M7-Quantitative Decision Methods-S1 - Managing Data and Survey Methods

Book used during the training: Quantitative Methods For Business Decisions Summary Chapters 2 and 3

Data selection requires it being:

• Appropriate
  • Data must service its purpose
• Adequate
  • Need to be clear about problem boundaries
  • Need to know what the problem owner or client expect from you
  • Need to know if data is missing
  • Needs to be collected in limited time and resources
  • Need to decide whether the current data is sufficient
• Without bias
  • Is the data representing the full population?
  • Needs a 'fair representation' so that inferences to a full population can be made

To start a data collection you can use the 5 why an how technique. You also will need to consider:

• The method of selection
  • Probability Sampling
  • Non-Probability Sampling
• The method of contact
  • Interviewer administrated questionnaires or checklist
    • Needs training
    • Telephonic interviews are cheap, timing can be planned to have high participation.
  • Self administrated questionnaires or checklist
    • Let respondents fill out the survey themselves
    • Postal surveys usually have a low return but this can be better by doing relevant sampling
  • Panel surveys use the same population but a different set of questions.
  • Longitudinal studies follow a group of people or a cohort over a long period of time.
• The method of data collection
  • Questionnaire design