What Is Data Collection: Definition, Methods, Techniques & Examples

In this guide, we will define what data collection is and outline key data collection methods any researcher needs to be familiar with. This article will guide you through critical tools and techniques for this process. Also, we have tremendous and helpful examples for this part of the research. No doubt that you will be advanced in research after going deeper into methods of gathering data with our experts!

Once you collect all the information, be prepared to analyze data and interpret it in your study. But if you don’t want to deal with writing, buy a research paper from our experts and enjoy top-quality results.

Before we jump into tips and methods of research and gathering information, let’s define a data collection term. In a nutshell, before you will make a business decision, answer a research question or test your hypothesis, you need collected data. It is the information to analyze and outline answers to your questions. 

There are a lot of approaches to gathering information. They depend on the project's purpose and aims. For example, for academics, this process will depend on a type of research methodology — will they use qualitative or quantitative analysis, and what field are they working in? Next, we will focus on how to know what information you need to collect for valuable analysis.

The most important question before collecting data is to outline what exactly you need to gather to answer your research question or business analytic needs. It may look relatively easy, but before launching this process, ask yourself those questions:

You may wonder why we pay so much attention to data collection as valuable insights for our research we will get from an analysis process. However, you won’t be able to conduct a proper analysis if you collect data that is irrelevant or unclear. Your whole research project can fail because your data gathering techniques were compromised. 

Here are a few reasons why this process is important and why you need to consider the best ways to collect data:

Hopefully, you already have an understanding of why it is so essential to go deeper into gathering information. In the following paragraphs, we will guide you through methodology and techniques to help you choose one that fits your research.

As you already may know, there are different types of data collection in research. The whole process will depend on a set of variables, project goals, and questions you want to answer in this work. 

First and foremost, there are two main types of information:

Second, you need to define methods of data collection in research. Two key types of collected information for the research are listed below.

Let’s delve deeper into each type of data you may need for testing hypotheses or answering research questions.

Let’s start with the most frequently used type of information gathering for any analytical work. Primary data collection methods in research focus on raw outcomes you may extract or collect. It can be both qualitative or quantitative info, but a crucial element is that this information was not analyzed before by other researchers. 

Here is how you can collect information for conducting this type of analysis. It can be:

Next, we will delineate the specifics of each method.

These research data collection methods are used in case you need to find general characteristics or opinions on something. You can use it for both types of research. For example, run a correlation for some questions and content analysis for others. Surveys can be done online, by phone, or in person. However, it can also be a way to distribute data by formulating the survey questions.

This data collection method will help to go deeper into the understanding of a topic or issue. This is a one-to-one conversation based on questions you derive from a theoretical ground. Researchers use interviews for a qualitative study when they need to discuss some issues. It must be open-end questions to ensure that the recipient will go deeper into the topic. Interviews can also be online or offline, the responses should be recorded and transcribed later.

This data gathering method allows respondents to project their opinion or subjective beliefs on other people. Then this information will help researchers to understand real behavioral reasons better. It can be used during your interviews in small groups. Often you will find that political researchers use it. For example, if people do not want to say how they voted, they can be asked if they can guess how their neighbors voted. Research responses still will tell more about responders than about their neighbors.

In this case, researchers conduct a discussion in a small group to collect data and analyze it later. Those 5-7 people can be representatives of one or different social groups. Researchers ask questions and can determine how answers from other people affect each one in a group. It helps to understand the issue better and get some insights on the topic. However, a list of questions for your focus group should be defined previously.

One of the data collection strategies is to get a set of straightforward answers to simple questions. It can be structured questionnaires for quantitative research or unstructured for qualitative. Also, there can be various types of questions — open-ended, yes/no, multiple choice, and others. The aim of this type of gathering information is to have as much information about responders as possible.

This method of data collection can be used to research something in natural circumstances without affecting a situation. In other words, researchers can observe the behavior of someone in a specific situation without mentioning that this is research. However, the data should be collected or noted through surveys or journals. All details should be carefully fixed for future analysis.

This way of collecting data involves testing hypotheses to get the information for analysis. Researchers usually manipulate variables and measure their effect on each other. In other words, to gather the information, you need to launch a few tests and then use the results for analytics. This method can be applied to test hypotheses. You can understand how the variables can change any situation.

This is quite a popular technique to gather data. This method means the observation of a community, culture, or group of people first-handed. It is often applied to expeditions for learning the cultural or social specifics of the researched group. You must record all the observations (audio or text) and also add some reflection that will help to understand the phenomenon better.

