ERP

Assignment Pooja Shah RA1511020010142

Data Collection Methods in Business Process

Reengineering

Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on
variables of interest, in an established systematic fashion that enables one to
answer stated research questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate outcomes.
The data collection component of research is common to all fields of study
including physical and social sciences, humanities, business, etc. While
methods vary by discipline, the emphasis on ensuring accurate and honest
collection remains the same.

1. Interview:
Interview refers to a formal, in-depth conversation between two or
more persons, wherein exchange of information takes place.

Objective of Interviews:
• To explore the thinking, assumptions, emotions, attitudes, perceptions
which may be influencing observed behaviour of those involved in some
way in the change in learning and teaching (L&T) being evaluated.
• If more in-depth qualitative exploration of an individuals’ perceptions is
needed than can be obtained from questionnaires.
• To follow up unexpected results or confirm interpretations generated by
other methods of data collection and analysis.

• Structured Interview:
The structured interview is by its very nature a very rigid instrument. The
structured interview is defined as a “verbally administered
questionnaire” which does not use prompts and provides very little
scope for follow up questions to investigate responses which warrant
more depth and detail. The advantage of such an approach is that this
extra structure allows for the interview to be administered quickly,
though it is of little use if ‘depth’ is required.

• Unstructured Interview (In-depth interview):
The opposite to this type of approach is the unstructured interview also
referred to as the In-depth interview. The unstructured interview is a
“conversation with a purpose” as it is intended to allow researchers to
collect in-depth information. It is a shared experience “in which
researchers and interviewees come together to create a context of

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conversational intimacy in which participants feel comfortable telling

their story”. One of the main advantages of the in-depth interview is the
ability to combine structure with flexibility.

• Semi-structured Interview:
The final interview approach is the semi-structured interview. This
approach is an interview that has several key questions which help to
define the areas to be explored, but also allow the researcher the
flexibility to pursue an idea in a response in more detail, this is a medium
between structured and unstructured interviews.

Advantages:
• Interviewing offers the flexibility to adapt questioning according to the
responses of interviewees, to clarify questions or answers, or to probe
answers more deeply with supplementary questions as appropriate, to
explore issues that emerge from the respondents. This is particularly the
case, the more unstructured the interview becomes.
• Data obtained, particularly from semi-structured and unstructured
interviews, can be much richer and informative than data obtained from
other methods.

Disadvantages:
• Interviews can be very resource intensive compared to other data
collection methods.
• Data analysis becomes more difficult as the data collection process
becomes more unstructured, particularly if trying to identify and explore
patterns.
• Selecting interviewees that will provide you with representative
perspectives is not easy, because you are unlikely to have the resource
to be able to conduct many interviews to evaluate any single change in
L&T. The voluntary nature of the interview may mean that your sample
is biased towards those that have not become disengaged with their
experience of the change initiative. Bias may also be introduced by other
factors such as the interviewee’s emotion at the time of the interview,
their ability to recall events and feelings, and their interaction with the
interviewer.
• Transcription costs and telephone interviews can be costly, and the scale
of the project and its evaluation may mean that such costs cannot be
justified.

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2. Questionnaire:
It is a list of a research or survey questions asked to respondents, and
designed to extract specific information.
It serves four basic purposes:
• collect the appropriate data
• make data comparable and amenable to analysis
• minimize bias in formulating and asking question
• make questions engaging and varied.

A questionnaire requires respondents to fill out the form themselves,
and so requires a high level of literacy. Where multiple languages are
common, questionnaires should be prepared using the major languages
of the target group. Special care needs to be taken in these cases to
ensure accurate translations.
In order to maximise return rates, questionnaires should be designed to
be as simple and clear as possible, with targeted sections and questions.
Most importantly, questionnaires should also be as short as possible. If
the questionnaire is being given to a sample population, then it may be
preferable to prepare several smaller, more targeted questionnaires,
each provided to a sub-sample. If the questionnaire is used for a
complete enumeration, then special care needs to be taken to avoid
overburdening the respondent. If, for instance, several agencies require
the same data, attempts should be made to co-ordinate its collection to
avoid duplication.

Types of questionnaires:

• Structured questionnaire:
a) Have definite and concrete questions.
b) Is prepared well in advance.
c) Initiates a formal inquiry.
d) Supplements and checks the data, previously accumulated.
e) Used in studies of the economics and the social problems, studies of
the administrative policies and changes etc.

• Unstructured questionnaire
a) Used at the time of the interview.
b) Acts as the guide for the interviewer.
c) Is very flexible in working.

