DATA

COLLECTION
INSTRUMENTS
Criminological Research
 I N T R O D U C T I O N
Collecting data is the first step you need to perform before you
proceed in writing your data analysis and interpretation. Data
Collection involves obtaining relevant information regarding the
specified research questions or objectives. This can be done by
utilizing research instruments that are either developed or
adopted. In collecting the data, the researcher must decide on
the following questions: (1) Which data to collect? (2) How to
collect the data? (3) Who will collect the data? (4) When to collect
the data? (Barrot, 2018, p138).
Quantitative research instruments comprise
questionnaires, interviews, tests, and observation. On the other
hand, data collection approaches for qualitative research usually
involve: (a) direct interaction with individuals on a one to one
basis, (b) and or direct interaction with individuals in a group
setting.
WHEN DEVELOPING AND UTILIZING A
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT, THE FOLLOWING
STEPS ARE TO BE CONSIDERED:
1. Be clear with your research question.
2. Plan how you will conduct the data collection.
3. Use appropriate research instruments.
4. Collect, tabulate, tally, and analyze the data.
5. Verify the validity and reliability of the collected data.
6. Present your findings.
 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
• Questionnaires
• A questionnaire consists of a series of questions about a research topic to gather data
from the participants. It consists of indicators that is aligned to the research questions.
Gathering of information can be carried out in the following methods: face to face, by
telephone, or through e-mail, messenger, social media post, or using computer programs
or forms (Barrot, 2018, p 138).
• In quantitative research, questionnaires use the following approaches: (1) scale (usually
Likert scale); and (2) conversion of responses into numerical values, e.g. strongly as 5,
agree as 4, neutral as 3, disagree as 2, and strongly disagree as 1.
• The terms survey and questionnaire have different meanings. A questionnaire is an
instrument used to collect data while a survey is a process of collecting, recording, and
analyzing data. Questionnaires can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured.
• There are three structures of making a questionnaire. The first, structured
questionnaires employ closed-ended questions. Unstructured questionnaires, on
the other hand, use open-ended questions in which the research participants can
freely answer and put his thoughts into it. Lastly, semi-structured questionnaires are
combinations of both the structured and unstructured ones. Structured type is
commonly used in quantitative studies because it is easier to code, interpret objectively,
and, most of all, easier to standardize.
Advantages of Using Questionnaire
1. Data can be quickly gathered from a big number of participants.
2. The participants are encouraged to be open to the researchers
since their identity can be made anonymous.

Disadvantages of Using Questionnaire

3. The questions can be interpreted differently by the participants.
4. Some participants will not be able to complete the required
responses.
5. Some questionnaires will not be returned on time.
6. Some questionnaires will be lost.
7. The answers from participants may lack depth.
GUIDELINES IN USING QUESTIONNAIRES FOR DATA COLLECTION

• 1. Choose the method of administering the questionnaire.

• a. Face-to-face Method. Use this when you need to capture the emotions, behavior, and non-
verbal cues of the participants
• b. Online Method. Use this when behavior and non-verbal cues need not to be taken
• 2. Divide your questionnaire into two or three parts.
• a. Personal information. This section which contains background information of the
participants. (Names are optional)
• b. Main section. This lists the specific questions or indicators.
• c. Open-ended question section. This contains additional information that might be needed.
(This applied only for quantitative research)
• 3. Make sure to craft questions and choices that are aligned with specific research questions
or objectives.
• 4. Provide specific and clear directions for respondents in answering the questionnaire.
• 5. Use routing (directing) technique if there is a need to skip some items in the questionnaire.
• 6. Begin with the general questions first followed by the specific ones.
 G U ID E L IN E S IN U S IN G QU E S T IO N N A IRE S F O R D ATA
C O LL E C T IO N

• 7. Prefer to have brief, clear, and concise questionnaire. Use simple terms.
• 8. Predetermined responses or choices should match the nature of the
questions.
• a. If the content is about belief, use agreement (strongly agree , agree, neutral,
disagree, strongly disagree)
• b. If the questionnaire is about behavior, use extent (very great extent, great
extent, moderate extent, small extent, none at all)
• c. If questions are about frequency, use frequency (always, frequently,
sometimes, seldom, never)
• d. If the content is about quality, use quality (excellent, very good, good, poor)
• Later, these responses will be translated into numerical values (e.g. five-point
Likert scale)
• 9. Avoid negative statements unless necessary.
• 10. Avoid leading and biased, double-barreled, and very sensitive questions.
 GUIDELINES IN USING QUESTIONNAIRES FOR
DATA COLLECTION

• 12. If possible, schedule an appointment before distributing

the questionnaires.
• 13. Attach a cover letter to the questionnaire especially for
agency connected respondents.
• 14. Make a follow-up on the participants who did not to return
the questionnaire.
• 15. Tally and encode the data immediately once you have
collected them and archive them digitally.
 T E S T
Tests are used for assessing various skills and types of behavior as well as for describing
some characteristics. There are two types of test used in quantitative research:
Standardized test and Non-standardized test.
• Standardized test is scored uniformly across different areas and groups. It is usually
administered by institutions to assess a wide range of groups such as students and
test-takers. It is considered as more reliable and valid. Examples are Achievement test,
University Entrance Exam, Personality Tests, and the likes.
• Non-standardized test may not be scored uniformly. It is administered to a certain
set of people.
Types of Test Questions
1. Recall Questions. It requires participants to retrieve information from memory (e.g.
fill-in-the blank test, identification test, enumeration test, etc.)
2. Recognition Questions. It provides respondents to select from given choices the best
or correct choice (e.g. multiple-choice test, true or false test, yes or no test, etc.)
3. Open-ended Questions. It allows the respondents more freedom in their responses,
expressing their thoughts and insights (e.g. essay writing tests and other
performance-based tests.
 SAMPLING
PROCEDURE
AND THE SAMPLE
 POPU L ATION AND SAMPLE