This data collection method is most frequently used in economic research to gather expert opinions on research questions and get a consensus on them. In this case, the question is asked of a group of experts, and as a result, they provide a consolidated opinion on the topic. The aim is to collect an expert judgment on an issue that can open a new perspective on understanding and researching the topic.

As opposed to primary data collection methods, there are no specific ways of gathering the information in case of secondary data. All the data are already collected by other researchers. For example, someone researched the influence of metals on soils and already has test results. If you are also working on this topic, you can use the data collected by others to run your own analysis. (For instance, look at some correlations that were not previously observed.) 

As there are no techniques for secondary info gathering, here are some sources that can be used for further analysis:

In this article, we already discussed why we should collect data and what method to use in each situation. However, it is also essential to be aware of the best data collection tools. In other words, you need to understand what you may use for accurate information gathering. Let’s briefly discuss a popular data collection tool you may apply in your research. 

To be more specific with all the research methodology and tools we outline in this text, let's look at examples of data collection. It will definitely help to understand what technique you need to apply to each situation and research case.

Data collection example 1

Data collection example 2

To answer this question, you need to imagine how the wrong data can influence the whole research. An accurate data collection procedure is a guarantee that your paper or analytical work will bring valuable and practical insights. For instance, the decision-making should often rely on the results section of your analyses, and incorrect data collecting will ruin the whole study. It will cause wrong predictions and will manipulate the final conclusion section. 

Why may you be wrong with gathering the info for analysis?

You definitely don’t want to be a researcher whose studies do not work and never help to solve a practical problem. That is why academics need to put maximum effort into the accuracy of gathering information before analysis.

If you are already afraid to start the research, we got a guide with detailed steps in data collection process. In most grad schools, students have a few classes on research and usually learn what method or technique can be used for their work. It is not rocket science to complete accurate and valuable research. You can use our advice for your concrete case. Let’s discuss each step in detail! 

Before you start to collect and analyze data, you need to define critical questions. Why do you conducting this research, and what do you want to achieve? You may think that it's a piece of cake and there is no need to spend a lot of time on this step. However, we would say that you can start to gather data only when you understand why and for what purpose. What does it mean? 

First, your research goal will determine data collection techniques. For instance, you can answer research questions with qualitative data and test hypotheses with quantitative research. Second, accuracy with a final goal will help to define what type of information you need for analysis.

After you are clear with the research aims, you need to choose the strategy to collect data. It can be an experiment or survey, ethnographic method, or focus group. The gathering strategy should fit the analytical planning. In other words, you need to understand what technology and tools will help you to get the information you need for your research design. 

For instance, you are looking for the influence of social media on vaccination information campaigns. In this case, you will need to decide on a referral group and launch the survey. That is how you will measure the theory of change and role of social media strategies for this kind of campaign.

Outline goals of your paper and define the strategy for collecting data for research. What’s next? We would recommend focusing on detailed planning of data collection procedures for your work. This process can take some time and can be divided into a few phases.

The final step is to collect data – implement a tactic and strategy you defined before. It is essential to be accurate and follow all steps in gathering data. You can check various examples of this research stage. 

For instance, researchers can collect tweets for analysis using R or Python code and then convert them into Excel for further analysis. Or you can have interviews with experts, recode the audio, transcribe it, and then code as a part of the content analysis methodology. 

The other example is launching an online survey. You will need to send links to people you want to get responses from. If the researcher uses the automated tool, it is possible to get the whole information in tables or convert it into the form you need

Be sure that all the numbers you have are reliable and validated. This is the core of valuable outcomes.

Now that you have collected your data, it's time to start analyzing and interpreting your results. However, this can be a daunting task, especially if you are new to the world of academic writing. That's where our dissertation writing services might help you.

The last step you will conduct is analyzing collected data to outline insights. After you have an excel file or transcribed interview, you can apply the methodology to get results. Collecting and analyzing data processes should be planned together, as they are highly related. 

The analytical approach you use to obtain results depends on the type of outcomes you gather. For instance, if you conduct a survey, you might require measuring standard deviation or correlation for specific data points. Therefore, it is crucial to have clear research objectives to ensure successful work.

We went through each question in data collecting very carefully, and we hope you are ready to launch your own research and ensure the quality of results. However, if you need just a short overview of best practices before you start to collect data, you are in the right place. Let’s look at the essential tips and tricks you may use for your practices!

We are sure that after reading a whole text, you are ready to conduct valuable research! In this blog, our team explained what data collection in research is, how data is collected and recorded, and the best examples of collecting data. We prepared a detailed guide on methods and tools researchers can use in their work. You may wonder if all information is applicable to the different disciplines in academia, the same as in business decision-making analysis. The answer is yes. We delineate technologies that can be useful for each type of research. Just check our guide in case you still have questions.