Mǎ or Mà Help Forum

Data Gathering Technique: A method of obtaining information from a person, system, documents, or other sources. These include interviewing, distributing questionnaires, observing behaviors, performing experiments and gathering information from already existing databases. Methods used depend on the nature of data to be gathered and the project's aim. Interviews can give rich qualitative information, and surveys can yield standardized answers from more people, for instance. The appropriate data-gathering method should be compatible with the research question, contain little extraneous bias, and yield data that is easily analyzed to draw valid conclusions.