According to the domain under investigation, there are several definitions:
- data gathering method: “action to collect information regarding the behaviour
of the learner, obtained through investigation (interview, discussion,
document study)” (Macavei, 2001); - research and investigation method “incorporating techniques, procedures, and
interrogative data gathering instruments” (Dictionary of sociology, 1993); - study “organized to clarify certain issues, explain certain behaviours or
manifestations of persons, or discover the weight of influential factors in an
economy sector” (Gugiuman, 1978); - extracting general information with reference to a complex problem
occasionally associated with psychological examination (Mucchielli, 1982); - discussion (face to face or over the telephone) with a view to getting to know
a person or his/her opinions on a matter(Gugel, 2002); - inspection, verification “to obtain information on the object of study”
(Webster’s Dictionary).
Specialists have defined investigation in relation to the aim of each discipline or
following certain investigation criteria.
Whatever the modality of data collection, there are certain aspects of investigation that
must be known by any practician:
- is of a non-experimental nature, control over variables under investigation is
relatively little; - the communication between the investigator and the investigated (group) is a
strongly asymmetric relation, the former waiting for (and occasionally
influencing) answers form the latter; - approaches, qualitatively and quantitatively, dimensions of individual and
social life: events, phenomena, processes characteristic for social reality, as
well as people’s attitude towards them; - it clarifies the range of aspirations, interests, concerns, and behaviours of
clients in various fields; - it cumulates information collected through diverse investigation techniques:
observation, documentary analysis, content analysis, opinion poll in order to
compare / complete its own results; - it can be performed orally or in writing, with specific interrogation
instruments and techniques.