Logo
Choosing right tools for data collection

Choosing right tools for data collection

choosing right tools for data collection

Companies try to find the requirements of the consumers through different surveys thus choosing the right tool for data helps you to better understand customers' needs. For example, during this pandemic, demand for medical goods increased a lot. The businesses that were already into selling medical products made big profits. But, other companies looking at market trends used this opportunity. They used to tap this market and make huge profits out of this opportunity. That is how the data helped the businesses earn profit. But this is a small example of how you can use the data to your advantage. 

If you observe what better organizations do for their success, big companies collect data from their customers who visit their websites observing their potential buyer's behaviour on their websites. They are most interested in which items are most bought and how much consumers are willing to buy your product. 

By choosing the right method for data collection. It provides brands with a better idea of the consumers' trends that are changing according to the market. If you look at it a step further, this data can be used in big data analytics to process real-time information. This information helps the companies decide how to react to the changes in the market trends.

Post Quick Links

Jump straight to the section of the post you want to read:

Data collection in analysis:

Without research, you will not be able to collect data. Also, you won't analyze your data. if you have collected your data without authentic research. So research plays a vital role in data collection management. Here are some concise tips to improve your data collection research. This research then ultimately allows you to choose the right tool. which will ultimately enhance your data collection quality.

  • You should use technology like the internet and specific tools such as scraping tools to improve the analysis for your collection of data. Also, with the help of the application, you will be able to gather an enormous amount of data.
  • You can include the history of consumers or your customers to improve your research which will ultimately help you collect data.
  • Try not to promote favouritism when you are gathering information. You should only focus on facts when you are collecting data. Favourite opinions will cause harm to the authenticity of your collection of data.
  • You need researchers that are experts about your topic for data collection. Human monitoring will help you to choose better experience in data collection management.
  • Better questions in your surveys, questionnaires, better quality, and documents are also significant. It helps you to ensure that every need of study is at the same level of quality.

Choosing the right methods for data collection is helpful in different kinds of research. it is usually depending on the need of information you are looking for and the subject. There are two techniques for analyzing data you collected from different methods.

\ Qualitative method:

The qualitative analysis aims to get a detailed description. The Researcher may roughly know about the concern of data collection. It is usually recommended in the first stages of analysis. The Researcher acts as a data collecting person. Data is gathered in words, pictures, and things. It is involved with the in-depth opinion of participants. It is more time-consuming than quantitative research. The Researcher gets involved deeply in the study of data collection.

Quantitative method:

The quantitative analysis gathers statistical information and classifies them into the collection. The researcher knows about the concern of data collection. It is usually recommended in the end stages of analysis. The researcher uses surveys to classify the collected data in numerical values. Information is gathered in the form of numbers and statistics. It is involved with the number of people involved or the number of different categories. It is more efficient but lacks details related to the topic. The researcher subjectively is not involved in the study of the topic.

Different methods of data collection:

Interviews:

The best way to collect data and information is through interviews. Asking some precise questions will get you a lot of information you are looking for. Anyone can ask questions from people, but the critical point for an excellent interview is that a person should know what he is asking. There are various ways you can conduct interviews, like through phone, chat, or in person. A person asks you some quick short questions that will be helpful in data collection. Interviews are the most convenient and responsive of all types of data collection.

Observation

When you gather information without asking any direct or indirect question, then this method is called observation. Also, the research has to add their personal opinion about the collected data, increasing the chance of favouritism. The thoughts of people are determined by observation rather than data collection. Observation can also be combined with other information as well like videos.

Documents and records:

You can also collect a lot of information and data directly without asking any questions. Documents and records are used for the analysis of preexisting data. Attendance, financial statuses, and other records are used for research. Documents and research are beneficial as they don't cost you anything. You're only using the information already recorded. The observer has no control over the result as it does not include any personal opinion.

Focus groups:

A focus group is a type of data collection that involves many people who have several. To add a common element to the collection of the data focus group is used. It is a combination of data records, observation, and interviews. A focus group usually asks you to watch a presentation. And the focus group is then asking you some precise and short questions for their data collection. They usually ask you some open-ended questions, which you have to answer then.

Oral histories:

Both interviews and oral histories involve asking questions to different people about their experiences. Still, oral history is more like records and historical information from different people's opinions. Oral histories are mostly linked to a single procedure. Also, oral history is commonly associated with the collective approach for various techniques.

Questionnaires and surveys

These methods include asking closed-end questions. Different methods analyze data gathered by surveys. You can categorize them into different methods for a large population. Surveys and questions are planned first because the researcher should correctly know what he needs in collecting data then design his questions according to the need for data collection. If the survey is not correctly planned, you cannot gather the information of the data you collected. It is easier to conduct surveys as compared to short interviews. Online surveys are more convenient as the questions are changed according to the person who is answering questions. More accessible and cheaper as compared to paper surveys.

Choosing the right tool for data collection:

Choosing the right tool for data collection plays a very significant role in extracting data from any place. Firstly, you need to take the necessary consideration for choosing the right method for your extraction. The basic tool you need to focus on related to your data extraction is significant in data extraction. and data analysis of that information you gathered from different areas.

