This thesis describes the data acquisition methods employed by the NA48 experiment at CERN. A brief overview of the physics behind NA48 and a description of the experimental apparatus are given in the introduction. The specification and the implementation of the data acquisition system is then detailed along with a discussion of the design 'philosophy' that influenced the design choices. The section of the data acquisition system on which I have been working, the Data Merger, is discussed in some detail. Next, my main contribution to NA48, the Input Buffer, is described along with its performance in laboratory tests and data taking runs. Alternative solutions to the problems of acquiring data are also discussed along with examples of similar experiments data taking schemes. Finally, the conclusions that can be drawn from the design and performance of the NA48 data acquisition system are discussed.