Data analysis

Question 1

What is qualitative data

Answer 1

• language based data collected through interviews, open questions and content analysis
• gathered in wirtten form- words!

Question 2

What is quantitative data

Answer 2

• collected through analysing numerical data

- gathered in numerical form- numbers

Question 3

Strengths of quantitative data

Answer 3

• gives objective numerical data
• easy to compare findings and draw conclusions
• can predict trends and patterns

Question 4

Weaknesses of quantitative data

Answer 4

• no emotions/feelings to understand the experience
• no real detail or personal insight
• data collected in artificial settings

Question 5

Strengths of qualitative data

Answer 5

• allows researchers to develop insights into the nature of subjective experiences, opinions and feelings
• real feel for emotions

Question 6

Weaknesses of qualitative data

Answer 6

• time consuming to analyse

- not often replicable

Question 7

What is data

Answer 7

information gathered during the course of a study

Question 8

What is triangulation

Answer 8

• using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data

- first use qualitative and then quantitative

Question 9

What are the 4 stages of conducting an experiment

Answer 9

1) causal observations about a feature of the world
2) these observations will then form a theory
3) theories will produce a number of further explanations
4) experimenter sets out to support or challenge the hupothesis

Question 10

What is raw data

Answer 10

information gathered during research before any analysis has been done

Question 11

What is the nominal

Answer 11

data allocated to category headings and frequency data collected for each named heading

Question 12

What is the ordinal

Answer 12

involves the ability to rank the individuals measurements into place order

Question 13

What is the interval

Answer 13

• the most sensitive numerical data

- based on standardised data

Question 14

What are descriptive statistics

Answer 14

refers to the different ways a data set can be summarised

Question 15

What are measures of central tendency

Answer 15

any way in which a type of average is calculated showing the mid point or finding a typical value from the middle of the data set

Question 16

What is a normal distribution curve

Answer 16

• name for the bell shaped symmetrical curve that often forms a view of psychological data
• mean is mid point
• median and mode either side

Question 17

What is a negative skew on a normal distibution curve

Answer 17

where the mean is less than the median and mode

Question 18

What is a positive skew on a normal distibution curve

Answer 18

where the mean is more than the median and mode

Question 19

What are measures of dispersion

Answer 19

• show how scores in a set are spread out

- tells us whether the scores are similar to one another or whether they vary

Question 20

What is the mean

Answer 20

the most sensitive measure of central tendency because all scores are used to calculate it
+more sensitive than median
-misrepresentative if there is an extreme value

Question 21

What is the median

Answer 21

the central measurement of the set once all scores have been rank ordered
+not affected by extreme score so gives a representative value
-less sensitive than mean- does not take into account all the values

Question 22

What is the mode

Answer 22

the most frequently occurring score
+useful when data is in categories
-not a useful way of describing data when there are several modes

Question 23

What is the range

Answer 23

a measure of dispersion that gives an indication of how far the scores are spread out
+quick and easy to calculate
-affected by extreme values

Question 24

What is standard deviation

Answer 24

-a more sensitive measure of dispersion
-the spread of scores around the mean
-every score is used to caluclate this measurement
+it is a precise measure of dispersion because all values taken into account
-much harder to calculate than the range