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d) Used in studies related to the group of families or those relating to

the personal experiences, beliefs etc.

A questionnaire can also be divided as the follows depending on the
nature of the questions therein

• Open ended questionnaire
a) Respondent is free to express his views and the ideas.
b) Used in making intensive studies of the limited number of the cases.
c) Merely an issue is raised by such a questionnaire.
d) Do not provide any structure for the respondent’s reply.
e) The questions and their orders are pre – determined in the nature.

• Close ended questionnaire
a) Responses are limited to the stated alternatives.
b) One of the alternatives is simply YES or NO.
c) Respondent cannot express his own judgment.

• Mixed questionnaire
a) Questions are both close and open ended.
b) Used in field of social research.

• Pictorial questionnaire
a) Used very rarely.
b) Pictures are used to promote the interest in answering the questions.


3. Record Review:
Record or document review involves systematic data collection from
existing records.

Internal records available to a capacity builder might include financial
documents, monthly reports, activity logs, purchase orders, etc. The
advantage of using records from your organization is the ease of data
collection. The data already exists and no additional effort needs to be
made to collect it (assuming the specific data you need is actually
available and up-to-date).

If the data is available and timely, record review is a very economical
and efficient data collection method. If not, it is likely well worth the

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time to make improvements to your data management system so you

can rely on internal record review for future outcome measurement
work. Just a few changes to an existing form can turn it into a useful
data collection tool. A small amount of staff training can increase the
validity and reliability of internally generated data.

Here are some examples of documents or records from which you can
gather data:
• Sign-in logs from a series of workshops to track attendance in training,
measuring consistency of attendance as an indicator of organizational
commitment to learning.
• Feedback forms completed by workshop participants to learn about
satisfaction with training provided.
• Official records can include Federal, state, or local government sources
such as the U.S. Census Bureau, health departments, law enforcement,
school records, assessor data, etc. If the data is relevant and accessible,
then official record review is very low-cost.

Advantages:
• Low cost
• Relatively rapid
• Unobtrusive
• Can be highly accurate
• Often good to moderate validity
• Usually allows for historical comparisons or trend analysis
• Often allows for comparisons with larger populations

Disadvantages:
• May be difficult to access local data
• Often out of date
• When rules for recordkeeping are changed, makes trend analysis
difficult or invalid
• Need to learn how records were compiled to assess validity
• May not be data on knowledge, attitudes, and opinions
• May not provide a complete picture of the situation


4. Prototyping:
A prototype is like a model or a simulation of a real thing. In systems
analysis a prototype is a model of the system (or subsystem) under

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analysis. A system can be anything from the food ordering system at a

restaurant to the air traffic control system of a major airport. Prototypes
of these systems can take many forms. They can be paper-based or
computer-based. They can model the entire system with real data or just
a few screens with sample data. Prototyping is the process of
developing prototypes.

Advantages:
• Provides a formal specification embodied in an operating replica.
• More enthusiastic and constructive end-user, customer participation in
requirements activities.
• Improved morale of end-users, customers, and developers.
• Greater level of user satisfaction with systems development.
• Users better prepared for later stages of development due to familiarity
with prototype.
• Delivery of early proof-of-concept.
• Prototype may be easily changed and even discarded.
• Allows productive work to proceed despite initial uncertainties.
• Demonstrates progress at an early stage of development.
• May provide early training for future users of the system.
• May produce some useful deliverables even if the project runs out of
time or money.
• Should result in a product that is a better fit for the customer's
requirements.
• Systems produced through prototyping may be judged easier to learn
and easier to use.

Disadvantages:
• Can result in unrealistic schedule and budget expectations.
• Iterative nature makes it difficult for management to plan and schedule.
• Can bias the system analysis process. If the prototype is computer-based
manual alternatives are unlikely to be considered.
• Working prototypes may lead management and customers to believe
that the final product is almost ready for delivery.
• People can begin to think of the prototype as the solution.
• The excellent (or disappointing) performance characteristics of
prototypes may mislead the customer.
• Prototypes generally lack security, auditing, and other controls, and data
integrity may be difficult to ensure.
• Often inefficient and difficult to maintain.

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• Tendency not to document.

• Customers may not be prepared to provide the level or frequency of
feedback required for iterative prototyping.

5. Observation:
Observation is a systematic data collection approach. Researchers use
all of their senses to examine people in natural settings or naturally
occurring situations.

Observation of a field setting involves:
• prolonged engagement in a setting or social situation
• clearly expressed, self-conscious notations of how observing is done
• methodical and tactical improvisation in order to develop a full
understanding of the setting of interest
• imparting attention in ways that is in some sense 'standardized'
• recording one's observations.

