Question

Based on the topic you have already chosen in the first summative assessment (In first summative assignment, main stages of research process were explained), as well as the problem and purpose statement you have already created and identified, this week you must be able to identify the research questions that are relevant to your purpose of research, outline and discuss the data collection tool and identify possible analyses that can be adopted for your research study.

Support your paper with minimum of five (5) resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Length: 3 - 4 pages not including title and reference pages.

Answer 1

When statistical figures are accumulated with facts to form a key explanation or information on a subject, it is referred to as Data. Data in today’s world, is the prime source of all human knowledge and its development in the near future. Data collection is also a task which requires rigorous knowledge and the perfect implementation of the tasks associated with it. The information that forms the Data can be accumulated from a variety of sources, and many techniques are used for gathering this information or Data. Let us discuss some of such techniques or methods that prove to be very important in the process of Data accumulation.

                                    Direct communication, or in the sphere of Data accumulation, so referred as Interview, is a trustable and direct source of Data accumulation. We can interview a person with a defined set of structured questionnaires in a very focused and open-ended manner, and if the answers to the questions are received, this can become a very trustworthy source of Data collection. Interviews properly implemented can be considered as non-rebuttable sources of Data collection. The only concern in this method is the skill set and the implementation of the interviewer. The Interviewer must be capable to execute the method of interview in such a manner so that maximum information or data can be gathered through it, without hurting any personal sentiments of the interviewee. Interviews, when properly executed can lead to the solution of various issues including personal, financial, economic, and a wide range of issues.

                             Another method that is very popular at present and is being used at a wide scale in gathering data is questioners in the form of surveys. Surveys which have a set of questions are very closed ended and focus on the accumulation of specific set of information. Such gathering of information becomes easier to handle as the being closed ended are answered accordingly and specifically. Such surveys are then analyzed though numerical and statistical procedures and after the complete procedure has ended, a final stage or the complete result can be viewed to understand the result. Such questioner or surveys are also very popular among the general people as they are closed ended and do not requires detailed explanation.

                                     Another very intriguing source of data collection is the nature of observation. Observation is a method which a lengthy in nature and required more time. Observation can be of any type, it would be physical observation of an incident or an ongoing process or it could be technical or mental observation. Observation is a process where an individual has to set a specific source as his benchmark, and then observe the changes that occur in correspondence to the features of the source. The observer would cover the various stages of the changes in the status of the subject and finally arrive at a conclusion when his observation is complete. The conclusion is then matched with the source to gather the information of the changes in the subject from its source to its destination. This forms the basis of a Data being accumulated.

                                  Another very critical method of data accumulation is the study of the various documents and the records from the past. This source of Data collection depends on the subject and its hierarchy. It is observed that subjects tend to follow their hierarchical nature. Therefore, the study of the documents and records related to the subject can give us an idea of the subject. Moreover, many documents and records also contain previously accumulated data and records which were collected through various means. These data are then accumulated with the current set of information to form a detailed analysis, which is then processed through a set of technical and a sophisticated procedure of analysis. The result, which is accumulated through statistical means, it the final shape of the data. Data achieved through the study of record and documents also form the basis if the study of the same subject in the future.

                              The Statistical methods and their proper implementation are also a key feature or characteristic of a correct and implicit data. Data accumulated through applying correct statistical and numerical values form the basis of a true judgement of the subject and in the larger scale a true judgement of the society as a whole.