Data Sources &

Methods
TRW
Lecture-12
17th Sep-19
 Primary

Data Sources Secondary

Tertiary
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 Primary Source & Primary Data Source
Primary Data Source is the Original Data
source or first hand data collection
Interviews
Eyewitness accounts
Primary Observation
Source of Data Primary sources examples –
Census data (Published)
Personal diary (Unpublished)
Artefacts
Opinion poll for a national election
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 Pre-existing data
Books, articles, dissertations, archival
data, official records etc.
Secondary
Source of Data Popular sources in Literature studies
Secondary sources are important to
develop new research questions, to
explore sensitive issues

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 Books, articles that synthesise and report
information based on secondary data
source/s
Tertiary Source
Text books, encyclopaedias, mass
of Data circulation publications like Psychology
Today, Psychological Digest

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 Types of Methods: According to types of data
Primary Secondary
Data Data

Interviews
Diary, texts,
journals,
archival
Observations documents

Focus Group
Films, photographs,
Discussion
paintings, music,
conversations, Web
Life history / page, Facebook/twitter,
narrative interview blogs
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 The subject (the who or what) of study
Unit of about which a researcher may generalise
Analysis or E.q. schools, institute, communities,
Research Unit interest groups, voters etc.

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Accessing
Participants: Selection process used for identifying
Sampling in possible research unit /unit of analysis
Primary Data
Source

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 To select unit of research
Why we need To generalize results to a population
sampling? Obviously we can’t go to everyone and
ask

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 Everything (individuals, objects,
events etc.) that have a designated
Universe
set of specifications that a research/
study aims to pursue

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 Well-defined group of people,
objects, etc.

Population The population must be defined

explicitly before a sample is taken

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 Sample
A group/ segment/ portion of the
Sample population (people/objects etc.)

Representative sample
A sample that represents the
characteristics of a population accurately

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 Number of the individuals/ objects/
units
Statistically derived from the
Sample Size population in case of quantitative
research
Not predetermined for qualitative
research

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 All the units in the population from which the
sample will be selected
Examples
Telephone directory
Sampling Elementary schools
Frame University students, faculties
Members of a club
Social service organizations
Political party
Census data

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 Universe: Indian
Population _ 18+
Sampling
Population: Indian Frame
Population Female _ 18 +

Sample

Adopted from Malhotra, N.K. (1999), Marketing Research: An

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applied orientations, 3rd Ed, Prentice Hall, London)
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 Probability Sampling Non-Probability sampling
 Random
Sampling
 Simple Random  Quota
Sampling  Convenience
Types of  Systematic  Purposive
Sampling Random  Snowball
Sampling  Opportunistic
 Stratified
 Cluster

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Simple
Random
Sampling

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Cluster Sampling
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Snowball
Sampling

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Opportunistic Sampling

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Sampling process
Defining the Target Population

Determining the Sampling Frame

Select A Sampling Technique(s)

Determine the Sampling Size

Execution of Sampling Process

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 Geographical
Social
Study Context Psychological
Political
Temporal

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 Data Source Type Mode of Data
collection
Methods of Primary Direct
Data
Collection Secondary Indirect

Tertiary Indirect

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 Type of Tools
Data Source
Primary Interviews (face to face, focus
group), Observation
Types of Data (Participatory & Non-
Collection participatory), Surveys,
Tools experiments

Secondary Review, systematic review, etc

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 Interaction or conversation with a
Development purpose
of Tools: Effective method for collecting primary
Structured information
interview / Purpose of collecting data – data
Survey collection interviews
questions Face -to-face or telephonic

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 Data Collection Interviews
Personal interviews
Preparing Subjective – attitudes – preferences –
Questions opinions – tastes – emotional reactions
Determine facts known to a single
individual or a group of people

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  Open-ended questions – respondent can offer an
opinion – not just an yes or no
“What is your role in bringing back normalcy
among employees?
 Close –ended questions – gives specific
Preparing information
Questions “ Do you feel the unrest among employees will
continue for a week?”
 Restatement question – based on the respondent’s
previous answer
“ You said that the union leader would be meeting
the employees this evening. Is that information
correct?”
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 Decide the duration of the interview
Decide the number of questions
Planning for accordingly
the interview Adequate focus on the topic
Think about sequence
Ask intelligent and smart questions

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 Advantages-
 Provides qualitative data
 Enables you to observe the reactions of
Advantages & the respondent
Disadvantages Disadvantages-
 Time consuming
 Cannot contact large number of people

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 Advantages
 Quickest of the survey techniques
 Easy access
 Cost is low
Telephonic
Interviews Disadvantages
 Detailed data cannot be gathered
 Cannot observe body language
 Lack of privacy ( Can be beneficial in
certain cases)

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 To collect data from a large number of
people
To secure information ,facts, opinions, and
attitudes
Examples:
 What is your opinion on establishing a
gymnasium in our campus? (open ended)
Questionnaires What do you feel about the availability of
space for gym
adequate/inadequate?(dichotomous
close ended)

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 Multiple choice
What are the following time slots do you
feel would be appropriate for the new
gymnasium?
Example a. 5.30 - 6.30 a.m
b. 6.00 – 7.00 a.m
c. 5.00 – 6.00 p.m
d. 6.30 – 7.30 p.m.

