Worksop On "Questionnaire Design & Data Collection"

School of Planning and Architecture Design Excellence conducted an Online Workshop on “Questionnaire Design and Data Collection” on 29 January 2022. The objective of the workshop was to educate participants about good questionnaire design methods and various ways of data collection. The workshop was attended by over 90 students from the Hindustan Institute of Science and Technology, which included post-graduate students and research scholars of various disciplines and faculty members.

Dr. Sheeba Chander, Dean (SPADE) briefed on the importance of data collection and questionnaire preparation in research and projects. She explained the significance of data in research studies and the authenticity of data; and the basics of data collection and how the collected data can be analysed for the desired output.

The next session was led by Mrs. Geetha Monsingh, former Chief Planner at the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). Mrs. Geetha conducted the session on "Data Collection: Approaches and Methods." She explained in detail the various methods of data collection. She elaborated on primary and secondary data collection methods (merits and demerits), also dwelling upon the do’s and don’ts while collecting data.This was followed by the next session on "Questionnaire preparation for Traffic and Transportation Studies" by Dr. D. Karthigeyan, Associate Professor, HITS, SPADE. Dr. Karthigeyan discussed various data requirements used in traffic studies. He also explained the various sources and data collection methods used in traffic studies. He ended his session with a practical application of the data collected in traffic studies in making transport planning decisions.

The second half of the workshop was kicked off by Ar. Vaishnavi Shankar, Team Lead, Training and Capacity Building (climate resilience), National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Delhi. Ar. Vasihnavi conducted a very interesting session on "Qualitative data collection methods". She explained the difference between qualitative data and quantitative data, the significance of qualitative data in urban studies and ethnography. She also explained various methods and data points for collecting qualitative data. She concluded her session with a demonstration of two software packages (Nvivo and Mendeley) used in analysing and segregating qualitative data sets.

The final session of the workshopon "Question Setting for Field Studies of Research” was delivered by Dr. Abdul Razak Mohmed, Head - Planning Department, School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada. Dr. Razak spoke about the mistakes that could be avoided while preparing and framing questions for the questionnaire survey. He explained the do’s and don’ts in language and grammar and the appropriate options that are to be given while framing questions. Dr. Razak also dwelled upon the flow of the questionnaire that can be followed and the significance of a pilot survey to avoid data breaches.

The overall workshop was very informative for students, research scholars, and faculties. All the participants definitely gained practical knowledge on how to set questions and collect data. The guest speakers made the workshop very interactive by answering the queries of the participants.The workshop was concluded by a thankyou note by Dr. Sheeba Chander, Dean (SPADE) and Dr. D. Karthigeyan, Associate Professor, SPADE.