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population. Though researchers might select the most appropriate method
for their research, they should pay attention to the fact that respondents

may answer the questions under social pressure to be politically correct.
Controlling for bias, speed and cost may also influence the choice of
technique (Terpstra and Sarathy, 2000).

5.6.4 Primary research

Generally, researchers agree that there are two types of primary research

data: quantitative and qualitative (Creswell, 1994). Firestone (1987)
examines both a quantitative and a qualitative study for the same research

question and he indicates the fundamental difference of the uses of
rhetoric in the two methodologies. An important conclusion is that,

although there are different assumptions and methods, quantitative and
qualitative research can be seen as complementary, rather than rival
designs. In business research, there are basically three common types of

instrument for collecting data: self-administrated questionnaires, usually
delivered by mail; personal interviews; and telephone interviews. There is

no best form of survey because each has advantages and disadvantages,
which are illustrated below. In order to ensure reliability and validity of the
data, the right method of data collection is important. It is, however, difficult

to provide specific guidelines here as the most appropriate methods will
depend on the specific purpose of the survey (Fink and Kosecoff, 1985).

5.6.5 Data collection

Care should be taken in instrument design to ensure a fit with the specific

socio-cultural context. It is important to try to avoid potential problems of
miscommunication between respondents and researchers. A key issue is

the translation of the research instrument into concepts and terms that
have an equivalent meaning and relevance in all contexts and cultures.
Translation into another language gives rise to considerable difficulties

because of the language or culture-bound nature of many terms and
concepts. The following sections investigate the most important

instruments related to data collection. These include personal interviews
(these can include semi-structured, face-to-face interviews or more
structured interviews) or mail surveys.