• The first step in determining the sample size is identifying the population
of the topic of interest. The population is the totality of all the objects,
elements, persons, and characteristics under consideration. It is
understood that this population possesses common characteristics about
which the research aims to explore.
• There are two types of population: target population and accessible
population. The actual population is the target population, for example, all
Hospitality Management Students enrolled in the UEP-PRMC. While the
accessible population is the portion of the population in which the
researcher has reasonable access, for example all HM enrolled, at the
Hospitality Department – X.
• When the whole population is too costly or time-consuming or impractical
to consider, then, a sample representative is identified. Sampling pertains
to the systematic process of selecting the group to be analyzed in the
research study. The goal is to get information from a group that represents
the target population. Once a good sample is obtained, the generalizability
and applicability of findings increases.
 POPUL ATION AND SAMPLE

• The representative subset of the population refers to the

sample. All the 240 Hospitality Management Students
enrolled in Hospitality Management Department at UEP-
PRMC, for example, constitute the population; 60 of those
students constitute the sample. A good sample should have
characteristics of the represented population –
characteristics that are within the scope of the study with
fair accuracy. Generally, the larger the sample, the more
reliable the sample be, but still, it will depend on the scope
and delimitation and research design of the study.
 APPROACHES IN IDENTIFYING THE SAMPLE SIZE

• Heuristics. This
approach refers to
the rule of the
thumb for sample
size. The early
established
approach by Gay
(1976) stated by
Cristobal and Dela
Cruz-Cristobal
(2017, p 172),
sample sizes for
different research
designs are the
following:
FORMUL AS. FORMUL AS ARE ALSO BEING ESTABLISHED FOR THE
COMPUTATION OF AN ACCEPTABLE S AMPLE SIZE. THE COMMON
FORMUL A IS SLOVIN’S FORMUL A.
 PROBABILITY SAMPLING IN QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

• Simple Random Sampling. It is a way of choosing individuals in which all members

of the accessible population are given an equal chance to be selected. There are
various ways of obtaining samples through simple random sampling. These are fish
bowl technique, roulette wheel, or use of the table of random numbers. This
technique is also readily available online. Visit this link https://www.randomizer.org/
to practice.
• Stratified Random Sampling. The same with simple random sampling, stratified
random sampling also gives an equal chance to all members of the population to be
chosen.
• However, the population is first divided into strata or groups before selecting the
samples. The samples are chosen from these subgroups and not directly from the
entire population. This procedure is best used when the variables of the study are
also grouped into classes such as gender and grade level.
You can simply follow the steps from this given example
A population of 600 Hospitality Management students includes 180 First Year, 160
Second Year, 150 Third Year, and 110 Fourth Year. If the computed sample size is 240,
 Y O U C A N S I M P LY F O L L O W T H E S T E P S F R O M T H I S G I V E N E X A M P L E
A P O P U L AT I O N O F 6 0 0 H O S P I TA L I T Y M A N A G E M E N T S T U D E N T S I N C LU D E S 1 8 0 F I R S T Y E A R , 1 6 0 S E C O N D Y E A R , 1 5 0 T H I R D Y E A R , A N D 1 1 0 F O U RT H Y E A R. I F T H E
C OM P U T E D S A M P L E S I Z E I S 2 4 0 , T H E F O L LO W I N G P R OP ORT I O N AT E S A M P L I N G W I L L B E A S F O L LO W S .

• The number of members per subgroup is divided by the total accessible sample size.
The percentage result of members per subgroup will be multiplied from the computed
total sample size. After obtaining the sample size per strata, then simple random
sampling will be done for the selection of samples from each group.

1st Year
2nd Year
3rd Year
4th Year

• Cluster Sampling. This procedure is usually applied in large-scale studies, geographical

spread out of the population is a challenge, and gathering information will be very
time-consuming. Similar to stratified random sampling, cluster sampling also involves
grouping of the population according to subgroups or clusters. It is a method where
multiple clusters of people from the chosen population will be created by the
researcher in order to have homogenous characteristics.
 STRATIFIED RANDOM S AMPLING

• For example, a researcher would like to interview of all

Hospitality Students students across the main campus.
As a researcher cluster will be selected to satisfy the plan
size. In the given example, the first cluster can be by
region, the second cluster can be by division, and the
third cluster can be by district.
• Another way of doing cluster sampling is illustrated on
the figure on the right side.
• Systematic Sampling. This procedure is as simple as
selecting samples every nth (example every 2nd, 5th) of
the chosen population until arriving at a desired total
number of sample size. Therefore the selection is based
on a predetermined interval. Dividing the population size
by the sample size, the interval will be obtained. For
example, from a total population of 75, you have 25
samples; using systematic sampling, you will decide to
select every 3rd person on the list of individuals.