interview sequence, which allows the researcher to elicit information by engaging the interviewee in free and open discussion on the topic of interest. UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

23 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, also referred to as “in-depth” interviews, they are an unstructured one-to-one discussion session between a trained interviewer and a respondent who has some specialized insight. DEPTH INTERVIEWS

24 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Approaches can vary from very informal to very formal. Expensive in terms of interviewing and travel costs. Expensive in terms of time to complete the process: need to gain access. training of interviewers. co-ordination and supervision of fieldwork. time for interview. Unlikely to be used with large samples. Problem of lack of anonymity. Opportunity to probe complex questions. Opportunity to record additional information. PERSONAL INTERVIEWS

25 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Need to make sure that interviewees are convinced approach is genuine. Questions are short and focused. If questions are open-ended, make sure question does not exceed 15 words; interviewee should not be expected to give lengthy answers. For closed-end questions the number of pre-coded options should not exceed five. Response rates can be a problem. Low cost form of personal interviewing. Obtain information quickly. More costly than mail questionnaires but less than personal interviews. Administration relatively easy. Interview bias less of a problem. Problem with unlisted numbers. TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS:

26 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, the answering of questions online through the use of PC’s. Typically, it involves an ed questionnaire that facilitates discussion on a one- to-one basis or by a group. COMPUTER DIALOGUE

27 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, Nonresponse = refusal or sampling. Response = respondent or interviewer. Data Collection Instrument: Construct Development. Construct Development. Scaling Measurement. Scaling Measurement. Questionnaire Design/Sequence, etc. Questionnaire Design/Sequence, etc. Data Analysis. Interpretation. Types of Errors

28 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, DATA COLLECTION APPROACHES Go On-Line What is A. C. Nielsen saying about its latest scanner technology?

29 Hair, Babin, Money & Samouel, Essentials of Business Research, Wiley, DATA COLLECTION APPROACHES Review the surveys on this site and complete two of them. How is the information on this website valuable to business researchers? Go On-Line