Three basic principles characterize the process of collecting information within the different research traditions (Box 15-1).

First, the aim of collecting information, regardless of how it is conducted, is to obtain data that are both relevant and sufficient to answer a research question or query. Second, the choice of a data collection or information-gathering strategy is based on four major factors: the researcher’s paradigmatic framework, the nature of the research problem, the type of design, and the practical limitations or resources available to the investigator (Table 15-1). Third, although the overall data collection strategy reflects the researcher’s basic philosophical perspective, a specific procedure, such as observation or interview, may be used by researchers conducting either a naturalistic or an experimental-type study. Many researchers find it useful to collect data and information with more than one procedure or technique to be able to answer a question or query more fully. The use of multiple collection techniques is referred to as “triangulation” or “crystallization” and is useful for increasing the accuracy of information.¹ We discuss this technique in subsequent chapters.

In general, the action process of data and information collection uses one or more of the following strategies: (1) looking, watching, listening, reading, and recording; (2) asking; and (3) obtaining and examining materials. Each of these strategies can be structured, semistructured, or open-ended, depending on the nature of the inquiry (Table 15-2). Also, each strategy can be used in combination with another.

One important data collection and information-gathering strategy involves systematic observation. The process of observation includes five primary activities, which may be interrelated: looking, watching, listening, reading, and recording. The record produced by the investigator comprises the data set. The way in which the researcher looks, watches, reads, and listens may range from being structured to unstructured, participatory to nonparticipatory, narrowly to broadly focused, and time limited to ongoing and fully immersed.2

In the experimental-type tradition, observation is usually time limited and structured. Criteria to look, watch, listen, read, and record are determined a priori to gathering data, and the data are recorded as a structured measurement system. For example, checklists may be used that indicate the frequency (or only the presence or absence) of a particular behavior or object under study. Or a text may be read, and the occurrences of a particular phrase to denote “power language” might be counted and recorded. Phenomena other than those specified before entering the field are omitted from or remain outside the investigator’s record. Rating scales may also be used to record observations; the investigator rates the observed phenomenon on a scale with a predetermined point system (see Chapter 16).

Looking, watching, listening, reading, and recording take on an inductive quality in naturalistic designs, with varying degrees of participation and interaction between the investigator and the phenomena of interest. The investigator broadly defines the boundaries of observation (e.g., a community health center), then moves to a more focused observational approach (e.g., particular locations, navigation patterns, staff–client interactions, language, signs, images) as the process of collecting and analyzing information from previous observations unfolds.