DATA COLLECTION: CONCEPT AND TECHNIQUES - SCIENCE - 2025

The data collection is an activity which is grouped or important information is collected about a particular topic; In general, this activity aims to provide the necessary knowledge for the development of a job or research.

For example: to learn the symptoms of a new virus, scientists collect data that will allow them to establish the characteristics of the disease. To do this, they carry out some surveys that offer information about the virus. In this case, the data may be made up of the age of the patients, the discomfort that each one of them experiences, among others.

Data collection is an activity where important information is grouped or collected on a certain topic. Source: pixabay.com

Data collection is also used in journalistic activities; For example, if a journalist wants to know the economic situation of a city, he must first collect information through interviews with a percentage of the people who live in that place. Then, the journalist establishes conclusions based on the responses of the majority of those interviewed.

The collection of information is carried out in different ways: it can be through surveys and interviews, through the observation of phenomena or from bibliographic consultations (that is, from the review of books and materials where the data was recorded).

Furthermore, this activity is not only carried out by researchers and scientists; It is also widely used in schools and educational institutions. This occurs -for example- when teachers collect data on their students (age, gender, exam grades…) in order to know the academic performance of a group of students.

Data collection concept

Data collection as a concept is quite recent; it can be established that it arose with the appearance of disciplines from the seventeenth century. At this time, the knowledge began to be divided into several branches and a series of names were given to the research activities carried out by the human being.

However, some claim that people have used this method since the beginning of civilizations. For example, the philosopher Aristotle was in charge of collecting 540 different species of animals; To do this, he had to collect information and methodically observe nature.

Definition and importance

In general terms, data collection is a collection process whose objective is to obtain information to establish conclusions on a specific topic. This activity can be applied in any discipline; whether in the social sciences, business, natural sciences, among others.

For example, if you want to study a species of parrots, the researcher must collect a series of data that indicates the weight, diet and colors of these birds. From this information, the person establishes some results that allow to know in greater depth the characteristics of this species.

This activity is very important in any investigation, since it gives truth to the work. That is, data collection is essential for people to take the research being done seriously. This occurs because the data allows establishing objective questions and answers that will adequately guide the researcher during their work.

It is worth highlighting that the data can be defined as quantitative or qualitative; in the first case, it is information that is expressed in numerical characters (such as weight, age, among others). In contrast, qualitative data are characteristics that are expressed using alphabetic characters; that is, in letters (such as colors, race, socioeconomic status, among others).

Data collection techniques

Generally, there are four techniques for collecting data: interviews, surveys, observation, and questionnaires.

The interviews

An interview is a short dialogue between the interviewer and the interviewee. Source: pixabay.com

Interviews can be defined as conversations directed to a specific audience that are structured in a question-answer format. For this reason, an interview is said to be a short dialogue between the interviewer and the interviewee.

This meeting aims to collect information about the ideas or feelings of a group of people on a certain topic.

For example, an interview can be conducted to collect data on people's opinions about vegetarian diets; From this, the researcher can know how many people would be willing to eat only plant products, leaving aside food of animal origin.

When using the interview method, you must choose whether the questions will be open or closed: in the first case, they are questions that require descriptive answers (that is, with great details).

On the other hand, closed questions are those whose answers are limited and were previously defined by the interviewer. For example: answers like yes, no, frequently, occasionally, never.

The observation

Direct observation, one of the methods used in qualitative research

It is one of the oldest and most widely used data collection techniques throughout history. In general terms, it consists of observing the study subject (this can be a group of people, animals, plants…) in order to determine their characteristics.

In this case, the researcher acts as a spectator who analyzes the particularities of the study subject. For example, if you want to know the characteristics of cacti -the object of study-, the researcher can observe and describe the elements that make up these types of plants: roots, color, spines, flowers (in case of have them), among other aspects.

After observing the group of cacti, a list is drawn up where the characteristics are listed; this activity is considered as a data collection.

To use the observation technique, the researchers follow these steps:

1- Define the subject or object that you want to observe.

2- Determine the duration of this activity (that is, the time that will be used for the observation).

3- Establish the objectives of the observation (that is, what you want to achieve with this activity).

4- Record what is observed in an orderly manner. This will allow you to quantify or qualify the characteristics effectively.

5- Establish the conclusions.

The polls

Surveys aim to collect information on a certain topic. Source: pixabay.com

They can be defined as a set of precise and simple questions that are directed to a certain percentage of the population. Like interviews, surveys aim to collect information on a certain topic, however, they differ in their mode of application.

In other words, interviews require a more in-depth interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee, while surveys use a more superficial interaction that does not require the presence of the interviewer, since they can even be sent by mail or email.

For example, a clothing brand may send its customers an email survey in order to understand the experience of shoppers when they visit stores. In this way, the brand is collecting data that will allow it to improve the service it offers.

The questionnaires

Statistics is a science that seeks to collect data to discover patterns or trends. Source: pixabay.com

Questionnaires are mainly used to evaluate a certain group of people. They should not be confused with surveys, as the questionnaires are not based on statistical analysis.

It is worth noting that a statistical analysis or statistics is a science that seeks to collect data to discover patterns or trends.

Consequently, the surveys aim to obtain specific data that will be evaluated using statistics; instead, the questionnaires follow a simpler structure that does not require statistics.

For example: a quiz can be the exam that a group of students took, because this allows teachers to assess students' knowledge. On the other hand, a survey can be a set of questions that are asked to know the possible results of the presidential elections.

It is important to note that, depending on the type of data, certain techniques will be used. This means that the collection methods may vary if it is qualitative or quantitative data.

Techniques according to qualitative data and quantitative data

It should be noted that any data collection technique can yield results in a quantitative or qualitative way, since, basically, values ​​or qualities are the means of expression of the data.

- Qualitative data collection techniques

As mentioned above, qualitative data is expressed using alphabetic characters and can be acquired primarily through observation, interviews, and bibliographic readings (that is, information is gathered by reading texts).

For example, if it is desired to make a qualitative observation of the characteristics of the worms, the researcher will take into account the non-quantifiable (non-numerical) elements such as the color and the feeding of these insects.

Likewise, a journalist conducts a qualitative interview when he asks a group of people about their experience with a certain film.

To do this, the journalist uses questions such as What do you think about the performance of this artist? Are you satisfied with the performance of the director? Did you like the special effects? Among other. As you can see, the possible answers to these questions do not use numbers.

- Quantitative data collection techniques

Quantitative techniques consist of using data that were the product of measurements, therefore, researchers use only numerical data; furthermore, these data are usually evaluated through statistical analysis.

For example, if a researcher wants to know the percentage of people who are overweight in a locality, he or she can conduct a quantitative survey asking questions about the age, sex, weight, and height of the people.

Observation is also used for quantitative investigations; For example, one can investigate the characteristics of worms, but this time from a numerical approach, recording data such as length, number of legs, number of eyes, among others.

References

1. Jovancic, N. (2019) 5 data collection methods for obtaining quantitative and qualitative data. Retrieved on February 28, 2020 from LeadQuizzes.
2. Nuñez, R. (2016) Information gathering techniques in qualitative research. Retrieved on February 28, 2020 from Gestiopolis: Gestiopolis.com
3. Porto, J. Merino, M. (2014) Definition of data collection. Retrieved on February 28, 2020 from definicion.de
4. SA (2018) Methods of data collection. Retrieved on February 28, 2020 from ResearchGate.
5. SA (sf) Questionnaire and survey: What is the difference? Retrieved on February 28, 2020 from Questionpro.com
6. SA (sf) Data collection methods. Retrieved on February 28, 2020 from Research-Methodology: research-methodology.net