Conversational(hearing) : Data exchanged between human beings or group of human beings
Advantages :
• Typically, conversational data are combined with each other in order to provide comparative results which can provide a more complete understanding
• Chat, bloggs, journals, letters,meetings,telephone conversation and orally told stories are all interesting methods of data gathering and will help to motivate people, feel less tired and make it more lively .
• Collect lot of information in less time
• A problem can be solved with great ease by exchanging information
• Collaborative data gathering yields qualitative and quantitative inputs
Disadvantages :
• Time consuming process which requires patience
• Sometimes confusing with too much of data
• Differences of opinions/data gives rise to chaos
• Complex procedures to collect data
• Always anticipate and be fully prepared to avoid unnecessary surprises
• Can offend people who are sensitive
• Always need to be prepared to ask the next question
• Data collected could have been influenced by personal biases or perspectives (gender, ethnicity, age, academic/social theories adhered to, etc.) and hence can mislead

Observational(seeing) : Data that we collect from observing our environment
Advantages :
• Less time consuming
• Simple
• Seeing is believing
Disadvantages :
• Inferred from own personal experiences (tempts people to assume things from their own experience).
• We only see what our eyes want us to see…seeing is believing. So we might not be able to look at things at a different perspective
• Often people perceive their behavior and beliefs as an ultimate norm, forgetting that their culture is just one of the multiple cultures existing in the world. A person acts according to the values and norms of his or her culture; another person holding a different view might interpret his or her behavior from an opposite standpoint. This situation creates misunderstanding or conflicting data
• Our thinking is driven by brain patterns -- beliefs, values, assumptions, stereotypes, emotions, culture, level of understanding, short-term and long-term memory, and entrenched views. These patterns or mindsets are invisible but the behaviors and resultant performance they generate impact observational data.
• Tends to be less qualitative as the results obtained cannot be compared
• Cannot be used for quantitative data gathering.
• Cannot cope with the changing dynamics

Experiential (smell) : Data collected as a result of an intervention in the environment. ‘Learning by experience,’ behavioural knowledge
Advantages :
• Able to get accurate results as it always causes the environment to change/respond and in turn generate new data
• Gives a competitive edge as the data is highly upto date
• Can help us to find the trends in the industry
• Data collected from customer response can help to identity areas of improvements
Disadvantages :
• Unstructured interviews/questionnaire may be used to collect data
• Complex procedures which might yield confusing information
• Honesty and trust (Is the participant being truthful in exchanging data?) Respondents might try to give the answers that they think will make them appear in a good light.
• Sometimes participants do nothave full knowledge of what is being asked
• Difficult to observe body language and gestures closely to read between the lines. Kinesic analysis examines what is communicated through body movement. This approach is based on the assumption that all human beings, although they may be unaware of it, act and react to situations nonverbally as well as verbally. Kinesics can be especially useful when employed in conjunction with other qualitative methods such as interviews and narratives to triangulate data. Kinesics must be used thoughtfully and carefully, as movements and gestures can be easily misinterpreted and presenting findings without giving context renders the data useless

Conclusion :
All of us collect/sort data through our three senses : sight, hearing and smelling.
But each of us receive, organize,interpret this sensory information in our own individual way. Our individual perception plays a vital role in selecting, organizing and interpreting data to form knowledgeable picture of the world.

Decisions about which kind of research method to use may also be based on one’s own experience and preference, the subject being researched, the proposed audience for findings, time, money and other resources available. Too little data can lead to false assumptions about behavior patterns. Conversely, a large quantity of data may not be effectively be processed. It is important to realize that all the three methods discussed (Conversational, Observational and Experiential) can be used in conjunction with each other to make the data more valid and effective.