Before we start

Answer those question in your note book

1 _________is concerned with the organization,
presentation,and summarization of data.
2____________deals with techniques of making
conclusions about the population based on the information
obtained from a sample drawn from that population.
3 write ameasurment scales for quantitative data
 Chapter two

Methods of Data Collection

By Samrawit .F (MSc. in Biostatistics)

 Introduction

• Before any statistical work can be done data

must be collected.

• Depending on the type of variable and the

objective of the study different data collection
methods can be employed.
Data Collection Methods
• In the collection of data we have to be
systematic.

• If data are collected haphazardly, it will be

difficult to answer our research questions in a
conclusive way.
 Data collection techniques :
Observation
Face-to-face and self-administered
interviews
Postal or mail method and telephone
interviews
Using available information
Focus group discussions (FGD)
 Cont.
1. Observation :
 is a technique that involves
 systematically selecting,
 watching and recoding behaviors of people for
the purpose of getting specified information.
 It includes all methods from simple visual
observations to the use of high level machines
and measurements,
Example: radiographic, X-ray machines,
microscope, clinical examinations, and
microbiological examinations.
 Cont.
Advantages:
Gives relatively more accurate data on
behavior and activities.
Disadvantages:
Investigators or observer’s own biases,
desires, and etc. and needs more resources
and skilled human power during the use of
high level machines.
 Cont.
2. Interviews and self-administered questionnaire

• probably the most commonly used research data

collection techniques.

• designing good “questioning tools” forms an

important and time consuming phase in the
development of most research proposals.
 Cont.
Once the decision has been made to use these
techniques, the following questions should be
considered before designing our tools:

What exactly do we want to know, according to

the objectives and variables we identified earlier?
Is questioning the right technique to obtain all
answers, or do we need additional techniques,
such as observations or analysis of records?
 Cont.
 Of whom will we ask questions and what techniques will we
use? Do we understand the topic sufficiently to design a
questionnaire, or do we need some loosely structured
interviews with key informants or a focus group discussion
first to orient ourselves?

 Are our informants mainly literate or illiterate? If illiterate,

the use of self-administered questionnaires is not an option.

 How large is the sample that will be interviewed? Studies

with many respondents often use shorter, highly structured
questionnaires, whereas smaller studies allow more flexibility
and may use questionnaires with a number of open-ended
questions.
 Cont.
The use of self-administered questionnaires is
simpler and cheaper; such questionnaires can be
administered to many persons simultaneously (e.g.
to a class of students), and unlike interviews, can
be sent by post.

On the other hand, they demand a certain level of

education and skill on the part of the respondents;
people of a low socio-economic status are less
likely to respond to a mailed questionnaire.
 Cont.
• In interviewing using questionnaire, the
investigator appoints agents known as
enumerators, who go to the respondents
personally with the questionnaire, ask them
the questions given there in, and record their
replies. They can be either face-to-face or
telephone interviews.
 Cont.
3. Mailed Questionnaire Method:

• The questionnaires are sent by post to the

informants together with a polite covering
letter explaining the detail, the aims and
objectives of collecting the information, and
requesting the respondents to cooperate by
furnishing the correct replies and returning
the questionnaire duly filled in.
 Cont.
• In order to ensure quick response, the return
postage expenses are usually borne by the
investigator.

• The main problems with postal questionnaire

are that response rates tend to be relatively
low, and that there may be under
representation of less literate subjects.
 Cont.
4. Use of documentary sources:
• Clinical and other personal records, death
certificates, published mortality statistics,
census publications, etc.
Examples :
1. Official publications of Central Statistical
Authority
2. Publication of Ministry of Health and
Other Ministries
3. News Papers and Journals.
 Cont.
4. International Publications like Publications by
WHO, World Bank, UNICEF
5. Records of hospitals or any Health Institutions.

Though they are less time consuming and

relatively have low cost, care should be taken on
the quality and completeness of the data. There
could be differences in objectives between the
primary author of the data and the user.
 Problems in gathering data
• Common problems might include:
o Language barriers
o Lack of adequate time
o Expense
o Inadequately trained and experienced staff
o Invasion of privacy
o Bias (spatial, project, person, season,
diplomatic, professional)
o Cultural norms (e.g. which may preclude
men interviewing women)
 Choosing a Method of Data Collection

• Decision-makers need information that is

relevant, timely, accurate and usable.

