REPORT ON METHODS OF PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION

MBA-001 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF PROF.SALINI NIGAM AND PROF.AKSHAY KUMAR SATSANGI DEPARMENT OF MANAGEMENT FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

SUBMITTED BYBIMAL YADAV ROLL-NO -117611 MBA-3 SEMESTER

INTRODUCTIONThe Primary Data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time and thus happen to be original in character. Primary data are first-hand information collected through various methods such as observation, interviewing, mailing etc. We collect primary data during the course of doing experiments in an experimental research. The primary data are to be originally collected.

METHODS OF PRIMARY DATA COLLETION

There are many methods of collecting primary data and the main methods are: Questionnaires Interviews Focus Group Interviews Observation Case studies Diaries Critical incidents Portfolios

QuestionnairesQuestionnaires are a popular means of collecting data, but are difficult to design and often require many rewrites before an acceptable questionnaire is produced. Advantage Can cover a large number of people or organizations. Wide Geographic coverage Relatively cheap etc. Disadvantage Design problems Time delay etc

Interviews Interviewing is a technique that is primarily used to

gain an understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations for peoples attitudes, preferences or behaviour. It involves not only conversation, but also learning from the respondents gestures, facial expressions and pauses, and his environment. Interviewing requires face-to-face contact or contact over telephone and calls for interviewing skills.

Types of interview Structured- Based on a carefully worded interview

schedule. Frequently require short answers. Semi-structuredThe interview is focused by asking certain questions but with scope for the respondent to express him or herself at length. UnstructuredThis also called an in-depth interview. The interviewer begins by asking a general question. The interviewer uses an unstructured format

Focus group interviewsA focus group is an interview conducted by a trained moderator in a non-structured and natural manner with a small group of respondents. The moderator leads the discussion. The main purpose of focus groups is to gain insights by listening to a group of people from the appropriate target market talk about specific issues of interest.

ObservationObservation involves recording the behavioural patterns of people, objects and events in a systematic manner. Observation means viewing or seeing. We go on observing some thing or other while we are awake. Most of such observations are just casual and have no specific purpose. But observation as a method of data collection is different from such casual viewing.

Case-studies The term case-study usually refers to a fairly intensive

examination of a single unit such as a person, a small group of people, or a single company. Case-studies involve measuring what is there and how it got there. The case-study method has three steps1- Determine the present situation. 2- Gather background information about the past and key variables. 3-Test hypotheses. The background information collected will have been analysed for possible hypotheses.

Critical incidentsThe critical incident technique is an attempt to identify the more noteworthy aspects of job behaviour and is based on the assumption that jobs are composed of critical and non-critical tasks. For example, a critical task might be defined as one that makes the difference between success and failure in carrying out important parts of the job. The idea is to collect reports about what people do that is particularly effective in contributing to good performance.

Diaries A diary is a way of gathering information about the way

individuals spend their time on professional activities. Diaries can record either quantitative or qualitative data, and in management research can provide information about work patterns and activities. Advantages Allows the researcher freedom to move from one organisation to another. Useful for collecting information from employees. Disadvantages Progress needs checking from time-to-time. Confidentiality is required as content may be critical.

Portfolios A measure of a managers ability may be expressed in terms of

the number and duration of issues or problems being tackled at any one time. The compilation of problem portfolios is recording information about how each problem arose, methods used to solve it, difficulties encountered, etc. ACTIVITY:SamplingCollecting data is time consuming and expensive, even for relatively small amounts of data. EXAMPLES: The theory of sampling is based on random samples where all items in the population have the same chance of being selected as sample units.

REFERENCES: Various sites www.dmstudy.info/dmstudy.info www.ptsyst.com/ www.datasheetarchive.com/datasheetarchive.com www.google.com www.yahoo.com. Various Books

C.R. Kothari Research Methodology Sharma, B.A.V. et al., Research Methods in Social Sciences, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt.Ltd., 1983. Tandon, B.C. Research Methodology in Social Sciences, Allahabad: Chaitanya Publishing House, 1979. Denzin, Norman, The Research Act, Chicago: Aldine, 1973 Oppenheim,A.N.. Questionnaire Design and Attitude Measurement, New York: Basic Books 1966