B121

Chapter 7

Investigative Methods

Quantitative data & Qualitative data

Quantitative data

It describes measurable or countable features of whatever has been investigated

Qualitative data

Refers to intangible qualities or features.

Selecting your sample

Sampling is helpful to us because we can investigate a sample of a larger population in order to learn not just about the sample but about the population from which it was drawn.

Random sampling

Quota sampling

Collecting data

Primary data – it is a data that you, or the investigator, have collected and which did not exist before.

Secondary data – data that is already exist.

Public sources of information

Libraries

Printed information

Computer databases

Internet sources of information on organisation

Public sources of information

Uses & advantages

Public sources provide much of the information you need.

Their use can contextualise your research.

They can enable comparisons with other organisation to be made.

Public sources of information

Problems & limitation

Using public sources of information can be time consuming and costly.

Searches can be fruitless.

It can be difficult to assess what the information actually means for your organisation.

Internal documents

They can provide useful information which can assist in tracking the history of a project or organisation. They consist of original proposals, letters, minutes of meetings, costing etc.

Internal documents

Uses & advantages

They are usually cheap and easy to obtain.

They help you to understand why the activities or project have developed as they have.

They counteract any tendency to evaluate activities against your own expectations rather than against those which were originally agreed.

Internal documents

Problems & limitations

Internal documents can be difficult and time-consuming to analyse.

They can be limited in their capacity to give a rounded picture.

The quality of the minutes of meetings can vary according to the ability of the minutes taker.

Deficient filing system and archiving can leave significant gaps in the records.

Records or statistics

It is a routine way of monitoring activities and performance.

Uses & advantages

Records can be reliable.

They are controlled and implemented in-house.

They make it easy to extract comparison over time and between events and activities.

Records or statistics

Problems & limitations

Record keeping can escalate into a resource-costly and bureaucratic obsession.

Records may not reveal what really matters.

Changes to the methods of keeping records can undermine comparison.

Surveys & questionnaires

It is a technique in which a sample of the population is asked questions about the issues the investigator is interested in.

Surveys & questionnairesUses & advantages

Surveys are more likely to give results that are representative of population as whole than other interview or observation.

Data can be compared against expectations and targets.

When professionally administered – using short, clear questions – surveys can add credibility to your research.

Postal surveys have low cost per person.

Telephone surveys usually get a good response rate and are quicker that postal surveys.

Surveys & questionnaires

Problems & limitations

Response rates to postal questionnaires are nearly always low and therefore probably unrepresentative.

You get answers only to the questions you have asked.

Surveys results often lack the richness and subtlety it is possible to uncover other methods.

Statistical knowledge are often needed to analyse the data.

Interviews

They are generally face-to-face encounters between two or more people for the purpose of asking questions about satisfaction with products or services, establishing views, or suitability for employment.

Formal interview

Informal interview

Interviews

Uses & advantages

There is a good response rate

They are good for handling complex issues.

They can provide a cross-section of relevant stakeholder perspectives.

They can be informative, yielding much more qualitative data.

Interviews

Problems & limitations

The average cost of interview is high.

They are time consuming and costly to analyse.

They are difficult to analyse without some bias.

It can be hard to get honest answers.

Observing

It is a way of collecting information without any form of intervention or manipulation.

Uses & advantages

It can be the only way to see things as they are.

It can reveal realities and ways forward that are not evident to those intimately involved on a day-today basis.

Observing

Problems & limitations

It is time consuming

It can be potentially intrusive and ethically problematic.

It can be stressful

It can be subjective.

The observer can influence events.

Focus groups

They are small groups, usually between five and twelve people, whose opinions are sought.

Uses & advantages

Useful in getting reactions to new policies.

They are commonly used for seeking the views of a random selection of customers unknown to each other.

They are relatively quick to organise.

Focus groups

Problems and limitations

If sampling methods are not used it is difficult to know how representative the groups is of the particular stakeholder group they are drawn from.

Care needs to be taken that the moderators own views do not bias the group.

Group dynamics can affaect peoples views so that members express views they usually don’t hold