ABSTRACT
Why do we need to consider data as a separate issue? The answer is that data are the material out of which we construct our research argument. We should, therefore, understand what constitutes data and what characteristics it can have. Once we know what we can use as data, we can then consider how it might affect the way in which we phrase our research questions or how we go about structuring the research process. It is important that we know this because certain types of data lead to particular types of analysis, which themselves require certain procedures to be followed in data collection. It is not good enough to collect the data and then think about how we are going to process it to extract the information we need for our research. So, in summary, we need to consider data as part of the whole process of planning a research enquiry and, to do this, we should know what data are available and what the implications of using it are.
