Data collection is crucial to all research. Through this process researchers accumulate empirical material on which to base their research. But before they begin putting together their empirical base, researchers should ask themselves whether any suitable data is already available. Secondary data (or secondhand data) can offer real advantages, as it relieves researchers from conducting their own fieldwork or reduces the fieldwork required. But it can be difficult to track down suitable secondary data, if it does exist, and once located there is the problem of gaining access to it. Knowing how to identify and access data sources, both external and internal to organizations is central to the collection of secondary data.
In the absence of suitable secondary data, or in addition to such data, researchers can collect their own primary data through fieldwork. This brings us to the question of what methods the fieldworker should use.
Data collection methods vary according to whether the researcher adopts a quantitative or qualitative approach. In this chapter we will make a distinction between techniques that can be used in quantitative research and those more suited to qualitative research.
Source: Thietart Raymond-Alain et al. (2001), Doing Management Research: A Comprehensive Guide, SAGE Publications Ltd; 1 edition.
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