FORMS & METHODS

FORMS & METHODS

Data Collection Methods

1.Interview

Interview is useful To gather first hand opinions from individuals with regards to the features

of certain shopping mall that they find interesting or unique. To enquire their reasons for coming to a tourist destination To identify the features that draw them to patronise the shopping mall.

Can be done through: Verbal interview: Interview tourist and/or retailers using a set of

interview questions Written: Survey Questions

1. Interview

How to initiate an interview?

1. Identify the potential respondent and approach him/her politely.

2. Introduce yourself and explain the purpose of the interview. However if he/she declines, thank politely.

3. Request permission to carry out the interview or to record the interview.

4. During interview, record or note the response on the questionnaire.

5. Avoid passing unnecessary comments

6. Ask questions to clarify when unsure

7. Thank the respondent after the interview.

2. Tourist Traffic Count

How to get started with “tourist traffic count”?1. Choose a strategic spot to count the number of tourist.

2. Determine the time duration to count the number of tourist.

3. Record the number of tourist on the recording sheet

3. Land-use survey

PurposeCollect information on how land is used within a

specific area. For example, we can use land-use survey to observe

the types of goods and services available on a particular level of a shopping mall or to note where a shopping mall’s accessibility/transportation points are situated.

3. Land-use survey

How to conduct land-use survey?1.Get ready a blank piece of paper, clipboard and a

pencil2.Mark a starting point, walk down from the starting

point and observe the different land uses on the level that you have been assigned to.

3.Use box to represent the different shops4.Label the different land uses observed in the

respective boxes ( For example label StarHub shop as: Mobile shop)

5.Repeat this process.

3. Land-use survey

An example on how a land-use survey looks like:

Shop names

Shop names

4. Observation Study

Data can be gathered through:1. Observations (of tourists and surroundings)

2. Digital photographs.

Purpose of Observation study:Observe the key features of a specific place and people in

their natural setting. Observe and take photograph of that area. Digital

photographs provide an accurate visual evidence of the environment which you are investigating on.

4. Observation Study

Advantages of observation study:Simple and economicalYou get to obtain first-hand information

Disadvantages of observation study:Ethics problemsObservers may cause the findings to be bias

4. Perception Survey

What is Perception Survey?Investigate your views on the attractiveness of a

specific place in this case. For example, we can use perception survey to

determine whether the type of goods and services, amenities and accessibility of a shopping centre has an influence on the number of tourist visiting it.

Observation and perception survey

How to get started with observation and perception survey.

1. Choose a strategic spot2. Use a camera to take photographs of the

infrastructure, amenities and available goods and services for tourist which are found on their assigned location.

3. Walk around the area4. Use the perception survey questionnaires and rate the

area based on your observations (in terms of negative and positive aspects).

FORMS & METHODS

Data Representation Methods

Tables

Tables may be used to organise data in rows and columns.

Each row and column should be labelled.

A table works best when it is used to look up individual values, compare individual values and when the values need to be expressed precisely.

Pie-Charts

Pie charts are useful in comparing proportions of different factors. Students can better visualise the degree of importance better using pie charts as each component is measured by the size of each ‘slice’ of the chart.

Visually, students are able to identify and rank the importance (from most to the least) of each factor of attraction based on the differences in size of each ‘slice’ in a gist.

They are also able to tell the value of significance factor holds as compared with the rest of the factors, by looking at the percentage as calculated from the collected data.

Histograms

A histogram is used to graphically summarize and represent the distribution and variation of a set of data.

It shows how often each different value in a set of data occurs or which data occurs most frequently.

It makes it easier for students to see relationships as compared to presenting the same information in a table.

Bar Graphs

A bar graph can be used to represent frequency or number of data/variables and compare between groups of data (for example, comparing the number of goods and services available between a megamall and a heartland mall).

Many types of data/variables can be represented using bar graphs enabling us to make quick comparisons and generalizations about the data.