1. SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION
BY:
MS NOOR SHAHARIAH BT SALEH
FAC. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
UTHM BP

2. SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION
Primary sources
- Your own data collection from own investigation
Secondary sources
From publications, government documents, brochures, newsletters, annual reports
Look for recent reports, check on the author’s qualification and the reputation of the publisher
Document the sources through footnotes, endnotes or reference list

3. Collecting Primary Data
The 4 main ways to collect primary data:
1. Documents
- can be primary or secondary source
- from own company files, business documents such as sales reports, policy statements, correspondence with customers, suppliers, contracts and log book.
2. Observation
- informal observation by using eyes or ears based on the researcher visiting a facility or observe operations
- specific observations with a checklist on what to look out for
- useful when studying objects, physical activities, the environment or human behaviour

4. - how many individuals should be contacted to get reliable results?
- the disadvantage depends on the reliability of the observer as people have the tendency to see what they want on their own experiences. Therefore, proper instructions and trustworthy observer is essential.
3. Surveys
- includes single interviews to the experts to distribution of thousands of questionnaires to outsiders.
- a formal survey can consist of face-to-face interviews, phone calls or printed questionnaires.
- how many individuals should be contacted to get reliable results?
- what specific questions should be asked?

5. Things to be avoided when constructing questions:
Biased questions
The questions that encourage participants to respond in a certain way.
Biased q: don’t you agree that campus parking is a problem?
Revised q: Is parking on campus a problem?

6. Questions that assume/ predict what they ask.
- A type of biased question and lead participants to agree.
Assumption q: There are many people who believe that campus parking is a problem. Are you one of them?
Revised q: do you agree or disagree that campus parking is a problem?

7. Double- barreled questions
The questions have more than one question embedded within it. Participants may answer one but not both, or disagree with a part all of the question.
Double- barreled q: Do you agree that campus parking is a problem and that the administration should be working diligently on a solution?
Revised q: is campus parking a problem? If yes, what the administration do to solve the problem?

8. Confusing or wordy questions
Confusing q: what do you think about parking?
(this is confusing because the question isn’t clear about which parking involves)
Revised q: What is your opinion of the parking situation on campus?

9. Unrelated questions
Make sure the questions are related to the study to be conducted.
Unrelated qs: Have you ever encountered problems in the parking garage on campus? Do you like or dislike the bus system?

10. Types of survey questions
a. Open-ended question
Eg: How would you describe the way the van driver drove the van?
b. Either-or
Eg: Do you think that the van driver obey the Safety Regulation while driving on the road?
Yes / No
c. Multiple choice
Eg: What is best way to educate the van drivers?
a. UTHM should give often reminder
b. By distributing flyers and brochures to the drivers
c. Never renew the permit if they have safety offends
d. Suspend their services

11. d. Scale
Eg: Please mark an X on the scale to indicate how you feel regarding your safety while traveling on the vans provided by UTHM.
Key: 1 Very safe (VS)
2 Safe (S)
3 Moderate (M)
4 Unsafe (US)
5 Very unsafe (VUS) 1 2 3 4 5 VS S M US
VUS

12. e. Checklist
e.g. Which movie/s have you watched in the past 3 months? (tick / all that apply)
i. Shrek 3
ii. The Incredibles
iii. Terminator III
iv. I know What You Did Last Summer
v. Hamlet

13. Ranking
e.g. Rank these movies according to your preferences; from 1 (most preferred) to 5 (least preferred).
i. Shrek 3
ii. The Incredibles
iii. Terminator III
iv. I know What You Did Last Summer
v. Hamlet

14. Guidelines when making survey questions
Provide clear instructions; especially on how to fill out the questionnaires or provide explanations on why the research is conducted,
Keep the questions short and easy to answer
Create questions that are easy to tabulate or analyse; eg. numbers
Ask only one thing at one time.
NOT: “Do you read books and magazines regularly?”
Pretest the questionnaire on a sample group

15. 4. Experiments
- for technical fields to see the differences between two factors/ elements/ variables,
eg. Experiments done on animals or two groups of people

16. SECONDARY DATA Information from secondary sources is most useful
To find out about the background to the topic
To be included in the introduction to the report.

17. When using the information from secondary sources, write the author’s name, the date of publication to the book or article, and the number of the page. For example:
According to a recent newspaper report, “The amount of waste produced by the population of Kuala Lumpur would fill both of the KLCC Twin Tower within three days” (Hamid, 2005:p. 10)

18. In the List of References, the quotation should appear as below:
Hamid Azman. (2005, 25 October). Coping with KL’s waste. The New Straits Times, p. 10.