SayPro Evaluate information value against given specifications (briefs).

Defining Your Information NeedBefore you start searching, it is best if you can define your information need. If you know what you’re looking for, you’ll be better able to recognize it when you’ve found your answer. Also, defining your information need helps you know where to start looking.

• What information do you need? Define your problem or interpret your assignment.
• What information do you already have on the subject? What facts or background information do you already know?
• Do you want general or specific information about the subject?
• How much information do you want? A single fact? A paragraph? A few pages? An entire book?
• What types of information do you want? For example, are you looking for
  • opinions
  • statistics or data
  • case studies or specific examples
  • name of experts
  • historical information
  • analysis
• What information sources (databases, library catalogs, encyclopedias, the Internet) will help you find the information you need?

Evaluate the Source of InformationSome questions can be answered while you are looking at your search results in a database or search engines. Know the content of the databases, read abstracts (if available), do author searches, look at subject headings, and notice publication information (for dates, places, and publishers). Other questions will be answered when you are looking at the publication itself or at the full-text in a database.

• Who is the author of the information, and what qualifications to they have on this topic? What is their relevant education, experience, occupation or other publications?
• Who is the intended audience? Is it for the general public, for students, for professionals or other researchers, etc.?
• What type of source is it? Is it scholarly, popular, commercial, governmental, or private? Is the presentation suitable for your level of understanding of the subject (not too simple or too difficult)?
• When was the information produced? Is your topic one that is likely to have had significant changes since the source was published? Do you need current information or a historical perspective?
• Where was the information published? Does it focus on a specific part of the world or region?
• Why was the information published? Does the source show political or cultural bias?
• How is the information organized? Are there appendixes, indexes, and/or a bibliography included? Does it have graphs, charts, glossaries, or illustrations to help explain or augment the information?

Evaluate the Information Content ItselfFinally, after you have read through a book, an article, or other publication, you should be able to answer questions about the type and quality of information that it gives.

• Does the source contain the information you need? (See Definining your Information Need)
• Does it report primary research (e.g. experiments, observations, surveys) or is it a compilation or previous research, like a review article or meta-analysis? Is there documentation of other works used (bibliography, footnotes, references, etc.)?
• What is the author’s thesis? What are the main points or concepts?
• What facts or opinions are presented? Is more than one point of view presented? What are the major findings or conclusions, and are they supported by the facts or arguments?
• Do other sources support the facts and/or conclusions of this source? Do the findings support or refute your own ideas on the topic?

A number of guidelines should be followed when collecting external information.If they are not followed, much time, effort, and money are likely to be wasted.

1. State known facts. Before undertaking an external study, make an inventory of all data currently available. It makes little sense to conduct an extensive study or pay to have one conducted only to produce information that is available from existing sources. By stating all known facts, management establishes a base from which to work. This base can be established by looking at internal sources before proceeding with more expensive, external information-gathering techniques.

2. List specific goals and objectives. Once a base of information has been established, a plan must be formulated. Goals and objectives are the basis for this plan. Without goals and objectives, an external study could easily go astray and would not yield the information needed by a hospitality manager. The manager needs to ask, “What do I want to learn? What types of information about my clientele, my competition, or my own operation would be most useful?” Having answered such questions, a manager can begin to formulate potential questions for a survey to provide the desired information.

3. Collect all relevant data. At this point the actual legwork must be done to ensure an adequate sample. The information gathered must be both valid and reliable. Validity is the degree to which the data gathered measure what they are supposed to measure. Reliability is the degree with which data consistently measure whatever they are designed to measure. Data collection is extremely important and not a process to be treated lightly. The information generated will only be as accurate and valid as the procedures used to generate the information. For this reason, great care must be taken to ensure that the information is gathered correctly.

1. Summarize the data and analyze the situation. No matter which data collection method is used, some type of summary and analysis must be done to reduce the data into a manageable package. Then management can access the organized information and use it for a wide variety of decisions.

The Dissemination and Utilization Process

• The User, or intended user, of the information or product to be disseminated;
• The dissemination Source, that is, the agency, organization, or individual responsible for creating the new knowledge or product, and/or for conducting dissemination activities;
• The Content or message that is disseminated, that is, the new knowledge or product itself, as well as any supporting information or materials;
• The dissemination Medium, that is, the ways in which the knowledge or product is described, "packaged," and transmitted; and
• The Context in which the knowledge or product is developed and disseminated, including contextual factors related to the source, the user, the content, and the dissemination medium (adapted from Westbrook & Boethel, 1997).

