Essay on Information Gathering Techniques

1. In relation to your current business environment (or one that you are familiar with), identify at least two different types of information technology that may be used when completing work tasks.

Describe how to complete and maintain documentation in accordance with organisational procedures, in relation to:

Some of the ways that information can be gathered is by interviewing levels of management and operational staff member. Discussion groups should also be interviewed to aid the analyst to collect information. It will take multiple interviews to gather all the information needed by the analyst. There are steps to be taken before an interview can be conducted. A list of people must be collected and put in order regarding what questions will be asked. Plan several interviews with the same person, only to eliminate any doubts. Interview the appropriate groups in the organization that will add vital information.

According to AS 3, Paragraph A8 “good audit documentation improves the quality of the work performed in many ways, including, for example:

The purpose of this section is to identify the documentation that will be used for ensuring quality.

Observational methods involve an investigator viewing users as they work and taking notes on the activity which takes place. Observation may be either direct, where the investigator is actually present during the task, or indirect, where the task is viewed by some other means such as through use of a video camera.

Properly prepared audit documentation should provide 1) a basis for planning the audit, 2) a record of evidence collected and results of tests performed on the evidence, 3) a basis for determining the appropriate audit report and 4) a basis for review by supervisors of the work performed. Achievement of these four purposes aids the auditor in providing reasonable assurance that the audit was conducted in accordance with the auditing standards.

Organising- it is important that information which collected is organized and stored in the correct way- either paper or electronic.

Data collection methods- the researcher needs to pick how the information for this subject can be collected (observation, questionnaires, interviews) and so forth. Analysis and presentation of findings- the researcher needs to use reports and other information gathering it into one to present the hypothesis. Conclusion- what does the studies say about this topic, this is based on all the information that was gathered together to get the correct conclusion.

For protecting you in a legal way, you need to follow established set of rules for documentation while knowing the way for documenting appropriately.

One method of research is using interviews. For example, when using interviews in a care home, when conducting research, many ethical issues can be raised. Interviews not only take place face-to-face, but also can happen on the phone, online, through text messaging, using a video messenger and though social media. Interviews are a very useful way of collecting information because a wide range of detailed information can be collected at a large quantity. There are two types of interviews: structured or unstructured.

It has also been stated that even though these are the preferred methods, if the research is not done correctly, there will not be much value in the data. For example when doing a verbal interview such as I did when going shop to shop and asking my questions. Once the verbal information is obtained, it will need to be placed into a word for and document to be analyzed (Remenyi, 2011). It is also mentioned that it is very important, what questions are asked and how they are asked. The directness of the questions, the exact wording and the order in which they are put. This is all most critical to the way the information is later interpreted and used. It is also important to choose the wording correctly. If the interviewee did not understand the word or words in the question your information will not be correct or usable (Remenyi,

Information-Gathering TechniquesA. InterviewsTo begin my research, I would take the interview approach. In order to conduct a successful interview I have create some interview criteria.

There are a number of methods of collecting data, some of them are – questionnaire, surveys, checklists, interviews, observations, focus group etc (Cordray, 1986; Einhorn and Hogarth, 1986).

It is generally accepted that information is a vital commodity for the successful operation of today’s organizations. Nowadays modern business organizations are using computerized information systems in order to obtain such information. However as the technology advances rapidly the main issue is how can an organization should effectively use such an information system - which its management sometimes can be unpredictable - in order to effectively help the whole organization structure to improve and take the most out of it.