Developing quantitative research tools Objectives After completing this topic, you should be able to:
Identify the research tools available to collect quantitative data
Explain what data is collected using quantitative research tools
Discuss how quantitative data is measured and what scale to use
Locate/develop a structured survey questionnaire In our last topic
we learnt that quantitative methods are concerned with examining and measuring relationships, and measurements are possible only through collection of data in numerical form.
With this in mind, we will discuss tools and methods of collecting primary quantitative data, potential sources of secondary quantitative data, types of variables for which quantitative data is collected, measurement scales used to quantify data, central tendency theory which underpins quantitative research and the fundamentals of developing a quality structured survey to collect valid quantitative data.
Quantitative research tools and methods of data collection. As discussed earlier, quantitative studies are more objective, and require data collection using specific constructs(and validated test bank items) identified in the literature. Since quantitative researchers know exactly what data to collect, the tools used to capture these constructs are highly structured.
There is a range of structured research tools available e.g., structured observations, structured interviews and structured surveys. In this unit, we focus mainly on structured surveys because it suits most industry research projects, and large amounts of data can be collected from a big sample within a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way.
A structured survey includes questions that are rigid with responses i.e. all potential response options are listed with the question, and participants tick off one that best represents their answer/opinion from the given list.
Likewise, structured observations and interviews also commence with a clear idea of what data to collect, except that they might use a different method to collect the data. Your next reading summarises these research tools and the methods of quantitative data collection
