CHAPTER 6 COLLECTION & PROCESSING OF DATA

1. CHAPTER 6COLLECTION & PROCESSING OF DATA DR.SHINEY CHIB PROFESSOR,DMIMS,NAGPUR

2. TYPES OF TOOLS • Observation schedule or observationnaire • Interview guide • Interview Schedule • Mailed questionnaire • Rating Scale • Check List • Opinionnaire • Document Schedule / data sheet • Schedule for institutions • Inventories

3. Observation Schedule Or Observationnaire This a form on which observations of an object or a phenomenon are recorded. The items to be observed are determined with reference to the nature and objectives of the study. They are grouped into appropriate categories and listed in the schedule in the order in which the observer would observe them. The items are structured with possible alternatives. Space is provided against each unit observation for encircling or checking, or recording as the case may be.

4. INTERVIEW GUIDE • THIS IS USED FOR NON-DIRECTIVE AND DEPTH INTERVIEW. IT DOES NOT CONTAIN A COMPLETE LIST OF ITEMS ON WHICH INFORMATION HAS TO BE ELICITED FROM A RESPONDENT; IT JUST CONTAINS ONLY THE BROAD TOPICS OR AREAS TO BE COVERED IN THE INTERVIEW. INTERVIEW GUDE SERVES AS A SUGGESTIVE REFERENCE OR PROMPTER DURING INTERVIEW. IT AIDS IN FOCUSSING ATTENTION ON SALIENT POINTS RELATING TO THE STUDY AND IN SECURING COMPASRABLE DATA IN DIFFERENT INTERVIEWS BY THE SAME OR DIFFERENT INTERVIEWERS.

5. Interview Schedule & Mailed Questionnaire These tools are widely used in surveys. Both are complete list of questions on which information is elicited from the respondents. The basic difference lies in recording responses. While a schedule is filled out by the interviewer, a questionnaire is completed by the respondent.

6. RATING SCALE • THIS IS A RECORDING FORM USED FOR MEASURING INDIVIDUAL’S ATTITUDES, ASPIRATIONS AND OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIOURAL ASPECTS, AND GROUP BEHAVIOUR. CHECK LIST THIS IS THE SIMPLEST OF ALL DEVICES. IT CONSIST OF A PREPARED LIST OF ITEMS PERTINENT TO AN OBJECT OR A PARTICULAR TASK. THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF EACH ITEM MAY BE INDICATED BY CHECKING ‘YES’ OR ‘NO’ OR MULTIPOINT SCALE. THE USE OF CHECK LIST ENSURES A MORE COMPLETE CONSIDERATION OF ALL ASPECTS OR THE OBJECT, ACT OR TASK.

7. OPINIONNAIRE THIS IS THE LIST OF QUESTIONS OR STATEMENTS PERTAINING TO AN ISSUE OR PROGRAM. IT IS USED FOR STUDYING THE OPINIONS OF PEOPLE. IT IS COMMONLY USED IN OPINION POLLS. PEOPLE ARE ASKED TO EXPRESS THEIR RESPONSES TO THE LISETD QUESTIONS OR REACTIONS TO THE LISTED STATEMENTS. DOCUMENTS SCHEDULE / DATA SHEET THIS IS A LIST OF ITEMS OF INFORMATION TO BE OBTAINED FROM DOCUMENTS, RECORDS AND OTHER MATERIALS. IN ORDER TO SECURE MEASURABLE DATA, THE ITEMS INCLUDED IN THE SCHEDULE ARE LIMITED TO THOSE THAT CAN BE UNIFORMLY SECURED FROM A LARGE NUMBER OF CASE HISTORIES OR OTHER RECORDS.

8. SCHEDULE FOR INSTITUTIONS • THIS IS USED FOR SURVEY OF ORGANIZATIONS LIKE BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, SOCIAL OR CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS AND THE LIKE. IT WILL INCLUDE VARIOUS CATEGORIES OF DATA RELATING TO THEIR PROFILE, FUNCTIONS AND PERFORMANCE. THESE DATA ARE GATHERED FROM THEIR RECORDS, ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. • INVENTORIES • AN INVENTORY IS ESSENTIALLY A LIST THAT THE RESPONDENT IS ASKED TO MARK OR CHECK IN A PARTICULAR WAY.

9. PROCESSING OF DATA

10. DATA PROCESSING IS AN INTERMEDIARY STAGE OF WORK BETWEEN DATA COLLECTION AND DATA INTERPRETATION. THE DATA GATHERED IN THE FORM OF QUESTIONNAIRE / INTERVIEW SCHEDULES /FIELD NOTES / DATA SHEETS IS MOSTLY IN THE FORM OF A LARGE VOLUME OF RESEARCH VARIABLES. THE RESEARCH VARAIBLES RECOGNISED IS A RESULT OF THE PRELIMINARY RESEARCH PLAN, WHICH ALSO SETS OUT THE DATA PROCESSING METHODS BEFORE HAND. PROCESSING OF DATA REQUIRES ADVANCE PLANNING AND THIS PLANNING MAY COVER ASPECTS AS IDENTIFICATION OF VARIABLES, HYPOTHETICAL RELATIONSHIP AMONG THE VARIABLES AND THE TENTATIVE RESEARCH HYPOTHESESES.

