SADC Course in Statistics Choosing appropriate methods for data collection.

SADC Course in Statistics

Choosing appropriate methods for data collection

2To put your footer here go to View > Header and Footer

Study objectives

• The key to choosing an appropriate method for data collection is to have well specified study objectives.

• There is a clear and direct relationship between what you want to do and how do you do it!


A simple typology of objectives


Simple

Factual

Easy to measure

Estimation

Need control

Complex

Subjective

Difficult to measure

Comparison

Do not need control

A simple typology of objectives

Simple

Factual

Easy to measure

Estimation

Need control

Complex

Subjective


Comparison

Do not need control


Other considerations for choosing a method for data collection


What is the population of interest?

• How big is it?

• Do we need a full enumeration?

• How difficult is it to access it?


These have a bearing on

• Definition of study units

• Method of selection

• Organisation of field work

• Decisions about what to measure

• The strategy for analysis of data

• Duration of study

• Composition of teams

• Ethical considerations


Simple

what is the proportion of male and female drivers involved in traffic

accidents in the country


Complex

An HIV/AIDS awareness programme is concerned about the cultural

acceptability of a series of messages that have been broadcasted to the rural

population of a SADC country. How they are received by people of different ages

and sex, and what information is perceived as important in rural

communities.


Factual

What is the number of people that live in an area?

Based on the agreement of counting anyone who slept in the dwellings in the are in the night prior to the data

collection day.


Subjective

Whether communities consider that the method of targeting food aid, based on

the perceived poverty level of a household, is fair?


Easy to measure

What is weight to height ratio of children older than 5 years in a community?



What is the total production of cassava in a rural household in the country over the

period of one year?

What is the contribution of cassava production by smallholders to the food

security of the country?


Estimation

What is the total number of adults who have a mobile phone in the country?


Comparison

Has the distribution of treated mosquito nets reduced the incidence of malaria in

the district?


Need control

Can we prove that the introduction of supplementary feeding at primary schools

has a beneficial impact on the school performance of the children?


Do not need control

What percentage of children that start primary school complete it?

SADC Course in Statistics Choosing appropriate methods for data collection.

Documents

Transcript of SADC Course in Statistics Choosing appropriate methods for data collection.