Research Data Collection Methods (RDCM)


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1. Observation

Observation method is one way that can be used to collect data. This observation method is usually used to find out people's behavior in detail.

There are several advantages to observation when used to collect data in research, including the following:

Nonverbal behavior: Observation is considered superior in survey research, experiments, or document studies, especially when collecting specific data on nonverbal behavior.

The survey method is indeed superior, especially in terms of its ability to observe people's opinions on a problem. Social relations between members of society in a place can be observed through observation. While in observation, it can be done longer and in-depth. while in observation it can be longer, more freely, even in certain cases researchers can go directly into the middle of society.

Natural environment: Another advantage of observation is that the behavior that occurs in society is truly natural, not artificial and the result of certain engineering.

In observation, researchers can be more flexible and longer in observing the condition of society directly. This cannot be done by interviewers, surveys, or experimental research. Thus, to find out the behavior of society, especially nonverbal, the results will be better because they are in accordance with the actual conditions and situations of society. Meanwhile, in observation, this is not the case, because what is studied are all events that are taking place when the researcher makes the observation. Meanwhile, observation also has several weaknesses, including the following:

Lack of control: Only a few extraneous variables (other variables that are intentionally not targeted by the research, or can also be hidden variables that only the community is 'allowed' to know) can be known by the researcher. In fact, these variables may have more influence on the data being studied.

Difficult to quantify: Measurements in observational studies are usually based only on the qualitative perception of the researcher and not based on quantities as researchers do in experimental and survey studies. The weakness is that it cannot determine the quantitative measure of the relationship between existing variables.

Researchers give scores to the opinions given.

Small sample size: Observational studies usually use smaller sample sizes compared to survey studies, although they are still larger than the sample sizes in experimental and case studies. Ideally, observational studies need to use as many research subjects as possible to be observed, and many researchers need to do it, especially with the intention of eliminating the subjective factor of the researcher. If using many subjects and also many observers, then the observation data can be compared with each other, so that its reliability can be checked from there. This is especially true for unstructured observations, meaning observations that are not designed in such a way that the research variables being observed are not clear.

2. Interview

One of the most widely used methods in conducting social research is the survey method. The survey method is a research that uses questionnaires as the right data collection tool. The survey method is a form of research that involves humans to obtain information. For this reason, it is necessary to prepare a research instrument, namely a questionnaire (questionnaire) and an interview guide. Usually, survey research covers a fairly wide area and is carried out by conducting direct interviews with respondents or objects to be studied by providing a list of questions in the questionnaire. Or it can also be through other media such as the use of telephones, tape recorders, e-mail and so on.

Interviews conducted directly (face to face) have several advantages, namely the interviewer can improve cooperation between the interviewer and the respondent and allow the respondent to get clarification of the questions as soon as possible. In conducting interviews, respondents need to be given incentives to build their interest in conducting interviews.

Survey data collection techniques are carried out using interview techniques in the form of questions and answers between researchers and respondents (sources). The interview is in the form of a direct conversation (face to face) between two or more parties to obtain information verbally with the aim of obtaining data that can explain or answer a research problem. Interviews are one of the important factors in extracting information from sources.

The conversation is conducted by two parties, namely the interviewer who asks questions and the interviewee who provides answers to the questions. The questions asked can be written or oral questions using a questionnaire as a tool. With good and correct interview techniques, it is hoped that the interview objectives will be achieved. Every enumerator must know efficient and effective interview techniques.

The interview is semi-structured, meaning that the interviewer has guidelines in conducting the interview. In this case, the interviewer does not limit the answer choices and does not describe the type of answer given. Interviews can be conducted by asking open-ended questions. Usually, interviews are conducted by asking open-ended questions because the research being conducted is exploratory, meaning that the research is conducted to obtain as much information as possible from respondents.

In general, the objectives of interviews in survey research are:

  • To find out the respondent's personal data
  • Searching for information relevant to research objectives
  • Helps to identify problems in the field.

The following are some commonly used types of interviews:

Selection interviews (screening interviews) are interviews conducted to select the most qualified people or candidates to enter the next selection stage.

Interviews using electronic media such as audio tape or telephone (telephone interview) are interviews that are conducted directly using telephone media. This interview is usually conducted if there are still things that you want to ask directly to the respondent.

