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Data Collection Types
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Options Within Types
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Advantages of the Type
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Limitations of the Type
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Observations
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- Complete participant: research conceals role
- Observer as participant: role of the researcher is known
- Participant as observer: observation role secondary to participate role
- Complete observer: researcher observes without participating
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- Researcher has a firsthand experience with participants
- Researcher can record information as it is revealed
- Unusual aspects can be noticed during observation
- Useful in exploring topics that may be uncomfortable for participants to discuss
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- Researcher may be seen as intrusive
- 'Private' information may be observed that the researcher cannot report
- Researcher may not have good attending and observing skills
- Certain participants (e.g., children) may present special problems in gaining rapport
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Interviews
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- Face-to-Face: one on one, in-person interview
- Telephone: researcher interviews by phone
- Group: researcher interviews participants in a group
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- Useful when participants cannot be observed directly
- Participants can provide historical information
- Allows researcher 'control' over the line of questioning
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- Provides 'indirect' information filtered through the views of interviewees
- Provides information in a designated 'place' rather than the natural field setting
- Researcher's presence may bias responses
- People are not equally articulate and perceptive
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Documents
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- Public documents such as minutes of meetings, and newspapers
- Private documents such as journals, diaries, and letters
- E-mail discussions
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- Enables a researcher to obtain the language and words of participants
- Can be accessed at a time convenient to the researcher-an unobtrusive source of information
- Represents data that are thoughtful, in that participants have given attention to compiling
- As written evidence, it saves a researcher the time and expense of transcribing
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- May be protected information unavailable to public or private access
- Requires the researcher to search out the information in hard-to-fine places
- Requires transcribing or optically scanning for computer entry
- Materials may be incomplete
- The documents may not be authentic or accurate
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Audiovisual Materials
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- Photographs
- Videotapes
- Art objects
- Computer software
- Film
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- May be an unobtrusive methods of collecting data
- Provides an opportunity for participants to directly share their 'reality'
- Creative in that it captures attention visually
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- May be difficult to interpret
- May not be accessible publicly or privately
- The presence of an observer (e.g., photographer) may be disruptive and affect responses
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