2. Preparing instruments to collect primary data
PRIMARY data is data that you collect yourself using such methods as:
- direct observation - lets you focus on details of importance to you; lets you see a system in real rather than theoretical use (othen faults are unlikely or trivial in theory but quite real and annoying in practice);
- surveys - written surveys let you collect considerable quantities of detailed data. You have to either trust the honesty of the people surveyed or build in self-verifying questions (e.g. questions 9 and 24 ask basically the same thing but using different words - different answers may indicate the surveyed person is being inconsistent, dishonest or inattentive).
- interviews - slow, expensive, and they take people away from their regular jobs, but they allow in-depth questioning and follow-up questions. They also show non-verbal communication such as face-pulling, fidgetting, shrugging, hand gestures, sarcastic expressions that add further meaning to spoken words. e.g. "I think it's a GREAT system" could mean vastly different things depending on whether the person was sneering at the time! A problem with interviews is that people might say what they think the interviewer wants to hear; they might avoid being honestly critical in case their jobs or reputation might suffer.
- logs (e.g. fault logs, error logs, complaint logs, transaction logs). Good, empirical, objective data sources (usually, if they are used well). Can yield lots of valuable data about system performance over time under different conditions.
