What Is Data?
- On its own, data has no meaning
- Can comprise letters, numbers, symbols, graphics & sound
- Raw facts and figures before they have been processed
What are the different Data Types
1)Text - Letters or a combination of letters and numbers -
2)Person’s first name, post code
3)Integer - A whole number - no decimal points -A person’s age, annual salary
4)Real -A number that can include a fractional part eg. 4.37 - The result of a VAT calculation
5)Currency - A number that includes the prefix of a currency symbol -£4.99
6)Decimal - A number that must include decimal places
4.00, 7.01, 9.99 -
7) Date/Time - A value that is expressed in the form of a date or a time and calculations can be made between two values - 07/06/19, 28 Mar 19, 14:05
8) Object - An image, video
Logical / Boolean -True or False, True / False, Yes / No
What Is Information?
- Data and information are not the same thing
- Data are raw facts and figures before they have been processed
- Information is data which has structure and context
- Context - What we need to know in order to make sense of the data
- In other words, if you know how the data is presented and what it means - data then becomes information.
What will the method of data collection depend on?
The method chosen will depend upon:
- What data is to be collected
- Where the data is to be collected
- How the data will be stored & processed
Explain the method of using a questionnaire for collecting data.
- Online
- Paper copy
Either way, they contain a set of questions designed to collect a set of data from people completing the questionnaires
Types Of Questions
- Closed - where only the options indicated are applicable
Advantages - quick to administer (web form data can flow straight into a database), easy to analyse.
Disadvantages - does not gauge opinion very well, the options may not include the exact response a user wants to give.
Open - allows the person completing the questionnaire to give a more detailed answer
Advantages - the interviewee can give more subtle and detailed responses.
Disadvantages - the information from an open question is harder to analyse. It also takes longer. Someone needs to analyse the responses.
Rating - Requires the person completing the questionnaire to compare a list of the same type of items. The items are then ranked, for example from 1 to 5, where 1 is the most important and 5 is the least.
Rank Order - Requires the person completing the questionnaire to compare a list of different items. The items are then rated, for example from 1 to 5, where 1 is the best and 5 is the least.
Online Or Paper?
Questionnaires can be administered online through web forms or they can be sent to interviewees as paper copies. There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods.
What are the advantages of online questionnaires?
Advantages
- Cost effective - no printing, postage costs, interviewers (although someone has to design them)
- Scalable - as wide an audience as needed
- Targeted - only interested respondents
- Speedy results - response time very quick, data sent directly to database, little or no inputting required, data can be analysed more quickly
- More accurate - respondents enter data directly into the system
- Easy analysis - results almost immediately and analysis can be ongoing
What are the disadvantages of online questionnaires?
- Does the demographic that you wish to target have access to the technology?
- Popularity of online surveys may reduce the enthusiasm to complete one - use of incentives
- May fall prey to spam filters in email clients
- More difficult to gauge opinions - open questions will have to be coded by humans before they can be entered into the system
What are the advantages of paper questionnaires?
- Reaches people who do not have access to the technology that would require them to fill in online forms.
- Potentially reaches a different demographic from those who would fill in forms online. For example, it is more likely that paper-based forms would be more effective with an older age group.
What are the disadvantages of paper questionnaires?
- The cost of printing the questionnaires and posting them to the respondents. A significant proportion of the forms will not be returned.
- Once the questionnaires have been returned the data has to be input into a computer system. Analysing paper-based questionnaires therefore takes longer.
What are the advantages of using an interview to collect data?
- Respondent more co-operative, someone else is doing hard work
- The questionnaire is more likely to be completed.
- The interviewer can explain the meaning of the questions which means that the accuracy of the responses will be improved.
- An experienced interviewer can probe a bit more in order to gain the most accurate answer.
- When the bulk of the questions are open an interviewer can really add value to the accuracy of the questionnaire. The benefits aren’t as great when the majority of questions are closed.
What are the disadvantages of using an interview to collect data?
- Conducting a questionnaire survey through a interview process is time-consuming and therefore the survey will yield fewer responses.
- It is expensive to have to pay somebody to interview and also to input data from the responses.
What is a consumer panel?
- A group of people asked by an organisation to give their opinions and advice about its products and services.
- Might be given an early release of a product or the initial designs or concept
- Feedback will be in the form of opinions
What are the advantages of using a consumer panel to collect data?
- Feedback is specific to an organization’s products or services.
- People have agreed to take part so you can be sure of their engagement.
- The most appropriate age group or demographic can be selected by the organisation conducting the survey through the consumer panel.
What are the disadvantages of using a consumer panel to collect data?
- Can be expensive because you need to incentivise people to attend the consumer panel over an extended period of time.
- Professionals need to be paid to run the panels, design the questionnaires and interpret the data.
- The right mix of respondents needs to be selected in order to gather meaningful data.
What is a loyalty scheme?
- A loyalty scheme is a rewards program offered by a business to its customers. Customers can get discounted goods or services and in return the business gets the benefit of customer data. In practice, everytime goods are purchased points are added to the customers loyalty scheme account.
What are the advantages of loyalty scheme?
- A loyalty scheme is a means of collecting data.
- As a member of a loyalty scheme you are no longer an anonymous consumer. Through the loyalty scheme, the business is aware of what you bought, when you bought it, where you bought it, what time you bought it, what you paid for it - all data that is useful to a retailer.
- Targeted marketing based on your purchase history
- Loyalty scheme data could be made available to partner companies.
What are the disadvantages of loyalty scheme?
- People have concerns about privacy when they join a loyalty scheme.
- It costs an organisation money to run a loyalty scheme because they have to analyse the data and give discounts to the customers.
What are statistical reports?
- Many organisations analyse statistics that has already been collected and is publicly available. These data sets can be analysed for information that is relevant to your organisation. For example, the Office for National Statistics might publish a report on retail trends. This would be relevant to retailers in one way or another.
What are the advantages of statistical reports?
- The organisation does not have to go to the expense of collecting the data.
- Some processing may have already been carried out.
- Maryvale trends and patterns that assist with decision-making.
What are the disadvantages of statistical reports?
- The data may not have been collected for the same purpose as the organisation wish to use it for.
- The sample may not be as representative as the organisation would make it if they were conducting the survey.
Describe sensor devices?
- A sensor is a device that responds to a change or input from the environment.
- Examples of environmental input could include:
- Temperature
- Sound
- pressure
- Movement
- Light
- Radio signals
What are the advantages of collecting data using sensors?
- Data collection is automatic and no human intervention is required.
- Data is collected as quickly as the environment changes. More likely, quicker than a human could collect it.
- Data collected from sensors is immediately input into a database.
- More accurate than human data collection.
- Works 24/7.
What are the disadvantages of collecting data using sensors?
- Positioning of the senses is essential. If the sensors are positioned in the correct location then some data will be missed.
- There is an expense associated with installing and maintaining the technology.
- Like any technology sensors can be subject to failure and while the sensors aren’t working data is not being collected.
What is the cloud?
Data/Applications held on servers on the Internet
