Gathering data is similar to gathering ingredients for a recipe. If you want to create an excellent dish, you’ll want to start with the right ingredients, which means you’ll have to make a bunch of decisions beforehand.

获取数据类似于食谱中获取食材。如果你想要做顿大餐，你就会想从正确的食材开始，这意味着你必须预先做出一连串的决定。

For example, if you need honey, do you want a generic honey or a specific variety like orange blossom? Does the brand of honey matter? Does it need to be raw or organic? Do you prefer to get the honey from your local farmer or a supermarket? And who’s going to get all these ingredients? If you don’t have time, are you willing to pay someone to get them for you, even if it means you might not get exactly what you want?

比如，如果你需要蜂蜜，你是想要一种普通蜂蜜或是一种特别风味蜂蜜比如菊花味的呢？蜂蜜的品牌有关系吗？是半成品的还是有机的？是选择从本地农民还是从超市获得？谁负责弄到全部的食材？如果你没有时间，你是否愿意付费让别人帮你弄到，即使这意味着你得到的可能不确切是你想要的？

You have to make similar decisions before gathering data. You could get all of your data by asking open-ended questions on paper surveys that you pass out to people in a random place, but that probably won’t make the most sense. Different types of data are best collected in different sorts of ways from different places, and sometimes you might not have enough time or money to collect the data you need by yourself.

在你获取数据前，你必须做出类似的决定。你可以在随机的地点分发调查问卷给人们问开放性问题，来获取你所有的数据，但是这可能不是很有效。不同类型的数据最好用不同的方式从不同的地方收集，而且有时候你可能没有足够的时间和金钱去亲自收集你需要的数据。

In this section, we’ll talk about data collection methods to help you figure out where and how to best obtain the information you’re looking for, and how to sort out what information you really need. Let’s go shopping!

在这部分，我们将介绍数据采集方法，从而帮助你弄明白从哪儿以及如何最好的获取你想要的信息，以及如果挑选出你真正需要的信息。我们开始吧！