This decision board is unique in that it ranks data/information by the researchers’ level of direct involvement with human subjects.
The word “data” refers to raw facts or scores that have not been processed. Interview transcripts, speeches and test scores are all forms of raw data. Information refers to data that have been processed, grouped, coded or interpreted in a way that transforms the raw data into more meaningful information.
Forms of data/information are represented by numbers or quantities in quantitative forms of data and by words, concepts or images in qualitative forms of data.
It is a misconception to presume that “real data” are obtained only using direct methods of experiment or surveys and that they are exclusively in the forms of numbers.
All forms of inquiry in the social sciences – for anything from a historical essay to a psychological report, in qualitative or quantitative form – require the use of evidence, meaning forms of data/information that are appropriate for addressing the question.
Interestingly, most social science writing uses various forms of data/information that are obtained without direct human contact, as listed in the last column of item 2.1. Direct forms obtained through experimentation, surveys or fieldwork are not common in post-secondary student research. Gathering data directly from human subjects is time-consuming, expensive and ethically questionable, and it requires high levels of training and skill to perform properly. As well, informed and voluntary consent of adult subjects must be secured.
obtained by your direct contact with research subjects
Records from experiments
Data derived from experimentation is usually in the form of quantitative observations regarding behaviour that is measured in a standardized way so that the differences between pre-test and post-test results, for instance, or between groups can be tested statistically.
This category refers to experimental data that you plan to obtain, not information about experimental data that others have obtained.
Completed survey questionnaire responses
Data derived from survey questionnaires are intended to provide you with an aggregate picture from a sizeable sample. As such, the data are usually quantitative in form. Though the questions can be forced response questions or open-ended questions, for ease of processing and analysis, most questions in a survey questionnaire use forced-response questions.
This category refers to data that you plan to obtain directly from human subjects of your choosing, not information about survey questionnaire findings from published sources.
Transcripts/recordings from interviews (interviews and focus groups)
Recorded and transcribed interview data are intended to provide in-depth information, rather than a large volume of aggregate data. One-on-one semi-structured or unstructured interviews or even oral histories are particularly useful for discovering people’s thought processes and for hearing about life-changing stories.
Focus groups are often used by marketing firms or political parties to assess reactions to a new campaign or a unique product or policy. The members of a moderated focus group dynamically exchange ideas and concerns. Focus groups, sometimes referred to as group interviews, can generate qualitative as well as quantitative forms of data.
This category refers to data that you plan to obtain directly from human subjects of your choosing, not information about interview or focus group findings from published sources.
Field notes
Field research (participant observation or ethnography) generates many forms of data which are usually contained in a field notebook. This may include details of onsite observations, critical reflections, jotted notes from informal discussions, photographs, drawings, social maps, recordings of performances such as recitations, dancing, singing or ceremonies, as well as collected artifacts such as flyers, recipes…
This category refers to data that you plan to obtain directly from field sites of your choosing, not information about fieldwork or ethnographic findings from published sources.
Obtained without direct contact with human subjects
From your own field data collection efforts
Records from non-participant observation of human behaviour
Data derived from observing people in public places without their knowing they are being observed is one step removed from direct field observations where the researcher actively interacts with research subjects in the field.
Non-participant observation is a form of unobtrusive observation; there is no direct contact or interaction. Research subjects are unaware they are being observed.
This is useful for behaviour that people may not reliably be able or willing to share with an interviewer. Some examples of behaviours not reliably measured with reactive methods are socially undesirable behaviour such as littering or eating junk food. The observations are usually recorded on some sort of observation or code sheet. This form of observation is ethically restricted to public places and to observing behaviour of adults that would not directly jeopardize their professional, personal, social or mental well-being as individuals or as an identifiable group.
Records from non-reactive observation of physical traces (accretion or erosion)
This is data derived by recording signs or indicators of behavioural patterns by examining materials or objects that people may have used, left behind or worn down through repeated use. Instead of asking people which foods they prefer, for instance, you would take stock of their recycling bin or trash can. The observations are usually recorded on some sort of observation or code sheet.
From data that are available, but have to be located and processed somehow
This refers to forms of data that have been gathered and formed into a collection or a production, such as academic books, archival collections or documentary films.
With advances in information and computer technology, vast stores of high-quality data are readily accessible to the public. Student researchers are thus hard-pressed to justify going out to collect their own raw data.
The Diary of Anne Frank is a classic example of a source of information that is readily available. Frank’s story provides insight into the personal experiences and inner thoughts of an adolescent while she was living in hiding for two years in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
Using available data is often a default position for certain topic areas as it is unethical for researchers, especially student researchers, to directly interview vulnerable, traumatized subjects – those who attempt suicide, lose a spouse or battle with drug addiction or childhood abuse, for example.
