The Best Data Collection Methods
What brings authenticity to the massive researches conducted by companies and a diverse range of organizations from different industries? It’s the data, right? No matter what research domain you look into, there will be some sort of data collection mechanism behind it. From a trivial sample of data to a massive collection of data spanning across the globe, data collection method must be effective enough to acquire the right data from the right audience
Is your data collection method is not efficient? Well, the consequences of such inefficiency would emerge in the results of the research. The raw data collected from these methods are utilized to formulate some information. This unauthentic data leads to poor decision-making in the future. Therefore, a thorough emphasis must be put on the data collection method beforehand.
Data Collection Methods — A Sneak Peek
Every industry has a diverse set of needs and business background. Before choosing the right method, you must first analyze which data collection method do your business needs fall into.
Let’s look into some of the most effective data collection methods that companies can leverage to carry out their data collection process.
Quantitative Data Collection Method
The first category is quantitative method. The main purpose of collecting quantitative data is to quantify the data. If you are planning to gather data that gives you numerical statistics after processing, then qualitative data collection method is what you should opt for. Companies who adopt this method usually solve the problems that involve the scales such as “how many” or “what number”.
Probability Sampling
Moving towards the mechanism through which quantitative data can be gathered, probability sampling is the first technique that is used to gather data from the individuals who are selected randomly. This technique is free from all sorts of biasing.
Beware! You must ensure that the probability set on your target population must be equal for all units. For example, females and males can be considered two distinct units in a population.
Data Smoothing
While forecasting or decision-making process, nobody wants to consider the entities in the data set that are deviated from the standard pattern formed by the entire collected data. Data smoothing technique allows companies to remove such outliers from the data to ensure that a clear and well-defined forecast is brought forward using the collected data.
Qualitative Data Collection Method
Contrary to the quantification of data, qualitative data collection technique focuses on the characteristics of data. The main purpose of this method is to conduct research for the problems that involve narratives, patterns, emotions that are prevalent among the population. This non-numeric data collection method emphasizes on analysis and hypothesis rather than numerical outcomes.
Observation
This technique is something that depicts day-to-day behaviors and patterns. If you are a retail brand and want to analyze the buying patterns of your customers, then observation is a simple and effective way to kickstart your data collection.
Which time of the year is mostly preferred by the customers for buying? Which product is purchased mostly by the customers? Which products are getting negative feedback from the customers? All such trivial, yet pivotal information can be acquired merely through careful observation.
Interviews
If your target population is small and you have the resources to conduct separate interviews, then this technique also gives a more personal insight about the preferences of the population. Merely asking questions and recording the answers of the participants can assist you in gathering qualitative data for future predictions and forecasting.
Are Digital Forms Qualitative or Quantitative Data Collection Method?
Digital forms are quite common and effective technique to gather data. All you have to do is to prepare a set of questions and circulate them among your population in digital forms.
Digital forms can be qualitative as well as quantitative. It primarily depends on the nature of questions which category digital forms fall into. If you are using questions with simply yes/no answers, then you can easily quantify this data. But if you are asking for the opinion of the population in these questions, then these digital forms will fall under the category of qualitative data collection method.
Which Data Collection Tool is the Best?
There are a lot of tools available to facilitate your business in data collection. But Luuk sets itself apart from other tools thanks to its diverse features. Fully customized digital forms, real-time report generation, 24/7 data access, historic data logs, and convenient change tracking are the notable features of Luuk that can remove all sorts of hassle from your data collection and analysis procedures.