Data Gathering
Techniques
Interviews
Questionnaires
Observation
Asking a set of questions
Structure
Unstructured
Synchrony
Structured
Synchronomous
Face to face
Series of questions designed to be answered asynchronously
Direct
Indirect
Issues for the success
Identifying participants
Relationship with participants
Triangulation
Pilot studies
Population (the kind of people that fits the criteria for the data gathering
Setting goals
Sampling (choosing the specific participants for the data gatheing)
Saturation sampling (access to all members of your target population)
Way of sampling
Probability sampling
non-probability sampling
Random sampling
Stratified sampling
Convenience sampling (volunteer panels)
Divide population into groups and apply random sampling(classes in a secondary school etc)
Samples that are available rather than those specifically selected
Can apply statistical test and generalize to the whole population
Making sure that this relationship is clear and professional
Investigation of a phenomenon from at least two different perspectives
Triangulation of data
Investigator triangulation
Triangulation of theories
Metodological triangulation
Data is drawn from different souces at different times or from different people
Different researchers have been used to collect and interpret different the data
different theoretical frameworks
Different data gathering techniques
Small trial run of the main study
Data Recording
Notes + photographs
Audio + photograps
Video
Interviews
Unstructured interviews
Structured intreviews
Semi - structured interviews
Combines feautures of structured and unstructured interviews and use of both and open questions
Focus groups
Enable people to put forward their own opinions in a supportive enviroment
Questionnaires
Similar to the interviews but they can be distributed to a larger number of participants so much more data can be collected
Only contextual information that is relevant to the study goal needs to be collected
Observation
Direct observation in the field
Degree of participation
Passive observer
Participant observer
Etnography
Observe a situation without imposing any a priori structure or framework upon it and to view everything as strange
Direct observation in controlled enviroments
Indirect observation: tracking user activities
Diaries
Interaction logs and web analytics
Google analytics
Choosing and combining tecniques
Depends on
The focus of the study
The participants involved
The nature of the tecniques
Available resources