Group interviews (Panel or Group Interview) are interviews conducted with two or more interviewers at the same time.

In survey research, the answers given by respondents are highly dependent on the questions and the nature and condition of the respondents themselves. To answer questions asked by the interviewer is highly influenced by the respondent's memory, especially in answering matters related to numerical data or past data and events.

There are three basic approaches to collecting qualitative data through interviews, which involve three different types of preparation, conceptualization, and instrumentation. Each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses and serves a different purpose. The three approaches are informal conversational interviews, general interview guide approaches, and standardized open-ended interviews.

3. Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a list of questions asked to a respondent to find answers to the problems being studied. In the questionnaire there are questions, statements and entries that must be answered by the respondent. The answers given can be closed where alternative answers have been provided by the researcher, and there are also open answers where respondents are free to write their answers without any coercion or answers that come from a combination of both which are a mixture of closed and open answers.

The weakness of using questionnaires is the limited information obtained about personal cases, because researchers only ask briefly and usually only once, besides the relationship between researchers and respondents is only temporary. Questionnaires only rely on cursory answers from respondents, so the data obtained is very dependent on the quality of the questions. If the questions are prepared carefully, of course it will produce more complete answers and data. If the questions are not prepared well, it will produce inaccurate data and very high bias.

A closed questionnaire is made if the researcher considers that the researcher has found various alternative answers that are right for his research, in other words, the researcher only wants to get respondents' answers based on the answers that have been provided and not from other answers. For example, answers agree or disagree, yes or no, like or dislike and so on.

An open-ended questionnaire is designed because researchers want to know the respondents' opinions directly about the questions asked. For example, what do you think about the development of information systems today?

There are two types of questionnaires, namely questionnaires filled out directly by respondents and questionnaires filled out via e-mail or telephone. The first type of questionnaire can be done well if the researcher and respondents have enough time to write down their answers on the questionnaire submitted or given. The advantage of this questionnaire is that respondents can ask the researcher directly if the respondent does not understand the content or intent of the questions asked. In addition, researchers also encourage respondents to answer correctly and honestly without any interference from other parties.

The weakness is that if the number of respondents is large, then the researcher needs to add more enumerators. If there are few, the researcher himself can be the enumerator. The second type of questionnaire is a questionnaire distributed by letter, telephone and email, usually done if the respondent lives relatively far from the researcher and it is impossible to do it directly.

The weakness of this questionnaire is that in addition to requiring relatively expensive costs, the number of returned questionnaires is usually less than the number of questionnaires distributed. If the number of returned questionnaires is small, the result will be able to interfere with the results of the study, especially in data processing because the data collected is not accurate enough to be processed.

In research using a quantitative approach, questionnaires are one of the important tools for data collection. To create a questionnaire can be seen from the format of the questions and the model of answers given. In addition to questionnaires, other data collection tools that can also be done are by conducting interviews.

The methods of conducting interviews are arranged systematically in order to obtain quality information and data that are in accordance with what the researcher wants. In making this questionnaire, it is necessary to first test its validity and reliability before distributing it to respondents. This is useful to see if there are any questions or statements that are not understood by the respondents. If the respondents are able to answer all the questions asked, the questionnaire can be used directly in the actual research. In addition, it is also necessary to pay attention to the preparation of the question format and the answer model given, because both will greatly determine the quality and accuracy of the respondents' answers.

3. Ethnography

Ethnographic approach is an approach that focuses on the culture of a group of people. This approach is widely used in qualitative research. All of these studies are limited to ethnic issues and geographic locations, but have now been expanded to include every group in an organization (the business culture of a particular group).

Reference

  • Masri Singarimbun, Survey Research Methodology, 1989, LP3ES, Jakarta.
  • Suharsimi Arikunto, Research Procedures: A Practical Approach, 1997, Rineka Cipta, Yogyakarta.
  • Soekidjo Notoatmodjo, Research Methodology, 1993, Rineka Cipta, Yogyakarta.
  • Zainal A. Hasibuan, Research Methodology in the Field of Computer Science and Information Technology, Concepts, Methods, Techniques and Applications, 1997, Fasilkom UI, Jakarta.

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