In scientific research, data collection is a major component.
At the same time, the findings of most evidence-based studies are highly dependent on the data collection system used. It is also important to determine the best way to ensure that the data collected is reliable and trustworthy. This paper analyzes the approach used in the article, Determinants of Job Acquisition Based on the Attitude of Agricultural College Students: A Case of Research from Shiraz University, Iran, for data collection.
Questionnaires were used in the article to gather data.
It is stated that the participants "They were selected using stratified random sampling approach and surveyed using a structured questionnaire," (Abadi & Zamani, 2017). Structured questions are advantageous in the collection of specific information from participants. Additionally, they can quickly guide the respondents and help in saving time that would otherwise be spent in giving more explanations. On the other hand, structured questionnaires have a higher degree of rigidity. This outcome implies that they focus on less detail and respondents are restricted from giving adequate explanations for their answers, given that the target population was youth, who tend to give detail of their responses. In the end, while the collected data may be suitable for statistical analysis, the results may not be accurate. For this reason, the use of questionnaires was not the best choice for the methodology of this research. Other methods such as interviews would be better because they allow for detailed answers from the participants and give a personal interaction between the researcher and the respondent.
In conclusion, while questionnaires are a good method of collecting data, they are rigid and limit the responses from the participant.
Other methods such as interviews could be more efficient in this case because they would give the target population a chance to give a detailed response.
References
Abadi, B., & Zamani, G. H. (2017). Determinants of job acquisition based on the agricultural college students' attitude: A case of study from Shiraz University, Iran. Azarian Journal of Agriculture, 4(2), 29-40. Retrieved from http://azarianjournals.ir/?page_id=2261
