0.15. Type of Data Flashcards
What is qualitative data?
Words, highly detailed and meaningful
Where does qualitative data come from?
- open qs
- unstructured interviews
- case studies
- observations
How do you draw conclusions from qualitative data?
Data needs to be categorised: pre-existing categories (set before) and emergent categories (found during analysis)
Categories summarised with quotes from actual data
What are the strengths of qualitative data?
- high validity
- highly meaningful
- detailed
What are the weaknesses of qualitative data?
- hard to replicate
- decreased reliability
- hard to analyse
- can be subject to bias
What is quantitative data?
Quantity (numbers) / less meaningful data
Qualitative can become quantitative (content analysis)
Where does quantitative data come from?
- experiments
- closed questions
- structured interviews
What are the strengths of quantitative data?
- easy to analyse
- replicable (increased reliability)
- objective
What are the weaknesses of quantitative data?
- lacks meaning and detail (low validity)
What is primary data collection?
Researcher collects research first hand
What are the strengths of primary data collection?
- researcher has control over the data
- applicable and relevant to this research
What are the weaknesses of primary data?
- very lengthy therefore very expensive (designing and recruiting ppts)
What is secondary data collection?
Research that has already been collected by another researcher (for their purpose)
What are the strengths of secondary data?
- easier and cheaper to use others’ data
- less time consuming
- such data will have been statistically tested (significance is known)
What are the weaknesses of secondary data?
- from some studies the data may not fit the needs of the study
- data may be outdated
