Assignment: What Is Data?
Assignment: What Is Data?
Assignment: What Is Data?
What is data?
Source of data:
Primary data:
Secondary data:
The researcher collects information that has already been obtained and
processed by government departments or various agencies before it is
made available for other interested users. These are published and
unpublished sources e.g. journals, textbooks, newspapers, magazines,
fliers, annual reports, bulletins, periodicals etc. As a result, the kind of
data to be collected, the method of collection to be used, and the scoring
of the data must be considered when undertaken any research activity.
Instrumentation:
● must gather data suitable for and relevant to the research topic.
● Able to test hypothesis and/or answer proposed research questions
under investigation.
● Free of bias and appropriate for the context, culture, and diversity of the
study site.
● contains clear and definite instructions to use the instrument.
Types of Research Instruments:
1. Interview
Interviews or the interaction where verbal questions are posed by an
interviewer to elicit verbal responses from an interviewee.
Structured Interview: A formal set of questions posed to each
interest and wording of questions.
Non-Directive Interview: An unguided interview, including open-
ended questions and use of spontaneous engagement.
Viewed and recorded using a standardized procedure.
Unstructured Interview: A less formal set of questions; the
interviewer modifies the sequence
Focus Interview: An emphasis on the interviewee’s subjective
and personal responses where the interviewer engages to elicit
more information.
Focus Group Interview: A group of selected participants are
asked about their opinion or perceptions concerning a particular
topic. Interviews or the interaction where verbal questions are
posed by an interviewer to elicit verbal responses from an
interviewee.
Interviews are a tool mainly for the collection of qualitative data and are p
opular as a data-collection tool because of their flexibility.
When planning and considering an interview, the following factors are take
n into consideration:
Completeness
Tact
Precision
Accuracy
Confidentiality
Interviews require specialised skills from the interviewer, who will need to
negotiate a good partnership with the respondent to ensure a highly detail
ed and valid set of qualitative data is collected and transcribed effectively.
There are different types of interview:
Telephone surveys
2. Observation
Structured Observations:
Research conducted at a specific place, time, where participants are
observed in a standardized procedure. Rather than writing a
detailed description of all behaviors observed, researchers code
observed behaviors according to a previously agreed upon scale.
Naturalistic Observation:
The study the spontaneous behavior of participants in natural
surroundings. The researcher simply records what they see in
whatever way they see it.
Participant Observation:
A variation on natural observations where the researcher joins in and
becomes part of the group they are studying to get a deeper insight into
their lives.
3. Questionnaire:
The questionnaire consists of a set of structured and unstructured
questions designed by researchers to obtain data from the respondents.
No research is better than its questionnaire and a faulty questionnaire
means faulty research. Hence, a questionnaire designed must be valid,
reliable and must not be bogus so that the data collected can validate the
research. Questionnaire has many advantages which include anonymity of
the respondents is guaranteed; it facilitates the collection of large
amounts of data in a relatively short period and it is cheap to administer.
The major demerit of the method is that some confusing and misleading
questions cannot be clarified as the researcher may not be there to
explain the questions, and also, sometimes, the questions may not be
easily comprehensible to individuals who are illiterate, thus, the method is
restricted only to educated respondents. Moreover, the characteristics of a
good questionnaire according to Popoola (2011) consist of: Questions
should not be ambiguous. This implies that it must be capable of only one
interpretation. Questions must be easily understood. Questions should be
capable of having a precise answer. Questions must not contain words of
vague meaning. Questions should not require rigorous calculations.
Questions should not require the respondent to decide upon classification.
Questions must not be in such a form that the answers will be biased. The
questionnaire should not be too long. It should not be too wordy. The
questionnaire should cover the exact object of the inquiry.
4. Test:
Achievement test
An achievement test is a test of developed skill or knowledge. The most
common type of achievement test is a standardized test developed to
measure skills and knowledge learned in a given grade level, usually
through planned instruction, such as training or classroom instruction.
Achievement test measures present proficiency, mastery and
understanding of general and specific areas of knowledge. Achievement
tests attempt to measure what and how individual has learnt, viz. his
present standard of performance. Scores of achievement test indicate the
academic status of the individual learner in different subjects as a whole
or individually.
Aptitude test
An aptitude test is an exam used to determine an individual's skill or
propensity to succeed in a given activity. Aptitude tests assume that
individuals have inherent strengths and weaknesses, and have a natural
inclination toward success or failure in specific areas based on their innate
characteristics
Performance Testing
MCQS
Test
Measurement
Assessment
Evaluation
A sum of questions is
Measurement
Test
Questionnaire
Observation
Test involving the construction of certain patterns are called
Intelligence test
Performance test
Aptitude test
Achievement test
An advantage of open ended questions are
They can also be used in topic guides
Coding is a challenge
Respondents can express themselves freely
Potential is high for interviewer bias
Rating Scale
Interview
Questionnaire
Schedule