Comparing Data Collection Methods -kevin

You have now read about three methods of collecting data: observations, interviews, and surveys/questionnaires. 

Compare and contrast the challenges and utility of these three methods in MOXI. 

All of these methods share a similar challenge in that MOXI (and learning) is so busy and multifaceted.  It can be impossible to pin down why something is happening from just one of these methods alone.  I'm thinking about the observation that I did for the vignette.  I was watching a family of just three people, but there was so much going on.  They all share a rich interaction where they have different lines of inquiry and different goals so it can be hard to parse exactly what is happening and what's causing it.  So we make educated guesses and inferences of what we think is happening.  The same could be said for a survey or interview.  And using one method alone doesn't provide feedback on the inferences we make.  That's why the mixed-method approach is so attractive to me - it helps to paint a more complete picture.  It would've been helpful to interview the people I observed to determine what was influencing their actions.

Also when you use any of these methods alone and in a wide sweep, it can be overwhelming because you get so much data back that the dots are unconnectable.  It makes me think that the most useful data collection in MOXI would be narrowly focused.  Or in addition to using mixed methods, we need to use mixed scopes.  For example, after starting with the very broad survey of exhibits by MOXI staff, we can select something that we want to observe more closely.  Which is exactly what we're doing I guess.