Methods of Data Collection and

Presentation
 What is data?
• Data refers to facts or figures from which
conclusion can be drawn.
• It is information collected, organized,
analyzed, and interpreted by statisticians.
• It is needed whenever we undertake studies
or researches which are designed to answer
particular problems, or to provide a base with
which certain decisions may be formulated.
 Kinds of Statistical Data
• Qualitative data - classificatory data; e.g., yes
or no responses, sex, civil status, ratings such as
good, satisfactory, poor.
• Quantitative data - either counts or measures;
e.g., no. of students taking BSS in the first
semester of SY 2010-2011 at VSU, price of white
sugar at the Baybay town market.
• Note: Qualitative data can be transformed into
quantitative data by coding; e.g., let yes = 1 and
no = 0, let excellent = 5, very good = 4, good = 3,
satisfactory = 2, fair = 1.
 Kinds of Statistical Data
• Primary data - refer to information gathered
directly from an original source, or which are
based on direct or first-hand experience; e.g.,
first-person accounts, diaries, data generated by a
researcher from doing a particular experiment.
• Secondary data - refer to information taken from
published or unpublished data which were
previously gathered by other individuals or
agencies; e.g., information from books,
newspapers, magazines, reports, and the like.
• Note: Once primary data have been collected,
processed, and published, these become
secondary data .
 Advantages of primary over
secondary data:
1. Primary data frequently give detailed
definitions of terms and accurate statistical
units used in the experiment or in the survey.
2. Primary data lend more relevance to the
researcher's study because of his direct
participation in the project.
3. Primary data are more reliable because of
their first-hand nature.
 Methods of Data Collection
• If secondary data cannot be found or do not
suit the purpose of the investigator, then he is
faced with the necessity of collecting the
original information himself.
• The following methods of collecting data may
then be employed:
 Methods of Data Collection
1. Survey method - the desired information is
obtained either through personal interview
of or by distributing questionnaires to
respondents.
2. Observation method - the desired
information is obtained by observing and
recording the behavior of persons,
organizations, etc. but only at the time of
occurrence.
 Methods of Data Collection
• Direct observation can be used to discover a
variety of types of information including
aspects of social and economic behavior. It is
used in investigations of consumer behavior,
working methods and conditions, and range of
social activities.
 Methods of Data Collection
3. Experimental method - used when the objective
is to determine the cause and effect relationship
of certain variables under controlled
conditions.

• Experimental data are used to test hypotheses

on significance of effects of one or more
controlled variables on certain characteristics of
the unit of analysis.
 Methods of Data Collection
• One of the problems that usually confronts a
researcher after he has collected the
information he needs in his study is how to
transform these figures to a form that will
facilitate analysis and to a form wherein even
the unfamiliar could have an insight of what
the researcher has done and what he wants to
impart.
 Forms of Data Presentation
• There are three accepted ways of imparting
the result of any study: textual, tabular, and
graphical presentations.
 Textual Presentation
• A textual presentation of data is an expository
form describing a set of information.
• This is a useful manner of presenting limited
amounts of information
• When one is faced with the task of describing
several facts, this method of presentation
should go hand in hand with tables and/or
graphs to make reading and understanding of
the figures being presented easier.
 Textual Presentation
• Generally, textual presentation is resorted to if
one wants to emphasize salient characteristics
exhibited by the data.
 Tabular Presentation
• Tabulation is the process of condensing
classified data and arranging them in a table.
• Characteristics such as occupation, sex,
height, income, weight, nationality, etc. make
it possible for us to classify data under
particular headings.
• Through this process, data can more readily
be understood and comparisons may more
easily be made.
 Tabular Presentation
• Also, when a single number is to be presented,
it maybe necessary to present it along with
other statistics in a table to give it more
meaning.
• If only two or three figures are needed, they
can be easily fitted into a textual presentation.
 Graphical Presentation
• In many cases, it is useful to illustrate the
statistics by means of graphs or charts.
• A graph or chart is any device used in
presenting numerical values or relationship in
pictorial form.
 Graphical Presentation
• Advantages in using graphs or charts include
the following:
– There is a better comprehension of data than is
possible with textual matter alone.
– There is a more penetrating analysis of the subject
than is possible in written text.
– There is a check of accuracy
 Line Chart
• The curve or line chart is the oldest, simplest,
most familiar, and most widely used method
of presenting statistics graphically.
• The plotted points of the data are connected
by a solid or symbol line.
• The fluctuations of this line show the
variations in the trend.
• The distance of the plotting from the base
line of the graph indicates the quantity.
 Line Chart
• It is particularly useful:
1.for emphasizing movement rather than actual
amount
2. for depicting time series (data across time)
3. for comparing several series
4.when data cover a long period of time
5.when estimates or forecasts are to be shown
 Column Chart
• The column chart is also referred to as the
"vertical bar" chart.
• Its primary purpose is to depict numerical
values of a given item over a period of time.
• These values, either absolute or percent, are
represented by the height of the column.
• The column chart is preferable to the line
chart when a sharper delineation of trend is to
be shown.
 Horizontal bar chart
• The horizontal bar chart is the simplest form of
graph comparing different items as of a specified
date.
• It is especially suited to represent categorical
data.
• Bars may be arranged in numerical or
alphabetical order, depending on the purpose of
the chart and the given data.
• Just like the vertical bar chart, the horizontal bar
chart has its equivalent grouped-bar and
subdivided-bar charts.
 Pie Chart
• The pie chart is a circular diagram that is divided
into sections to show the composition of a whole.
• The size of each section is indicative of the
proportion to the total of the corresponding
component.
• Pie charts are very useful when there are few
components to a whole.
• Too many components (more than six) would
diminish the visual impact of the chart; it will be
difficult to compare the sizes of the sections.