Which of the following activities are examples of data gathering? Check all that apply.
A. Asking 500 telephone respondents what their favorite radio station is
B. Counting the votes in an election to determine the next mayor
C. Measuring the DCH (diameter chest-high) of 200 trees in a forest
D. Making a pie chart showing the kinds of cars owned by people in a sample of 1000
E. Finding the mean weight of heart-disease patients in a study
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answers: A, B, and C
These options involve data gathering—the process of collecting raw, unprocessed information. Let’s analyze each one to explain why it qualifies (or doesn’t) as data gathering.
✅ A. Asking 500 telephone respondents what their favorite radio station is
This is data gathering. Here, the researcher is collecting primary data directly from individuals by asking a question. The responses are raw and unprocessed at the time they are recorded. This is a classic example of survey-based data collection, a widely used method in research and statistics.
✅ B. Counting the votes in an election to determine the next mayor
This is another clear example of data gathering. The act of counting votes is a direct form of collecting quantitative data. Each vote represents a unit of data. The counting process compiles that raw information to be further analyzed or summarized to identify an election winner.
✅ C. Measuring the DCH (diameter chest-high) of 200 trees in a forest
This is a form of field data collection. Researchers are physically measuring something (diameter) on each tree, creating a dataset that can later be used for analysis (e.g., estimating forest biomass). Again, this is unprocessed, raw data being collected from a sample.
❌ D. Making a pie chart showing the kinds of cars owned by people in a sample of 1000
This is not data gathering. This is data representation or data visualization. The data has already been gathered beforehand. The act of making a pie chart is a way to present the findings in a visual format, not to collect new data.
❌ E. Finding the mean weight of heart-disease patients in a study
This involves data analysis, not data collection. Calculating the mean (average) is a statistical operation performed on data that has already been gathered.
Summary:
Data gathering involves collecting raw data. It does not include summarizing (like finding an average) or representing data visually (like charts). Hence, the correct answers are:
✅ A, ✅ B, ✅ C