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KnowledgeBases > Advantages and Drawbacks of Various Data Collection Procedures

ProcedureAdvantagesDisadvantages
Self-administered questionnaire Inexpensive.  Can be administered quickly if distributed to a group. Well suited for simple and short questionnaires. No control for misunderstood questions, missing data, or untruthful responses.  Not suited for exploration of complex issues.
Interviewer-administered questionnaires Interviewer can probe to ensure question is understood.  With good rapport, may obtain useful open-ended comments, including evidence to support response. Confidentiality is an issue.  May require hiring interviewers.  Training is needed to establish consistency, nature, and use of probing questions
Open-ended interviews Usually yields richest data, details, new insights.  Best if in-depth information is wanted. Same as above (interviewer-administered questionnaires); also, often difficult to analyze
Focus Groups Useful for gathering ideas and different viewpoints, discovering new insights, & improving question design. Not suited for generalizations about population being studied.
Tests Provide "hard" data, which administrators and funding agencies often prefer.  Relatively easy to administer.  Good instruments may be available from vendors. Available instruments may be unsuitable.  Developing and validating new project-specific tests may be expensive and time consuming.  Objections may be raised because of test unfairness or bias.
Observations If well executed, best for obtaining data about behavior of individuals and groups Usually expensive.  Needs well-qualified staff.  Observation may affect behavior being studied.
Documents, records, and student work Existing material can be used to develop data at a convenient time. Checklists or rubrics for generating data from the written material must be created.  Careful definitions must be established to ensure consistency.

Source:

Adapted from User-Friendly Handbook for Project Evaluation (p. 44), by F. Stevens, F. Lawrenz, and L. Sharp (n.d.), Directorate for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation.

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