Types of Observation:

Participant Observation:
Participant observation "combines participation in the lives of the
people being studied with maintenance of a professional distance that
allows adequate observation and recording of data". Participant
observation underscores the person's role as participant in the social
setting he or she observes.

Non-Participant Observation:
Non-participant observation is observation with limited interaction with
the people one observes. For example, some observational data can be
collected unobtrusively. This data collection approach results in a
detailed recording of the communication and provides the researcher
with access to the contours of talk as well as body behaviour (e.g. facial
expression, eye gaze). Even a great observer cannot record these
aspects in detail. Non-participant observation may provide limited
insight into the meaning of the social context studied. If this contextual
understanding is important, participant observation might be
needed. These two data collection techniques can complement each
other and be used together.

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Observing by video or audio recording:

If people are to be observed in a closed setting, the researcher is not a
participant observer, and tape- or video-recording is permissible then
this data recording approach may be appropriate.
Choosing to tape-record of video-record a setting will depend in large
part on what is permissible in that setting.

Advantages:
• Observation can help round out research by offering a real-world aspect
to a hypothesis. It offers a better description of consumer behaviour and
is less hypothetical than other methods.
• Observation allows you to see how consumers act together and
separately. Do purchasing decisions change in a group setting? Do
consumers act differently when by themselves?
• Observation allows you to create and observe actual situations. Instead
of using data to try and predict what will happen when consumers pass a
large product display, observation validates with actual results.
• Observation can improve the quality of an initial behavioural analysis
based on demographics, therefore increasing the validity of research.
• This technique is ideal for situations in which nonverbal communication
is important for a complete consumer profile.
• Observation provides a more reliable measurement of actual consumer
behaviour, rather than self-report metrics.

Disadvantages:
• Observation research can include a high degree of researcher bias.
Because the observer is human, subconscious opinions on demographics
can affect the analysis.
• Observation research doesn’t always return an accurate demographic
sample. It’s much smaller, and relies heavily on chance. Researchers are
sometimes left at the mercy of whomever came into a store that day,
whether or not it lines up with desired consumer profiles.
• Observation only tells one part of the story. Attitudes and opinions
cannot be clearly expressed only through actions, so it may not be the
clearest picture possible.


6. Joint Application Development:
An alternative approach to interviewing users one by one, called joint
application design (JAD), was developed by IBM.

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The motivation for using JAD is to cut the time (and hence the cost)
required by personal interviews, to improve the quality of the results of
information requirements assessment, and to create more user
identification with new information systems as a result of the
participative processes.

When to use JAD:
• User groups are restless and want something new, not a standard
solution to a typical problem.
• The organizational culture supports joint problem-solving behaviours
among multiple levels of employees.
• Analysts forecast that the number of ideas generated via one-on-one
interviews will not be as plentiful as the number of ideas possible from
an extended group exercise.
• Organizational workflow permits the absence of key personnel during a
two-to-four-day block of time.

Where and how to hold JAD meetings:
If at all possible, we recommend holding the two-to-four-day sessions
off-site, away from the organization, in comfortable surroundings. Some
groups use executive centres or even group decision support facilities
that are available at major universities. The idea is to minimize the daily
distractions and responsibilities of the participants’ regular work. The
room itself should comfortably hold the number of people invited.
Minimal presentation support equipment includes two overhead
projectors, a whiteboard, a flip chart, and easy access to a copier. Group
decision support rooms will also provide networked PCs, a projection
system, and software written to facilitate group interaction while
minimizing unproductive group behaviours.

Advantages:
• Time savings over traditional one-on-one interviews. Some organizations
have estimated that JAD sessions have provided a 15 percent time
savings over the traditional approach.
• Hand-in-hand with time savings is the rapid development possible via
JAD. Because user interviews are not accomplished serially over a period
of weeks or months, the development can proceed much more quickly.
• Possibility of improved ownership of the information system.
• Creative development of designs. The interactive character of JAD has a
great deal in common with brainstorming techniques that generate new

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ERP Assignment Pooja Shah RA1511020010142

ideas and new combinations of ideas because of the dynamic and

stimulating environment.

Disadvantages:
• JAD requires the commitment of a large block of time from all
participants.
• If preparation for the JAD sessions is inadequate in any regard or if the
follow-up report and documentation of specifications is incomplete then
the resulting designs could be less than satisfactory.
• The necessary organizational skills and organizational culture may not be
sufficiently developed to enable the concerted effort required to be
productive in a JAD setting.

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