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 1. Do you think students should have
more classes in Technical Report
Writing and Biology?
2. Would you like to go for a menu
Double- which is spicy and colourful?
barreled
3. Do you prefer a grading system that
questions is more liberal and with more division
of grades?
4. Do you feel this shop has variety and
quality in its selling products?

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 Provide clear instructions
Keep the questionnaire short
Preparatory Sequencing - ask about only one aspect
Steps at a time
Pretest the questionnaire

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 Mail questionnaire – include a return
envelope with a covering letter
Covering letter - Purpose of the study,
Preparatory Brief description of the questionnaire
Steps General instructions pertaining to the
questionnaire
Assurance of confidentiality and follow-
up

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 Please choose the best option by putting a
tick mark
Please rank the following items according to
the order of your preference ( 1 is the most
preferred and 5 is the least preferred)
Instructions
Please answer questions 1 to 5 by choosing
the best option
Select any TWO as per your preference

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1. Q. BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus has been organizing the
all India cultural festival Waves every year on its campus
attracting a large number of participants across various
colleges in India. The Council for Student Affairs (CSA) is
planning to find out the popularity of this festival through a
questionnaire survey. As a representative of CSA, prepare a
mail questionnaire containing 10 specific questions to be
administered on the participants from various colleges in India.
2. You need to prepare 2 questions (one open ended question
and one multiple choice question) for each of the following
issues:
1. Publicity, Event Management, Prizes, Hospitality, Security
Arrangements.

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 1.How did you come to know of Waves?
(Tick all applicable)
Newspaper
Publicity Social Media
(Sample Television
Questions) College Notices
2. On a scale of 1-10 how well was Waves
publicized? (With 1 being the
lowest)______

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1. Q.2 The Director of College Education, Patna, Bihar has been
concerned about the poor academic standards and
mismanagement of the affairs of various colleges in Patna. You
as Deputy Director of Education have been asked to enquire into
the matter and submit a report to the Director. Now prepare a
mail questionnaire containing 10 specific questions to be sent
to the faculty members of the respective colleges in order to
collect data for the report.
2. You need to prepare 2 questions ( dichotomous close ended
question and one multiple choice question) for each of the
following issues:
3. Pedagogy, Evaluation, Academic Infrastructure, Co-curricular
Infrastructure, Administration. 47
 Q.3The administration has observed that the reading
habit of students on campus needs to improve. You have
been asked to look into the matter send a report
suggesting some measures to improve upon the same

Think about any five major issues and prepare two

questions ( one open ended and one multiple choice with
four options) on each of the issues

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 Q.4 Bharat Airlines has been constantly incurring losses
because of a sharp decrease in the number of passengers
travelling by these Airlines. The Ministry of Civil Aviation,
Government of India is concerned about this problem and
wants to know the actual causes behind this
phenomenon. As the Chief Commercial Officer of Bharat
Airlines, you have been asked to conduct a survey in order
to arrive at some remedial measures.
Think about any five major issues and prepare two
questions ( once close end and one multiple choice with
four options) on each of the issues.

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 Since the introduction of BITSAT online test in 2005, the number
of girls admitted to BITS Pilani campuses has come down from
40% to 18%. Concerned about this decline, BITS Pilani has asked
University Vista, a company that is known for conducting surveys
to identify the major reasons and also suggest some measures to
increase the % of girl population in BITS Pilani campuses.

As a representative of University Vista , prepare a mail

questionnaire consisting of 10 questions ( 5 open end and 5 multiple
choice) on various issues pertaining to the topic.

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 Informed consent should be collected
from the participants
All the required permission should be
obtained
Ethical Participants’ identity should be kept
confidential
Consideration
Objectives and purpose of the study
should be explained to the participants
All participants should be given choice of
withdrawing from the study at any point
of time
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  Kerlinger, F N. (1986).Foundations of Behvaioral Research (3rd edition).
Chicago: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
 Long, K J. (2011). Unit Of Analysis in Lewis-Beck, M. S., Bryman, A., &
Futing Liao, T. edited The SAGE encyclopedia of social science research
methods Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. doi:
10.4135/9781412950589
 Malhotra, N K. & Das, S. (2017). Marketing Research: An Applied
Oriantation (7th edition). India: Pearson
References  McGinn, M K (2012). Secondary Data in Given, L. M. he SAGE
encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (Vols. 1-0). Thousand Oaks,
CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412963909
 Persaud, N. (2012). Primary Data Source. In Salkind, N. J. edited
Encyclopedia of research design. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications,
Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412961288

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