11. THE VARIOUS STEPS IN PROCESSING OF DATA MAY BE STATED AS • IDENTIFYING THE DATA STRUCTURES • EDITING THE DATA • CODING & CLASSIFYING THE DATA • TRANSCRIPTION OF DATA • TABULATION OF DATA

12. 1 IDENTIFYING THE DATA STRUCTURES DATA STRUCTURE IS A DYNAMIC COLLECTION OF RELATED VARIABLES AND CAN BE CONVENIENTLY REPRESENTED AS A GRAPH WHOSE NODES ARE LABELED BY VARIABLES. THE DATA STRUCTURE ALSO DEFINES AND STATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARAIBLES GROUP OF VARIABLES THAT HAVE BEEN PREPLANNED BY THE RESEARCHER. 2 EDITING EDITING IS A PROCESS OF CHECKING TO DETECT AND CORRECT ERRORS AND OMISSIONS. DATA EDITING HAPPENS AT TWO STAGES, ONE AT THE TIME OF RECORDING THE DATA AND SECOND AT THE TIME OF ANALYSIS OF DATA.

13. DATA EDITING AT THE TIME OF RECODING OF DATA • DO THE FILTERS AGREE OR ARE THE DATA INCONSISTENT ? • HAVE ‘MISSING VALUES’ BEEN SET TO STANDARDIZED VALUES, WHICH ARE THE SAME FOR ALL RESEARCH QUESTIONS ? • HAVE VARIABLE DESCRIPTION BEEN SPECIFIED ? • HAVE LABELS FOR VARIABLE NAMES AND VALUE LABEL BEEN DEFINED AND WRITTEN ? ALL EDITING AND CLEANING STEPS ARE DOCUMENTED , SO THAT THE REDEFINITION OF VARIABLES OR LATER ANALYTICAL MODIFICATION REQUIREMENTS COULD BE EASILY INCORPORATED INTO THE DATA SETS.

14. DATA EDITING AT THE TIME OF ANALYSIS OF DATA • IS THE CODING FRAME COMPLETE ? • IS THE DOCUMENTARY MATERIAL SUFFICIENT FOR THE METHODOLIGCAL DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY ? • IS THE STORAGE MEDIUM READABLE OR RELIABLE ? • HAS THE CORRECT DATA SET BEEN FRAMED ? • IS THE NUMBER OF CASES CORRECT ? • ARE THERE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN QUESTIONNAIRE, CODING FRAME AND DATA ? • ARE THERE UNDEFINED AND SO-CALLED ‘WILD CODES’ OR DUPLICATE CASES ? • COMPARISON OF THE FIRST COUNTING OF THE DATA WITH THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS OF THE RESEARCHER.

15. THE EDITING STEP CHECKS : • COMPLETENESS • ACCURACY • UNIFORMITY

16. 4 CODING & CLASSIFICATION THE EDITED DATA ARE THEN SUBJECTED TO CODIFICATION AND CLASSIFICATION. CODING PROCESS ASSIGNS NUMERALS OR OTHER SYMBOLS TO THE SEVERAL RESPONSES OF THE DATA SET. THE RESPONSE COLLECTED IN A DATA SHEET VARIES, SOMETIMES THE RESPONSES COULD BE THE CHOICE AMONG A MULTIPLE RESPONSE, SOMETIMES THE RESPONSE COULD BE IN TERMS OF VALUES AND SOMETIMES THE RESPONSE COULD BE ALPHANUMERIC. AT THE RECORDING STAGE ITSELF, IF SOME CODIFICATION WERE DONE TO THE RESPONSES COLLECTED, IT WOULD BE USEFUL IN THE DATA ANALYSIS.

17. NUMERIC CODING: CODING NEED NOT NECESSARILY BE NUMERIC. IT CAN ALSO BE ALPHABETIC. CODING HAS TO BE COMPULSARILY NUMERIC, WHEN THE VARIABLE IS TO BE SUBJECTED TO FURTHER PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS. • ALPHABETIC CODING:A MERE TABULATION OR FREQUENCY COUNT OR GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE VARIABLE MAY BE GIVEN AN ALPHABETIC CODING. • ZERO CODING: A CODING OF ZERO HAS TO BE ASSIGNED CAREFULLY TO A VARIABLE. IN MANY INSTANCES. WHEN MANUAL ANAYSIS IS DONE, A CODE OF 0 WOULD IMPLY A ‘NO RESPONSE’ FROM THE RESPONDENTS.

18. CLASSIFICATION • CLASSIFICATION IS THE PROCESS OF ARRANGING OR CATEGORISING DATA ACCORDING TO COMMON CHARACTERISTIC OR FEATURES POSSESSED BY ITEMS OF DATA. THE PURPOSE OF CLASSIFICATION IS TO CATEGORISE/ GROUP HETEROGENEOUS ITEMS OF DATA INTO HOMOGENOUS CLASSES/GROUP. USUALLY THE CLASSIFICATIONS ARE AS FLLOWS: • SPATIAL OR GEOGRAPHY OR AREA • TEMPORAL OR CHRONOLOGY OR TIME • QUALITY OR ATTRIBUTE • QUANTITY OR MAGNITUDE.

19. TABULATION • THE TRANSCRIPTION OF DATA CAN BE USED TO SUMMARIZE AND ARRANGE THE DATA IN COMPACT FORM FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS. THE PROCESS IS CALLED TABULATION. TABULATION IS A PROCESS OF SUMMARIZING RAW DATA AND DIUSPLAYING THEM ON COMPACT STATISTICAL TABLES FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS. IT INVOLVES COUNTING THE NUMBER OF CASES FALLING TO EACH OF THE CATEGORIES IDENTIFIED BY THE RESEARCHER. IN SIMPLE WORDS, ARRANGING THE DATA IN VERTICAL COLOUMNS & HORIZONTAL ROWS IS CALLED TABULATION.

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