My time as a student is coming to an end. Looking back, I cannot believe that I have spent more than 20 years in school. I have finally submitted my amended thesis. If everything goes smoothly, I should be done with my studies in another couple of months. Hence, I thought I should take the next two issues of the student column to share my experience in completing the thesis and searching for a job.
Having successfully made the confirmation presentation, the first step in the now-confirmed thesis is to plan the data collection. It's a process that required a lot of thought and careful coordination, especially if you intend to collect the data from sites outside your country. I would suggest taking note of the following points if you do intend to venture of the country for your data collection.
First, be realistic. At the initial planning stage, I had a grand plan to collect data from all the provinces and states of my chosen country. However, with a lack of funding and the difficulty in getting the appropriate test subjects, I had to re-evaluate the process and scale it down to a more manageable level.
Second, find a reliable contact in your test country to help you. My chosen country was China, where I didn't know a lot of people. I was lucky, however, to have the help of an ex-schoolmate. She was a faculty member at a university and got one of her students to help me find the appropriate subjects for my focus group interviews. She also got another student to help me get survey respondents for the second part of my data collection. This sort of contact is extremely important, and something you will need to seriously consider as you are weighing your options for locations in which to collect your data.
Third, plan the finances carefully. Depending on the extent of the data collection, you may need to pay the respondents to take part in your study. On top of that, you need to factor in the traveling and accommodation costs that could add up to quite a bit especially if you intend to be there for a longer period of time.
Fourth, ensure that there is an available translator to help you where necessary. That is, if the data is to be collected from a country where you are not conversant in the native language. If you are like me, going to a country where you have a certain knowledge of the language but are not fluent, you should plan to spend at least a week there before commencing data collection. I spent the first 3 or 4 days in China getting used to the language, especially the special terms and jargon that were rather different from the Mandarin I was used to speaking at home. The initial few days communicating with the local Chinese really helped my focus group interviews.
Fifth, have a contingency plan, especially in the preparation of equipment. If you are going to conduct focus group interviews, you really want to bring at least one or even two extra recorders with you. Do not be caught in a situation where you are out of batteries or disk space, or have a faculty recorder. Some data collection processes, such as focus group interviews are very difficult to execute without a taping recording facility.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, don't pack your collected data into your checked luggage. If you have no choice but to pack it away, due to airline restriction, then maintain a digital copy of the data somewhere. You really do not want to get back home and realize that your luggage is missing. I was caught in a typhoon on the way back from China and it was a horrendous mess at the Hong Kong airport. However, I had already e-mailed my data home, giving me one less thing to worry about while I waited to get a connecting flight back home.
I hope the above pointers will help you when you are planning your data collection for the thesis. Please send me your comments at michele_khoo@pmail.ntu.edu.sg.
