Here are some specific ways quantitative data can be collected. For the sake of this article, we’ll segment these methods based on whether they are primary (gathered first-hand by the business) or secondary (gathered by someone else and then repurposed).
Primary data collection methods
Customer surveys
This method is one of the most common means of quantitative data collection for businesses.
Many use the approach to obtain a representative, unbiased sample from their target audience via email questionnaires or web surveys.
Interviews
While interviews tend to be more associated with qualitative data collection, they can also be used for quantitative data.
This can be facilitated by closed-ended questions that are delivered in the same format and order to each participant.
When conducting the interview, it’s also important that the person asking the questions follows a strict interview schedule and reads out the questions exactly as they are worded.
The standardized and repetitive nature of the questions makes quantitative interviews a quick and reliable way to collect data.
Documentation reviews
There is now an abundance of online data available to modern businesses that enables them to draw quantitative conclusions.
If we take a more specific look at a platform such as Google Analytics, we see that metrics such as average session duration, ratio of new to returning visitors, bounce rate, and organic vs. paid sessions can all be tracked with ease.
For businesses that want to measure app performance, metrics such as app downloads, app store conversion rate, campaign performance, and pre-orders can all provide useful data.
Secondary data collection methods
Secondary data collection methods can be incorporated into a plan to collect primary data by identifying a key area of focus or specific challenges.
It can also clarify the relationship between two variables of correlated, primary data.
Academic research
Academic research describes any study published in a peer-reviewed journal.
In truth, many of America’s most innovative businesses owe their success to the data published by academia.
Much of the technology in an average iPhone was developed by scientific research funded by the United States Government.
America’s technological leadership in computers, the internet, GPS, laser scanners, and some pharmaceutical drugs can also be explained by quantitative data featured in academic research.
Commercial information sources
The media is much maligned, but newspapers, magazines, radio, and television can nevertheless be a valuable source of quantitative data.
The institutions behind these sources often have detailed, first-hand information related to politics, market research, economic policy, and demographic segmentation.
Government reports
Research performed by federal authorities can also provide clarity on customer pain points, market trends, future opportunities, and potential regulatory issues.
One of the more obvious sources is census data that governments collect on their citizens every few years or so.
This data, which is mostly demographic in nature, can be used by businesses to better understand whether consumers in a particular town, city, or state will buy its products or services.
Other marketers may use census data to shape or refine their marketing strategies.
The Cynefin Framework gives context to decision making and problem-solving by providing context and guiding an appropriate response. The five domains of the Cynefin Framework comprise obvious, complicated, complex, chaotic domains and disorder if a domain has not been determined at all.
A SWOT Analysis is a framework used for evaluating the business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It can aid in identifying the problematic areas of your business so that you can maximize your opportunities. It will also alert you to the challenges your organization might face in the future.
The SWOTanalysis is commonly used as a strategic planning tool in business. However, it is also well suited for personal use in addressing a specific goal or problem. A personal SWOTanalysis helps individuals identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
The Pareto Analysis is a statistical analysis used in business decision making that identifies a certain number of input factors that have the greatest impact on income. It is based on the similarly named Pareto Principle, which states that 80% of the effect of something can be attributed to just 20% of the drivers.
A failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a structured approach to identifying design failures in a product or process. Developed in the 1950s, the failure mode and effects analysis is one the earliest methodologies of its kind. It enables organizations to anticipate a range of potential failures during the design stage.
A Blindspot Analysis is a means of unearthing incorrect or outdated assumptions that can harm decision making in an organization. The term “blindspot analysis” was first coined by American economist Michael Porter. Porter argued that in business, outdated ideas or strategies had the potential to stifle modern ideas and prevent them from succeeding. Furthermore, decisions a business thought were made with care caused projects to fail because major factors had not been duly considered.
A comparable company analysis is a process that enables the identification of similar organizations to be used as a comparison to understand the business and financial performance of the target company. To find comparables you can look at two key profiles: the business and financial profile. From the comparable company analysis it is possible to understand the competitive landscape of the target organization.
A cost-benefit analysis is a process a business can use to analyze decisions according to the costs associated with making that decision. For a cost analysis to be effective it’s important to articulate the project in the simplest terms possible, identify the costs, determine the benefits of project implementation, assess the alternatives.
Agile Business Analysis (AgileBA) is certification in the form of guidance and training for business analysts seeking to work in agile environments. To support this shift, AgileBA also helps the business analyst relate Agile projects to a wider organizational mission or strategy. To ensure that analysts have the necessary skills and expertise, AgileBA certification was developed.
A SOAR analysis is a technique that helps businesses at a strategic planning level to:
Focus on what they are doing right.
Determine which skills could be enhanced.
Understand the desires and motivations of their stakeholders.
The STEEPLE analysis is a variation of the STEEP analysis. Where the step analysis comprises socio-cultural, technological, economic, environmental/ecological, and political factors as the base of the analysis. The STEEPLE analysis adds other two factors such as Legal and Ethical.
The PESTEL analysis is a framework that can help marketers assess whether macro-economic factors are affecting an organization. This is a critical step that helps organizations identify potential threats and weaknesses that can be used in other frameworks such as SWOT or to gain a broader and better understanding of the overall marketing environment.
A DESTEP analysis is a framework used by businesses to understand their external environment and the issues which may impact them. The DESTEP analysis is an extension of the popular PEST analysis created by Harvard Business School professor Francis J. Aguilar. The DESTEP analysis groups external factors into six categories: demographic, economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological, and political.
A paired comparison analysis is used to rate or rank options where evaluation criteria are subjective by nature. The analysis is particularly useful when there is a lack of clear priorities or objective data to base decisions on. A paired comparison analysis evaluates a range of options by comparing them against each other.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
