DATA COLLECTION – ITS TYPES AND IMPORTANCE

DATA COLLECTION – ITS TYPES AND

IMPORTANCE

INTRODUCTION

Educational research is based upon various types of information. It is not possible with out different kinds of information. Just as a building requires bricks and mortar for its construction, similarly educational research requires concerned information. These information give knowledge concerning social phenomena. Now in order to carry on research successfully, information should be gathered from proper sources. The more valid is the source of information, the more reliable will be the information received which, in its turn, will lead to correct and reliable conclusions. Therefore, research presupposes a knowledge of kinds and sources of information. Different types of educational researches require different types of information or data.

KINDS OF INFORMATION

Different kinds of information are required in research. This can be classified in to the following two types of information: -

1.                 Primary Data

Primary data are the actual information which are received by the researcher for study from the actual field of research. These data are attained by means of questionnaires and schedules. In some fields primary data are collected through interview and observation method. The observation method for collecting primary data, may be both participant and non participant. Such data are known as primary because they are attained by the researcher from the field of research directly and for the first time. Primary data are generally attained through two source. The primary source of primary data are the facts of living persons lives. The other source is the connected events known through observation such as the life of the group, traditions and customs are different aspects of daily life. Participant observation some times unravels such primary data which cannot be known by any other means.

2.                 Secondary Data

Secondary data are the information which are attained indirectly. The researcher does not attain them himself on directly. Such data are attained generally from published and un published material. Secondary data are gathered from information collected from the individuals and institutions through personal diaries, letters and survey documents etc. The secondary data again, are gathered through two types of sources. The first source are the personal documents such as diaries, letters, photographs etc. The source are the public documents such as books, manuscripts records, census reports, reports of surveys by private institutions and various informations published in news papers and magazines. According to Lundeberg, the information achieved from inscriptions on stones and objects of excavations may also be included in secondary data.

IMPORTANCE OF DATA COLLECTION

1.             Data act as a foundation of the research work.

2.             Data are the raw material used in the reseaarch work.

3.             Data determines the quality of the research work.

4.             Data is used to testing the tenability of the hypothesis

5.             Data enables the investigator to solve the problem.

6.             Data helps the investigator to formulate theories and principles and also helps for generalising the research.

DATA COLLECTION IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH

The historical research is employed by researcher who are curious about conditions and occurrences that have taken place in the past obtaining knowledge about the past has always intrigued man. The historical method of investigation is of particular interest to scholars because of the universality of its application. One can apply it only to subject matter that is commonly referred to as history, but also to ascertain the meaning and reliability of past facts in the natural sciences, law, medicine, religion or any other discipline.

Sources of historical data.

PRIMARY SOURCES F DATA

The original documents are termed as primary sources. These are solid basis of historical research and are highly prized by a historian.

1.       Documents or records.

These are maintained and written by actual participant or witness of an event. These sources are produced for the purpose of transmitting information to be used in the future. Documents classified as primary sources are constitutions, charters, laws, court, decisions, diaries, deeds, generalogies, autobiographics, letters, official minutes, contracts, wills, permits, licenses, affidavits, depositions, declarations, proclamations certificates, lists, bills, hand bills, receipts, newspapers,

and magazines, accounts, maps, diagrams, books, pamphlets, catalogues, films, pictures, paintings, recordings, transcriptions and research reports.

2.       Remains or relies

These are associated with a person, group or period, fossils, skeletons, weapons, food, utensils, clothing, buildings, furniture’s, pictures, paintings, coins, and art objects are examples of relics. The content of an ancient burial place, may reveal a great –deal of information about the way of life of a people -their food, clothing, tools, weapons, art religious, beliefs, means of livelihood and customs.

3.       Oral Testimony

These spoken account of witness or participant in an event. It is obtained in a personal interview. It may be recorded or transcipted as the witness relates his experiences.

SECONDARY SOURCES OF DATA

Secondary sources are the reports of a person who relates the testimony of actual witness of or participant in an event. The writer of the secondary source who was not on the scene of the event, merely reports what the person who was there said or wrote. Secondary sources of data are usually of limited worth for research purposes due to the error that may result when information is passed on from one person to another. Most history books and encyclopedias are examples of secondary source.

Some types of material may be secondary sources for some purposes and primary sources for other.

 Eg.- A high school text book in American history is ordinary a secondary source. But if one was making a study of the changing emphasis on nationalism in high school American history text boks the book will be a primary document or source of data.

DATA COLLECTION DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH.

The nature of descriptive research is easier to comprehend if one first obtains some knowledge of the various steps involved in an investigation as well as the different methods employed to collect and express data, and the general categories under which studies may be classified

When conducting a descriptive study, one must identify not only the information that is needed but also the exact nature of the population  from which it is to be obtained. The population, sometimes called  the universe or aggregate is a whole. After identifying the population one must decide whether to collect data from (1) total population or  (2)representative sample of the population. The nature of the problem and the use to be made of the findings determine which method is employed.

TOTAL POPULATION

Information can usually be obtained from every unit of a small population, but the findings cannot be applied to any  population other than the group studied. An investigator may collect information, for example about the salary, training, age, and sex of all teachers in one school. From these data he can draw generations about the average salary, training, age and sex of that particular group. But he cannot claim that these generalization would hold true for any other group of teachers- now in the past or in the future.

SAMPLE POPULATION

When it is necessary to obtain information about a large

population, such as all of the teachers in the state it is often impractical, impossible or exorbitantly costly to contact, observe, measure, or interview every unit in the group. More over, the amount of time necessary to collect the information may render the data a obsolete before if can be used. Hence in many studies, one merely collects information some a few carefully selected units in a group. If these sample units accurately represent the characteristics of the population, generalisations based on the data obtained from them can to be applied to the entire group.

DATA COLLECTION IN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Conducting a test to determine cause is only one task involved in experimental research.

So in experimental research the data collection is by conducting an experiment to the sample of population. And the score obtained from the test we can collect the relevant data for the study.