Qualitative Research ProceduresQualitative research is an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples which provides insights and understanding of the problem setting.Focus GroupsDescription:A focus group is an informal interview or discussion with a small group of respondents, about a certain topic, which is lead by a trained moderator. The purpose of the project is disclosed to all members of the group and the moderator then listens to the groups’ discussion about that topic. It is used to learn about the attitudes of respondents on the subject in question.Characteristics: A focus group should consist of 8-10 respondents who vary in terms of demographic and socioeconomic background. It should last approximately 1-3 hours and the use of audiocassettes and videotapes are encouraged. The moderator must be sensitive, flexible and encourage and involve everyone in the group.Advantages & Disadvantages:A greater insight is obtained from a group than from an individual response as one person’s opinion can trigger another’s. Also when participants can relate to the opinions of others they feel comfortable expressing their own ideas. Ideas are more likely to arise out of the blue in a group situation rather than an individual interview and observers can witness the session and record it for later analysis. Since a number of individuals are being interviewed at the same time, data collection and analysis can proceed relatively quickly. However the results can often be mistaken as conclusive rather than exploratory and the quality of results depends on the skills of the moderator. Focus group data tends to be unorganised and “messy” and can be susceptible to bias from the client or researcher. Lastly it must be noted that focus groups are not representative of the general population and are not projectable.In-depth InterviewsDescription:An in-depth interview is an unstructured, direct, personal interview in which a single respondent is probed by a highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes and feelings on a topic.Utilised:In-depth interviews are used when confidential information or the detailed probing of a respondent are required. They are also used when interviewing a person who is likely to be swayed or unlikely to provide information in a group type situation, for example, a competitor.Advantages & Disadvantages:In-depth interviews can uncover a great depth of insights and respondents are more likely to offer free information on a one-to-one basis. However, skilled interviewers can be expensive and hard to find and data can be susceptible to bias. Also the combination of the length of the interview with the cost means the number of interviews will be small.Other qualitative research procedures include:

• • Association Techniques: where the respondent is presented with a stimulus and asked to respond with the first thing that comes to mind.
• • Completion Techniques: where the respondent is required to complete an incomplete stimulus situation, examples include completion of sentences or stories.
• • Expressive Techniques: where the respondents are presented with a verbal or visual situation and asked to relate the feelings and attitudes of other people to the situation, for example role plays.

These techniques should be used for exploratory research to gain initial insight and understanding and are usually used when the required information cannot be accurately obtained by direct methods.Quantitative Research ProceduresQuantitative research methodology seeks to quantify the data and applies some form of statistical analysis.Survey MethodsTelephone Interviews: This method involves a sample of respondents being telephoned and asked a number of questions by an interviewer, who records their responses on paper questionnaires.Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing:In this case the interviewer sits in front of a computer screen wearing a headset. The computer dials the telephone number on command and the interviewer reads the questions, which are generated by the mainframe computer, from the screen. He or she enters the responses directly into the computer’s memory. This method means that interviewing time is reduced, data quality is enhanced and numerous steps in the data collection process, coding of questionnaires and data entry is eliminated. Also, due to the fact that responses are entered directly into the computer, results can be provided almost instantly.Personal In-Home Interviews:It is the interviewer’s responsibility to record the respondents’ answers while interviewing them face-to-face in their home. This technique can be costly.Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing:In this method each respondent sits in front of a computer and completes the questions that appear on the screen using the mouse or keyboard. CAPI reduces interviewing time and is more interesting to respondents. Answers will also be more varied and less inhibited as respondents would not feel embarrassed in front of an interviewer.Mail Interviews: There is no verbal interaction between the researcher and the respondent in this method, respondents simply complete the questionnaire they receive by mail and return it in the envelope provided. Before questionnaires are sent out, mailing lists of respondents must be obtained, this can take copious amounts of time if there is a large population. Questionnaires must be designed to maximize the number of responses, therefore the layout and the questions asked are of vital importance. For example, people are less likely to answer questions of a personal nature. Mail surveys are used for a variety of purposes such as the measurement of advertising effectiveness.Mail Panels:Households are offered incentives in return for their participation in periodic mail questionnaires, product tests, and telephone surveys.Internet Surveys: This type of survey is presented to respondents on a computer screen. Instructions explain the procedure for answering ensuing questions and are often accompanied by one or more sample questions and answers. It is usually at this point that respondents will proceed to answer the questions provided. When respondents complete the survey, their answers are stored in a computer file for subsequent analysis. This method of data collection allows automated data entry, thus analysis can commence earlier. Internet surveys can be designed to reject out-of-range or missing data thus maximizing the accuracy of responses. Also the responses on an internet survey are much clearer to read than responses in hand writing. The internet is not accessible to everybody and hence a representative sample of the general population cannot be drawn using this method. However, it is useful for surveying business to business or any groups that are internet users or have internet access.The marketing information systems and its subsystemsPlease visit our website at www.saypro.online Email: info@saypro.online Email: info@saypro.online Call: + 27 11 071 1903 WhatsApp: + 27 84 313 7407. Comment below for any questions and feedback. For SayPro Courses, SayPro Jobs, SayPro Community Development, SayPro Products, SayPro Services, SayPro Consulting, and SayPro Advisory visit our website to www.saypro.online