21. Summarising the Data

Question 1

How can Qualitative data be presented

Answer 1

• Qualitative data from observations, interviews, surveys, etc. can be presented in a report as a ‘verbal summary’.
• The report would contain summaries of what was seen or said, possibly using categories to group data tg. Also quotations from P’s can be used, & any research hypotheses that developed during the study or data analysis may be discussed.

Question 2

How can Quantitative data be presented

Answer 2

When Quantitative data is collected (or produced from qualitative data) it can be summarised & presented in various ways:
- Tables
- Line graphs
- Bar charts
- Scattergrams
- Histograms

Question 3

Tables

Answer 3

• Tables are a good way to summarise Quantitative data. They can be used to clearly present the data & show any patterns.
• Tables of ‘raw data’ show the scores before any analysis has been done on them.
• Other tables may show descriptive statistics sa the mean, range, SD.

see pg120 for eg and practice q

Question 4

Line graph

Answer 4

• Line graphs are good for showing more than one set of data. They are for use with continuous data.
• The IV is plotted along the x-axis & the DV up the y-axis.
• They show the plotted data points, which are then joined up with straight lines.
• It can be useful to combine two or more line graphs on the same set of axes - then its easy to make comparisons between groups.

see pg121 for eg

Question 5

Bar charts

Answer 5

• Bar charts usually used for non-continuous data (like when a variable falls into categories rather than being measured on a numbered scale).
• Note that the columns in bar charts dont touch eachother.

see pg121 for eg

Question 6

Scattergrams

Answer 6

• Scattergrams are used when you’ve got 2 different variables - you plot one variable along the bottom of the graph, & the 2nd one up the slide.
• Scattergrams are good for showing whether theres a correlation.
• A line of best fit is drawn to show the trend, rather than joining up each point.

see pg121 for eg.

Question 7

Histograms

Answer 7

• Histograms show data measured on a ‘continuous’ scale of measurement. (for when you have continuous data).
• Each column shows a class interval & the columns touch eachother.
• It’s the height of the column that shows the no. of values in that interval. (All intervals are shown, even if there are no scores within them).

see pg122 for eg

Question 8

What is continuous data

Answer 8

Things that fall on a continuous scale - height, temperature, time.

Question 9

What is non-continuous data

Answer 9

Things that fall into distinct categories - exam grades, types of ice cream, names of football teams.