private String retrieveData(final String param){
        String output = null;
        try {
            openStream(param);
            inputScan = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(urlConnection.getInputStream()));
             output =  inputScan.readLine();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        finally {
            try {inputScan.close();} catch (IOException e){e.printStackTrace();}
        }
        return output;
    }