Tools of data collection — observation, interview, questionnaire and schedule, case study, sampling, Stages of data collection — conceptualizing problem, laying down hypothesis, defining the variables, choosing the tools of data collection, phase of data collection, data analysis

Before a single conclusion in a social-science report is written, the researcher had to decide how to actually gather the raw material — watch people, ask them questions on paper, ask them questions in person, or study one case in depth. Each tool produces a different kind of evidence with different weaknesses, and each research project has to move through the same sequence of stages, from framing the problem to analysing the final data, to be trustworthy at all.

In two minutes

Observation, interview, questionnaire and schedule, case study, and sampling are the main tools researchers use to collect social data, and a sound research project moves systematically through defined stages — from conceptualizing the problem to analysing the data collected — rather than gathering information haphazardly.

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