Hardiwinoto.com-Data can be collected in a variety of ways, in different setting, and from different sources. Data collection methods include face to face interviews, telephone interviews, computer assisted interviews; questionnaires that are either personally administered, sent through the mail, or electronically administered; observation of individuals and events with or without videotaping or audio recording; and a variety of other motivational techniques such as projective tests.
As for the setting, data can be collected in any one of the aforementioned ways in the natural environment in which phenomena occur. Data may also be collected in the lab experiment settings where variables are controlled and manipulated, or gathered in the homes of the respondents, on the street, in malls, or in a setting whre a LAN (Local Area Network) system is available.
Data sources can be primary and or secondary. Individuals, focus groups, and a panel of respondents specifically set up by the researcher whose opinions may be sought on specific issues from time to time are examples of primary data sources. Data can also be obtained from secondary sources, as for example, company records or archives, government publications, industry analysis offered by the media, and so on. In some cases, the environment or particular settings and events may themselves be sources of data, as for example, studying the layout of a plant.
