Data collecting

Inferential observations:  you may write down an observation that is inferred by the subject’s body language and behavior.

Evaluative observation:
You may make an inference and therefore a judgment from the behavior. Make sure you can replicate these findings.

Data collection defined as the “process of gathering and measuring information on variables of interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables one to answer queries, stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes.”

There are numerous reasons for data collection, but here I’m going to focus primarily on business and marketing related ones:

It helps you learn more about your customers

It enables you to discover trends in the way people change their opinions and behavior over time or in different circumstances

It lets you segment your audience into different customer groups and direct different marketing strategies at each of the groups based on their individual needs

It facilitates decision making and improves the quality of decisions made

It helps resolve issues and improve the quality of your product or service based on the feedback obtained

Before we dive deeper into different data collection techniques and methods, let’s just briefly make a difference between the two main types of data – quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative data

Quantitative Data

This type of data deals with things that are measurable and can be expressed in numbers or figures, or using other values that express quantity. That being said, quantitative data is usually expressed in numerical form and can represent size, length, duration, amount, price, and so on.

Quantitative research is most likely to provide answers to questions such as who? when? where? what? and how many?

Quantitative survey questions are in most cases closed-ended and created in accordance with the research goals, thus making the answers easily transformable into numbers, charts, graphs, and tables.

The data obtained via quantitative data collection methods can be used to test existing ideas or predictions, learn about your customers, measure general trends, and make important. For instance, you can use it to measure the success of your product and which aspects may need improvement, the level of satisfaction of your customers, to find out whether and why your competitors are outselling you, and so on.

As quantitative data collection methods are often based on mathematical calculations, the data obtained that way is usually seen as more objective and reliable than qualitative. Some of the most common quantitative data collection techniques include surveys and questionnaires (with closed-ended questions).

Compared to qualitative techniques, quantitative methods are usually cheaper and it takes less time to gather data this way. Plus, due to a pretty high level of standardization, it’s much easier to compare and analyze the findings obtained using quantitative data collection methods.

Qualitative Data

Unlike quantitative data, which deals with numbers and figures, qualitative data is descriptive in nature rather than numerical. Qualitative data is usually not easily measurable as quantitative and can be gained through observation or open-ended survey or interview questions.

Qualitative research is most likely to provide answers to questions such as “why?” and “how?”

How?

As mentioned, qualitative data collection methods are most likely to consist of open-ended questions and descriptive answers and little or no numerical value. Qualitative data is an excellent way to gain insight into your audience’s thoughts and behavior (maybe the ones you identified using quantitative research, but wasn’t able to analyze in greater detail).

Data obtained using qualitative data collection methods can be used to find new ideas, opportunities, and problems, test their value and accuracy, formulate predictions, explore a certain field in more detail, and explain the numbers obtained using quantitative data collection techniques.

As quantitative data collection methods usually do not involve numbers and mathematical calculations but are rather concerned with words, sounds, thoughts, feelings, and other non-quantifiable data, qualitative data is often seen as more subjective, but at the same time, it allows a greater depth of understanding.

Some of the most common qualitative data collection techniques include open-ended surveys and questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observation, case studies, and so on.

Data Collection Methods

Quantitative data collection methods

1. Closed-ended Surveys and Online Quizzes

Closed-ended surveys and online quizzes are based on questions that give respondents predefined answer options to opt for. There are two main types of closed-ended surveys – those based on categorical and those based on interval/ratio questions.

Categorical survey questions can be further classified into dichotomous (‘yes/no’), multiple-choice questions, or checkbox questions and can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” or a specific piece of predefined information.