Tools for virtual data collection analysis:

Collecting data or information from virtual sites can be done in many ways. Most people do it with or without the allowance of the website owner or manager. There are many different types of web scraping. There are also various intentions for scraping, but very few people do it for beneficial purposes.

Copy-pasting:

Copy-pasting is something that is done by many scrapers. It takes a lot of time and effort for the scraper to do it. Also, this is an easy way to steal content from a website because the website can only detect scraping tools. Thus it is elementary not to get caught by website tools. However, people prefer the automated type of web scraping more because it is quicker.

HTML analyzing: 

With the help of JavaScript, HTML analyzing it is done. It usually collects data from linear or nested pages of HTML. This method is commonly used to extract texts, extract links and emails, scrap the screen, and resource extraction.

DOM Parsing:

DOM stands for document object model. DOM reads the style of content and restructures it with XML documents. Scrapers generally use DOM when they want a detailed view of the structure of a website. Also, scrapers use DOM analyzers to collect the tags containing data, and then they use tools like XPath to do web scraping. Mostly like internet explorers and firefox are used for DOM parsing.

Vertical Aggregation:

Most of these platforms are generated by brands to get enormous scale power to attack specific verticals. Some companies also use vertical aggregation to use the data in the cloud. Bots are created through these platforms. These bots are created automatically for a specific vertical. The quality of data extraction is measured by how efficient they are.

XPath: 

This type of web scraping usually works on XML documents. These XML documents are tree-like structures. XPath is used for the navigation of trees through specific tags on different places of that tree. XPath is used with DOM analyzers to collect the information of an entire web page and transfer it to another place.

Google Sheets: 

Google sheets are also used for web scraping. It's also trendy among scrapers. A scraper can use this function to extract data and information from websites. This technique is beneficial when someone wants to extract data from a website. you can also use this command IMPORT XML to check your website if its scrape proof or not

Text Pattern Matching: 

UNIX grep command is usually used with python or Perl. Also, it is used for the expression matching technique.

There are different types of web scraping tools that you can find online, and scrapers need to know about them if they need to do web scraping at a professional level. You can find tools such as Import.io, HTTrack, Wget, Node.js, and cURL. There are also different types of automated browsers like Casper.js, slimmer.js, phantom.js for web scraping purposes.

Tools for in-person data collection analysis:

Surveys:

These methods commonly include asking closed-end questions. Different methods analyze data gathered by surveys. You can categorize them into different methods for a large population. Surveys and questions are planned first because the researcher should correctly know what he needs in collecting data then design his questions according to the need for data collection. If the survey is not correctly planned, you cannot gather the information of the data you collected. It is easier to conduct surveys as compared to short interviews. Online surveys are more convenient as the questions are changed according to the person who is answering questions. 

Customer histories:

Both interviews and oral histories involve asking questions to different people about their experiences. Still, oral history is more like records and historical information from different people's opinions. Oral histories are mostly linked to a single procedure. Also, oral history is commonly associated with the collective approach for the estimation of various techniques. Compared to paper surveys.

Files and documents:

Documents and research are beneficial as they don't cost you anything. You're only using the information already recorded. The observer has no control over the result as it does not include any personal opinion. You can also collect a lot of information and data directly without asking any questions. Documents and records are used for the analysis of preexisting data. Attendance, financial statuses, and other records are used for research.

By observation:

The thoughts of people are determined by observation rather than data collection. Observation can also be combined with other information as well like videos. When you gather information without asking any direct or indirect question, then this method is called observation. Also, the research has to add their personal opinion about the collected data, increasing the chance of favouritism.

Tips for picking the right tool:

There are few tips which you can follow to choose the right tool suitable for your business. Those tips are mentioned below.