Documentation from government agencies and organizations
Data that have been collected by government agencies and organizations (e.g., official statistics, reports, articles, budgets, policy statements, public records such as birth, graduation and death…) are usually of very high quality. This type of data has usually been processed (classified, indexed, grouped, graphed and/or analyzed) by researchers and other professionals and is made available as information to the public. Statistics Canada is a well-known example of a national statistical agency. Most countries support nationwide statistical organizations. Government agencies are prolific data producers especially when it comes to variables that directly impact the provision of government services. Health, education, socio-economic status and employment are typical subjects covered.
Publications from non-governmental organizations, private organizations and international agencies
The World Bank is a prime example of such an organization. Immense amounts of country-based data are available for analysis in easy-to-navigate and user-friendly formats (e.g., reports, records from meetings, proceedings or conferences…). Other popular examples are the Royal Statistical Society and the World Food Program.
Survey research results (polls, market surveys…)
Polling firms such as Léger Marketing and PEW are but a few of the many firms worldwide that collect mostly quantitative forms of data on such topics as voter intentions, consumer behaviour and public policy choices. Summaries, as well as full reports of many of their findings, are readily available online.
Data collected and analyzed by researchers
The results of research findings that have been deemed of high-quality (e.g., published in books/journal articles/monographs)through some form of professional peer review are typically communicated in published books, journal articles, monographs and even government reports.
Useful data can be culled from a book written by an academic or a person with status and experiential knowledge, such as a diplomat who helped negotiate a peace settlement or a doctor writing about clinical practice. One such example is an e-book published in 2006 by Jeff Ferrell, a sociologist and self-avowed dumpster diver, titled Empire of Scrounge: Inside the Urban Underground of Dumpster Diving, Trash Picking, and Street Scavenging in which he provides firsthand, detailed accounts from the street.
Detailed descriptions, firsthand accounts or interview excerpts can be found in published studies and extracted for use in your own study. For example, a student researching female fighters in recent Western African civil wars found an existing fieldwork study on Sierra Leone containing detailed interview and testimony excerpts as well as a link to a treasure trove of statistics in a 2005 Save the Children publication titled “Forgotten Casualties of War: Girls in Armed Conflict.”
Primary Sources/Artifacts
Primary sources are used to gain insight into an individual, group, event or particular period of time. (e.g., recordings, constitutions, declarations, bills, treaties, letters, speeches, personal correspondence, diaries, memoirs, notes, photographs, scrapbooks, portfolios, schedules, recipes… often stored in digital archival collections or remnants found on site such as inscriptions, clothing, tools, furniture, logs, photographs…)
Primary sources and artifacts are typically available in archived or private collections. Archives are classified or catalogued collections of articles, letters, photos, documents, films, etc., that are stored electronically or physically. Many organizations and government agencies maintain and support such archive collections. Hundreds of online collections are used by social scientists on a daily basis.
Communication/media output
Data take numerous forms under this particular banner. Anything to do with communications – official or unofficial, digital or print, image or text – is eligible for collection and analysis. These varied forms (e.g., photos, videos/documentaries from websites, news sources, radio, television, films, advertising, billboards, music, documentaries, video games, Internet, listservs, blogs, advertising, announcements, press releases…) provide insight into the messengers (e.g., journalists, advertisers, documentary filmmakers…) and the messages.
For instance, photographs, often referred to as visual texts, are representations that can reveal much information about the subject matter, the photographer and the context in which the images were produced. Photos are typical forms of data for content analysis, an unobtrusive research method.
Video documentaries, TV and radio talk shows provide access to worlds inhabited by all sorts of people from a variety of backgrounds and professions, from ballet dancers to criminals. Documentaries such as Woodstock (1970) or Michael Apted’s series of films 28 Up (1984), 35 Up (1992) and 42 Up (1999) provide video views of lives, lifestyles and expert analysis.
Expressive art forms
Expressive artistic productions (e.g., paintings, poems, novels, lyrics, folk tales, legends…)are legitimate sources of data for analyzing aspects of a movement or a sector of society at a particular time. The data are usually ordered into anthologies or coded into genres.
Ghost stories, nursery rhymes and even urban legends or conspiracy theories are legitimate sources of data, especially if the goal of your study is to reveal themes or cultural markers that express a way of life or way of telling tales about a way of life. Folklorists, for instance, systematically study the meanings that can be derived from such tales.