Unit 5.3 Gathering data

Record keeping

• Recorded measures can multiply over time with the original reasons for keeping the records being lost.
• When relied on alone as a source of information, changes in recorded measures can be hard to interpret.

Interviews

• Can be costly in terms of resources.
• Can be hard to analyse objectively.
• If only a small number of interviews are carried out, the results may be untypical.
• Interviewees are sometimes reluctant to reveal their real opinions, especially to an internal evaluator.

Focus groups

• If participants work together they may feel constrained not to express their real views.
• Expert facilitation is needed.

Archival data

• It is time consuming to identify, locate and analyse all relevant documents.
• Documents may present a distorted picture of the past.

Observation

• The act of observation may change behaviour.
• It can be time consuming, stressful for those observed and ethically problematic.
• What is observed may be untypical.

Questionnaire surveys

• It can be hard to get good response rates unless those targeted find the questionnaire user friendly and interesting to complete.
• It can be hard to address complex issues in this way.
• It may require outside expertise to carry out questionnaires effectively.
• It may take quite some time between commissioning and feedback.

Benchmark data

• It can be hard to judge what might be relevant comparisons to make.
• It can be easy to rely on key statistics without understanding the context of the organisations with which you are making comparisons.
• It may be difficult to access appropriate comparative data.