Under the main three basic groups of research methods (quantitative, qualitative and mixed), there are different tools that can be used to collect data. Interviews can be done either face-to-face or over the phone. Surveys/questionnaires can be paper or web based. Observations and experiments can be conducted to collect either quantitative, qualitative or a mixture of the two methods. Records can also be used to study previous information by other researchers
Tips
- Organise collected data as soon as it is available
- Begin with the end in mind - know what message you want to get across and then collect data that is relevant to the message
- Collect more data
- Create more data
- Regularly run experiments or collect data
- Challenge your assumptions
- Set reasonable expectations
- Take note of interesting or significant data
- Quantity is good but quality is even better