• The cost of obtaining, processing and

analyzing these data is high.

• The challenge is to find ways, which lead to

information that is cost-effective, relevant,
timely and important for immediate use.
 Cont.
• Some methods pay attention to timeliness
and reduction in cost.
• Others pay attention to accuracy and the
strength of the method in using scientific
approaches.
The statistical data may be classified under
two categories, depending upon the sources.
1) Primary data 2) Secondary data
 Primary Data

• are collected by the investigator himself for

the purpose of a specific inquiry or study.

• Such data are original in character and are

mostly generated by surveys conducted by
individuals or research institutions.
 Cont.
• The first hand information obtained by the
investigator is more reliable and accurate since the
investigator can extract the correct information by
removing doubts.

• High response rates might be obtained since the

answers to various questions are obtained on the
spot.

• It permits explanation of questions concerning

difficult subject matter.
 Secondary Data

• which have already been collected by others.

• are primary data for the agency that collected

them,

• are secondary for someone else who uses

these data for his own purposes.
 Cont.
• can be obtained from journals, reports, government
publications, publications of professionals and
research organizations.

• are less expensive to collect both in money and

time.

• can also be better utilized and sometimes the

quality may be better because collected by trained
persons.
 Cont.
• must be used with great care, because may be
full of errors due to the fact that
the purpose of the collection of the data.
bias introduced,
the size of the sample may have been
inadequate,
Or arithmetic or definition errors
 Cont.
• In general, the choice of methods of data
collection is largely based on the accuracy of
the information they yield.

• ‘accuracy’ refers not only to correspondence

between the information and objective reality
- although this certainly enters into the
concept - but also to the information’s
relevance.
 The selection of the method of data
collection

1) The need for personnel, skills, equipment, etc.

2) The acceptability of the procedures to the

subjects - the absence of inconvenience,
unpleasantness, or untoward consequences.

3) The probability that the method will provide a

good coverage,.
 Types of Questions
• Depending on how questions are asked
and recorded we can distinguish two major
possibilities

Open ended questions

 Closed questions
Open-ended questions
• Open-ended questions permit free responses
that should be recorded in the respondent’s
own words.

• The respondent is not given any possible

answers to choose from.
 Cont.
Such questions are useful to obtain
information on:

 Facts with which the researcher is not very

familiar,

 Opinions, attitudes, and suggestions of

informants, or Sensitive issues.
 Cont.
Example of open ended questions
• “Can you describe exactly what the traditional
birth attendant did when your labor started?”

• “What do you think are the reasons for a high

drop-out rate of village health committee
members?”

• “What would you do if you noticed that your

daughter (school girl) had a relationship with a
teacher?”
Closed Questions

• Closed questions offer a list of possible options or

answers from which the respondents must choose.

• When designing closed questions one should try to:

Offer a list of options that are exhaustive and
mutually exclusive.
Keep the number of options as few as possible.

Closed questions are useful if the range of possible

responses is known.
Examples of closed questions
• “What is your marital status?
1. Single
2. Married/living together
3. Separated/divorced/widowed
• “Have your every gone to the local village
health worker for treatment?
1. Yes
2. No
Closed questions may also be used if one is only
interested in certain aspects of an issue.
 Cont.
 Closed questions may be used as well to get the
respondents to express their opinions by choosing
rating points on a scale.
For example
• “How useful would you say the activities of the Village
Health Committee have been in the development of
this village?”
1. Extremely useful Ο
2. Very useful Ο
3. Useful Ο
4. Not very useful Ο
5. Not useful at all Ο
Requirements of questions

• Must have face validity: the question that

we design should be valid and relevant
measurement for the variable.

• Must be clear and unambiguous: the way

in which questions are worded can ‘make
or break’ a questionnaire. To ensure clarity,
each question should contain only one
idea.
 Cont.
• Must not be offensive: whenever possible it is
wise to avoid questions that may offend the
respondent
for example those that deal with intimate
matters,
 those which may seem to expose the
respondent’s ignorance,
and those requiring him to give a socially
unacceptable answer.
 Cont.

