Techniques of data collection research paper examples

Introduction

When hiring new employees such as managers, there is the need to collect information about the potential employees. This is aimed at ensuring that helping the human resource personnel hire individuals with the best qualifications and attributes. There are different methods used as data collection techniques in hiring managers. Each technique measures the potential manager’s attributes desired by the organization.

There are several data collection techniques in human resource. One such technique is the self report test. This is where potential managers prepare reports about their performance, ability and other attributes then hand the report to the human resource department. The department would then depend on this information to hire the best individuals. Observation can also be used to collect information. The candidates are observed to collect information about their behavior, personality and other attributes.

Interviews can be used to collect information. Here, the candidates for the managerial post are interviewed about their abilities and personality. The information would then be used to select the best individual for the post. Interviews are the most common technique of data collection. Reviewing of documentations can also be used as a data collection technique. Information from former employees and the potential employee’s curriculum vitae can be reviewed to collect sufficient information about the individual before deciding whether to hire them or not.

Measures

The techniques of data collection are used to measure different attributes on an individual. They measure ability to be good managers by establishing the individuals’ levels of professionalism, knowledge, management skills, personality and experience.

Administration, score and interpretation

The administration of the data collection techniques is in most cases easy to conduct and establish scores. The interpretation of the same may differ from one organization to another hence; could cause a bit of confusion. However, if more than one technique is used to collect information at once, the acquisition of test results may be difficult since the levels of measurement will be different. Generally, acquiring test outcomes is difficult because there is no universal measurement of personality, knowledge and experience.

Self report tests

These tests are not reliable since they can be easily manipulated by individuals to make them look more experienced and qualified. Therefore, they are subject to bias and cannot be depended on to give accurate information about potential managers. For example, an individual preparing a self report could lie about their abilities, knowledge and past job experiences. However, if interviews, observations and document reviews are used, they can establish accurate information if they are done by professionals.

Conclusion

Therefore, there are different techniques of collecting data when hiring managers. These techniques vary in levels of accuracy and levels of measurement. The difficulty in administration, interpretation and scores also vary with techniques used and the attributes being measured. Self report tests are the least effective data collection techniques because of their unreliability.

References

Cascio, W. F., & Aguins, H. (2005). Applied Psychology in human resource management (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Edwards, J., Scott, J. C., & Raju, N. S. (2003). The human resources program-evaluation handbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.