Preliminary information gathering involves the seeking of information in depth of what is observed. This could be done by taking informally or several people in the work setting or to clients, or to other relevant sources, thereby gathering information on what is happening and why. Through these unstructured interviews, one gets an idea or feel for what is transpiring in the situation. Once the researcher increases the level of awareness as to what is happening the person could then focus on the problem and the associated factors through further structured, formal interviews with the relevant groups. Additionally by doing library research or obtaining information through other sources, the investigator would identify how such issues have been tackled in other situations. This information would give additional insights of possible factors that could be operating in the particular situation.
Thus the mass of information would have been collected through the interviews and library search. The next step is to make sense of the factors that have been identified in the information-gathering stage by piecing them together in some meaningful fashion. So preliminary information gathering is a useful tool for conducting the research. This is commonly used in the modern research methodologies nowadays.
Thus the mass of information would have been collected through the interviews and library search. The next step is to make sense of the factors that have been identified in the information-gathering stage by piecing them together in some meaningful fashion. So preliminary information gathering is a useful tool for conducting the research. This is commonly used in the modern research methodologies nowadays.