• The questions should be fair: should not be

phrased in a specific answer, and should not
be loaded. Short questions are generally
regarded as preferable to long ones.

• Sensitive questions: It may not be possible

to avoid asking ‘sensitive’ questions that
may offend respondents,
 Cont.
Example:
Those that seem to expose the respondent’s
ignorance. In such situations the interviewer
(questioner) should do it very carefully and
wisely.
Steps in Designing a Questionnaire

• Designing a good questionnaire always

takes several drafts.

• In the first draft we should concentrate on

the content.
 Cont.
• In the second, we should look critically at the
formulation and sequencing of the questions.
Then we should scrutinize the format of the
questionnaire.

• Finally, we should do a test-run to check

whether the questionnaire gives us the
information we require and whether both the
respondents.
STEP1: CONTENT

Take your objectives and variables as your

starting point.

• Decide what questions will be needed to

measure or to define your variables and
reach your objectives.
 Cont.
• When developing the questionnaire, you
should reconsider the variables you have
chosen, and, if necessary, add, drop or change
some.

• You may even change some of your objectives

at this stage.
STEP 2: FORMULATING QUESTIONS

• Formulate one or more questions that will

provide the information needed for each
variable.

• Take care that questions are specific and

precise enough that different respondents
do not interpret them differently.
 Cont.
• For example: “Where do community members
usually seek treatment when they are sick?”
cannot be asked in such a general way because
each respondent may have something different in
mind when answering the question.

The question, therefore, as rule has to be

broken up into different parts and made so
specific that all informants focus on the same
thing.
 Cont.
Avoid leading questions.
• A question is leading if it suggests a certain
answer.
For example, ''Do you agree that the
district health team should visit each
health center monthly?'' hardly leaves
room for “no” or for other options. Better
would be: “Do you thing that district
health teams should visit each health
center? If yes, how often?”
 Cont.
• Sometimes, a question is leading because it
presupposes a certain condition.

 For example: “What action did you take when

your child had diarrhea the last time?”
presupposes the child has had diarrhea. A
better set of questions would be: “Has your
child had diarrhea? If yes, when was the last
time?” “Did you do anything to treat it? If yes,
what?”
STEP 3: SEQUENCING OF QUESTIONS

Design your interview schedule or

questionnaire to be “consumer friendly.”

• The sequence of questions must be logical

for the respondent and allow as much as
possible for a “natural” discussion, even in
more structured interviews.
 Cont.
• At the beginning of the interview, keep
questions concerning “background variables”
(e.g., age, religion, education, marital status,
or occupation) to a minimum. If possible, pose
most or all of these questions later in the
interview. (Respondents may be reluctant to
provide “personal” information early in an
interview)
 Cont.

• Start with an interesting but non-

controversial question (preferably open) that
is directly related to the subject of the study.

• Pose more sensitive questions as late as

possible in the interview (e.g., questions
pertaining to income, sexual behavior, or
diseases with stigma attached to them, etc).
 Cont.
• Use simple everyday language.

Make the questionnaire as short as

possible. Conduct the interview in two parts
if the nature of the topic requires a long
questionnaire (more than 1 hour).
STEP 4: FORMATTING THE QUESTIONNAIRE

When you finalize your questionnaire, be

sure that:

• Each questionnaire has a heading and space

to insert the number, data and location of
the interview, and, if required the name of
the informant. You may add the name of
the interviewer to facilitate quality control.
 Cont.
• questions belonging together appear together visually. If
the questionnaire is long, you may use subheadings for
groups of questions.

• Sufficient space is provided for answers to open-ended

questions.

• Boxes for pre-categorized answers are placed in a

consistent manner half of the page.

Your questionnaire should not only be consumer but also

user friendly!
 Cont.
STEP 5: TRANSLATION
• If interview will be conducted in one or more
local languages, the questionnaire has to be
translated to standardize the way questions
will be asked.
• After having it translated you should have it
retranslated into the original language.
• You can then compare the two versions for
differences and make a decision concerning
the final phrasing of difficult concepts.
Thank You!