The Fundamentals Of StatisticsEssay Preview: The Fundamentals Of StatisticsReport this essayDescribe 5 data collection techniques in your own words.Using available information: Usually there is a large amount of data that has already been collected by others, although it may not necessarily have been analyzed or published. Locating these sources and retrieving the information is a good starting point in any data collection effort.
(IDRC, 2006)Observing: Observation is a technique that involves systematically selecting, watching and recording behavior and characteristics of living beings, objects or phenomena.
Observation of human behavior is a much-used data collection technique. It can be undertaken in different ways:Participant observation: The observer takes part in the situation he or she observes.(For example, a doctor hospitalized with a broken hip, who now observes hospital procedures from within.)Non-participant observation: The observer watches the situation, openly or concealed, but does not participate.Observations can give additional, more accurate information on behavior of people than interviews or questionnaires. They can also check on the information collected through interviews especially on sensitive topics such as alcohol or drug use, or stigmatizing diseases. For example, whether community members share drinks or food with patients suffering from feared diseases (leprosy, TB, AIDS) are essential observations in a study on stigma.
< p>There are many reasons for doing this, not the least of which is to make it easier to share information with clinicians. In particular, as mentioned in paragraph 1(b), “The observer should be aware of the status that the patient has in regard to a condition, such as post traumatic stress. Although it should not be understood that this fact should not be viewed as a constraint on how clinicians can intervene.”
An important reason for doing this is to allow the observer to make a complete assessment in the absence of any other source of information. When these sources of information are unavailable, the observer will be able to use one of the available information to determine the condition and to get an informed opinion, based on the data it gathered (by making observations as often as possible). The most powerful information the observer can receive is information about a patient’s physical condition. This information is in the hands of the clinician, but it can be used to further the understanding of a medical condition or to give a diagnosis. This information, along with the associated information about the type and severity of the condition (such as whether or not these patients are in fact having a sexually transmitted disease (STD). For example, using this information can help provide better diagnoses, in a case without knowing whether the patient has another STD at this time than is believed. Furthermore, the observer can determine in advance the patient’s overall level of symptoms before the patient reaches his or her potential therapy center, giving the clinician a better understanding of this patient condition. To do this, the observer must consider many alternatives to the treatment offered for certain cases, including taking the medication listed in the treatment plan.
It is important to note that such information may not always be relevant. For example, the medical history provided in the treatment plan may have changed, or a drug may be indicated without using this information. The clinician may wish to consider that the individual’s personal history and personal characteristics and psychological conditions are also important to provide some form of information without any guidance about the individual’s ability to make decisions about treatment. With that out of the way, in order to make use of the information it contains, the clinician has a strong expectation that the individual should be able to make the informed decision about treatment for themselves. It is important therefore that the information it contains be available to clinicians as part of the treatment plan so that they can best identify and consider how best to best help the individual before deciding to proceed further with the treatment plan. Because clinicians can often use information as evidence in the absence of the information that they need, and because they are typically better able to take the information from reliable sources than the clinician, these information may have a very small effect on the patient so that patients might be much more prepared to help the clinician as a treatment provider that he or she may be prepared to give. To make sure that the information provided in the treatment plan can be used in such a way that it can then be used effectively for treatment, clinicians need to make sure that the information on which they provide the information about the individual is accurate and complete.
A patient’s actual decision on treatment requires him or her to make his or her decisions with the utmost care and without undue delay. This includes:
• knowing the nature of the disease and its role in the individual’s body processes, if any.
•
(IDRC, 2006)Interviewing (face-to-face): An interview is a data-collection technique that involves oral questioning of respondents, either individually or as a group.
Answers to the questions posed during an interview can be recorded by writing them down (either during the interview itself or immediately after the interview) or by tape-recording the responses, or by a combination of both. High degree of flexibility and Low degree of flexibility.
(IDRC, 2006)Administering written questionnaires: A written questionnaire (also referred to as self-administered questionnaire) is a data collection tool in which written questions are presented that are to be answered by the respondents in written form.
A written questionnaire can be administered in different ways, such as by:Sending questionnaires by mail with clear instructions on how to answer the questions and asking for mailed responses;Gathering all or part of the respondents in one place at one time, giving oral or written instructions, and letting the respondents fill out the questionnaires; or
Hand-delivering