  • The first tip is to have precise management about gathering, analyzing, categorizing, and managing data. It must be a consistent process that covers all aspects of the collected data. Businesses require large quantities of info, and you need to be evident about which data you want in your study. The data that's significant to your brand will be the information that are the responses or feedback of your customers, that manages the relationship between customers and the company, and that reveals marketing strategies and performance in the market. To simplify your data collection and management, you need obvious objectives in what you hope to be informed from your data research. Objectives may be dissimilar for different brands and companies. You should determine a clear set of objectives to collect the correct data and study analysis in the most beneficial way to your business.
  • Marketing steps for any business should be to collect their data and information, then they have to analyze the data that they have collected, and after that, you need to improve some of your weak points, and now you have to repeat from the start.
  • You need different multi-faceted system systems for the collection of data. You should use different platforms for gathering information for your company and brand. Marketing automation software has made this process easier to retain their customers. You get a tool to collect and research for your marketing strategy.
  • Your visuals need to be clear for the analysis of your data collection. This tip will help you have an intuition for where you need to improve yourself in moving forward. You should also Focus hard on the readability of your charts and graphs. Using different types of attractive colours will help to differentiate between categories. Also beneficial for you to understand your collected data.
  • Customers are always related to your company, and therefore they are heavily involved in data collection. So, the first thing to start improving is your interaction with your customers. You must know where most customers belong to, the items they choose and buy for their use. This strategy is involved in data collection. The first thing is to track your interactions. You should not wholly focus on the customers who have purchased or bought something by following the whole process. You must think about the specific behaviour that will produce more efficient data collection, benefit your organization. Gathering and researching data like this can be an excellent method to know about what is working best and what should be improved for your company.
  • Sometimes the way you gather your data usually depends on your plans of management of data collection. Standard includes the different strategies you use to describe your marketing ideas, sales strategies, and how you use your visitor's location. Make sure to know about different metrics your company uses currently, as these will help you determine relevant and authentic data you need to collect. In many companies, there are similarities in the collection of data. For example, most of the time, a content management system has some of the same data resources as Web analytics and a Point of Sale usually has the same data sources as an inventory system. So, you have to identify what systems you are using for the supply of data collection.
  • Many companies use info from multiple systems for a single critical objective. To make sure that you are gathering the right amount of data. You must identify these sources and make sure that they are compatible with your data collection systems. If they aren't similar, you can face many problems and you can even work on wrong decisions based on this collection of data which could harm your company.
  • When working on data collection systems and different data analysis systems, you are most likely to start making reports related to this data collection. It is then the best idea to identify who will read these data collection reports and the most critical information they will be looking for. The information will then be different for various audiences and identify the data they will judge. For best results, you should think about who will read. and create accurate data that needs to be collected by good. and then work on the methods used for these interactions. This method will help you to track most of the data.

Collecting data using secondary resources:

Secondary Data

When someone has already done statistical analysis on a collection of data or the data information is already being collected for some different purpose before the current situation then this data is called secondary data. Secondary data is already available in the form of information. There are not any specific collections that can be named as secondary data any observer or researcher might extract data from external sources and they can also use internal sources of the organization to collect data. 

Usually, the internal sources are in the form of sales reports, they can also be financial statements and some other secondary sources such as customer details and some of the company information is included in secondary resources. Feedback and reviews from a dealer, customer, and distributor, management information and so on. 

Many external secondary resources are helpful in data collection. These external sources are not related to the internal information of the organization.

These external sources usually include census (government, population or agriculture). It also includes government department information like taxes or social security records. Business journals are also a useful secondary source of data collection. Business magazines, library books and social looks are also great sources and last but not least the internet plays a significant role in secondary resources of information. 

The secondary data can be found in two forms that are qualitative and quantitative. 

  • The qualitative secondary data can be gathered through transcripts, diaries. These also include interviews and newspapers etc. 
  • Whereas the quantitative data is extracted through a numerical statement. They are also in the form of data statistics and surveys.

There are many advantages of secondary data such as:

  • Firstly, it is available easily and you can find it anywhere and take advantage of already collected data. 
  • It is less expensive to already research the collected data although it is more difficult to collect data from scratch but it is also possible that you will find more things you are not looking for in secondary data. So it is more recommended to do your research if you are looking for something specific also there is a chance that you will find unauthentic details

Concise tips to find the right tool:

  • You need to understand the amount of data you have. You should have better knowledge and creative ideas. You should also know how to use them significantly to fulfill your customers' needs.
  • You have to build a team that works explicitly or data collection management. This team will only focus on the work related to data collection.
  • Ensure that your data collection and services are comparable with the global privacy regulations.
  • You need to secure your data collection. And you have to make it private. Try to secure it from other companies as it will help you to maintain your privacy.
  • You should focus on how your company's data management skills will be a matter of interest for you. Try to work on your plan accordingly.

FAQ's

Conclusion:

Companies are now analyzing real-time data with the help of big data to give them an edge over their rivals. Big data is super important in digital marketing as it can process huge amounts of information. So quickly, which is impossible for humans to do so in such a short time. 

The problem lies in the quality of data. If the data quality is not good, then the trend's result would not be reliable either. And if you want to target a certain segment, too much filtering would be needed because of unnecessary information processed by big data. If the information obtained is accurate, it could derive different strategies to target the relevant audience. Knowing the customer's needs or where the paradigm is shifting is a big advantage to the business. Allows them to prepare themselves for the changing trends and provide what they need before anyone else can. Data-based marketing is much better than judgmental marketing. i.e., using your judgments for marketing purposes. Because using data-based information is based on the actual customers' trends. rather than the assumptions made by the marketers. 

You can also use a proxy to assist you with targeting markets outside your region. Collecting data without getting caught through a proxy is an advancement by the new systems available. It allows you to roam freely and get as much data as possible without fear of getting blocked. Therefore, information is very important for marketing. However, if this information is not used properly to make strategies, it could lead to potential failures. And last but not least, verify the integrity of the data you are working on. because if you are not working on reliable information, it could lead to disasters.

About the author

Expert

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Icon NextPrevComplete guide to web Scraping for academic research
Next5 tips to improve data collectionIcon Prev

Ready to get started?