Data Collection

Question 1

What is QUANTITATIVE data?

Answer 1

Data that is expressed in numerical form or can be easily quantified (e.g. yes/no)
Example: 70% of Xaverian College students prefer cats to dogs.

Question 2

What are advantages of QUANTITATIVE data?

Answer 2

• Easy to analyse and draw conclusions from
• Objective and can produce results that are reliable

Question 3

What is a disadvantage of QUANTITATIVE data?

Answer 3

• Lacks detail

Question 4

What is QUALITATIVE DATA?

Answer 4

Data that is non-numerical and rich in detail (written responses to open questions)
Example: “Last night I dreamt…”

Question 5

What are advantages of QUALITATIVE data?

Answer 5

• Rich and detailed
• Better than quantitative data at representing the complexities of human behaviour

Question 6

What is a disadvantage of QUALITATIVE data?

Answer 6

• Difficult to analyse (using graphs etc.) and draw conclusions from.
• Very subjective and can produce results that are not valid and/or reliable

Question 7

What is PRIMARY DATA?

Answer 7

Data that has been collected first-hand by the researcher, solely for the purpose of their investigation

Question 8

What is SECONDARY data?

Answer 8

Data that already exists from a previous study but is being used within the current investigation. The researcher collects no new data.