Data Collection (SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods)

Insufficient attention to collecting data is often to blame when a research project founders. So how can we avoid, at best, redoing the research and at worst, scrapping the project due to a lack of sufficient data? Data collection is the foundation of high quality research, but it is often given less attention than later steps in a research project, such as coding and analyzing data.

The first step in implementing a research design is collecting the data. You first have to take care to gather appropriate types of and amount of data, because making adjustments later in the project can be prohibitive. This major work focuses on this neglected aspect of the research process. It is divided into five main sections that correspond to the broad types of research design and their associated sampling methods. The five categories of research design used to organize the selection are:
1. Surveys
2. Interviews
3. Experiments
4. Observations, including ethnographic
5. Archival and public sources of data

In each of the five sections, quantitative, and qualitative data collection is discussed because each of these design types can be used to collect either or both types of data.

W. Paul Vogt is Emeritus Professor of Research Methods and Evaluation at Illinois State University where he won both teaching and research awards. He specializes in methodological choice and program evaluation and is particularly interested in ways to integrate multiple methods. His other books include: Tolerance & Education: Learning to Live with Diversity and Difference (Sage Publications, 1998); Quantitative Research Methods for Professionals (Allyn & Bacon, 2007); Education Programs for Improving Intergroup Relations (coedited with Walter Stephan, Teachers College Press, 2004). He is also editor of four 4-volume sets in the series, Sage Benchmarks in Social Research Methods: Selecting Research Methods (2008); Data Collection (2010); Quantitative Research Methods (2011); and, with Burke Johnson, Correlation and Regression Analysis (2012).His most recent publications include the coauthored When to Use What Research Design (2012) and Selecting the Right Analyses for Your Data: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (2014).