Efficient Data Gathering Techniques for Systems Development

1. Fact Finding (Capturing Requirements) Systems Development

2. Overview • Approaches to Fact Finding • Sampling • Investigating Documents • Interviewing • Questionnaires • Observation • Summary

3. Approaches to Fact Finding Main approaches used are: • Investigating Documents • Interviewing • Questionnaires • Observation Analyst must decide: • What data should be gathered • What approach should be used ?

4. Sampling • Systematic selection of representative elements of a project goal. • Typical decisions • Many reports, forms, documents, memos in an organization relating to a system • Which should be used, which ignored ? • Many employees affected by planned system • which are interviewed, receive questionnaires are observed ?

5. Sampling Design Four Steps: • Determine the data to be collected or described • Determine the products / services to be sampled • Choose the type of sample • Decide on the sample criteria

6. Choosing Sample Type Not based on probability • Selection without restrictions: Convenience • Selection according to specific criteria: Purposive Based on probability • Selection without restrictions: Simple Random • Selection according to specific criteria: Complex random

7. Investigating Documents(Hard Data) Type of data found: quantitative and qualitative Quantitative • Reports made for decision making • Performance reports • Records • Data capture forms

8. Investigating Documents Qualitative • Memos • Notices on boards • Procedure manuals • Policy handbooks

9. Interviewing • Interviews reveal • Feelings, • Opinions, • Informal procedures, • Goals of interviewee • Can help interviewer to “sell the system”

10. Interviewing • Six steps in interviewing • Read background material and establish interviewing objectives • Decide who to interview • Prepare the interview • Carry out interview • Prepare written report • Review with interviewee

11. Questionnaires • Questionnaires reveal • Attitudes, • Beliefs, • Behavior, • Characteristics of respondents • Use when lots of people involved with system, or people are difficult to visit.

12. Questionnaires • Can be used in conjunction with interviews • Can be used to focus in on problem areas to consider in interviews • Can be used to test out opinions uncovered in interviews • Written format, should consider • logical presentation, ordering of questions • consistent style • use of “white space”

13. Questionnaires • Based on written questions and responses • Use mixture of open and closed questions • choice of words important, avoid use of jargon • should be free of bias • Effort should be made to use scales - even when open questions are posed • allow quantification of results • Questions must be valid and reliable • Valid: measures what was intended • Reliable: results are consistent

14. Observation • Observation reveals • Activities, • Information Sharing, • Task Interaction, • Social Characteristics of Organization

15. Observation • Need to decide • which activities to observe • when to observe • whether to use time or event sampling • whether to be neutral observer or active participant • how to record information revealed

16. Summary • There are four main approaches for gathering information • analyzing hard data, interviewing, using questionnaires and observation • These are all time consuming if done properly • The four main approaches can be used in a complementary fashion

17. Summary • To maximize the benefit that can be gained from data gathering it is advisable to explicitly construct the sample sets that will be used for any one approach. • Gathering relevant data is crucial to any analysis activity whether it is as part of a systems development project or a research project.