ABSTRACT

There are many types of techniques and instruments used to collect data. Some research methods books have a number of chapters, each focusing on a different technique or tool such as interview, questionnaire, projective techniques, tests, or observations. Because this book focuses on research design and the resulting data analysis, we have chosen to de-emphasize our treatment of data collection techniques. In addition, this book is designed for a broad audience of students in the many disciplines related to education, applied health sciences, and applied social sciences. Because each of these fields has its preferred data collection techniques, we have focused on what is common across these disciplines, namely design and analysis. What we do in this chapter is provide a broad context for thinking about data collection techniques and sources where you may go to learn more about the specifics of developing or evaluating a questionnaire, interview, or other data collection technique.