STAGE 8

Data collection

The data collection process (i.e., STAGE EIGHT: Data Collection) refers to the period when you implement (i.e., operationalize) your research strategy, collecting the data that you will analyse (something we discuss in STAGE NINE: Data Analysis). Having set your research strategy in STAGE SIX, you should know the process by which you will collect your data (e.g., a research strategy involving a relationship-based research design, using a survey to examine the relationship between customer service and customer loyalty among customers in a gym in the UK, where customers were selected from the gym's database using a simple random sample). When doing a dissertation at the undergraduate and master's level, the data collection process can take anywhere between one week and four months, depending on the nature of your research strategy (i.e., your choice of research design, research methods and sampling strategy), and issues relating to access. The purpose of this stage is to highlight four important considerations that you should bear in mind when planning and carrying out your data collection. Whilst these four considerations may appear obvious, they come from experience, and are worth reading: