Data Analysis: Kinds of Data

Question 1

explain qualitative data?

Answer 1

• expressed in words rather than statistics
• written expression of thoughts and feelings
• eg. unstructured interviews/open questions
• idiographic, humanistic

Question 2

explain quantitative data?

Answer 2

• expressed numerically, data gathered fro, individual scores
• open to statistical analysis
• easily converted into graphs and charts
• nomothetic, biological and behaviourist

Question 3

evaluate qualitative data?

Answer 3

+broader in scope
+provides an in depth review of pp’s thoughts
+greater external validity
-difficult to analyse
-cant be summarised statistically, patterns in data hard to identify

Question 4

evaluate quantitative data?

Answer 4

+simple to analyse
+comparisons can be easily drawn
-doesn’t allow pp to develop thoughts and fails to represent real life

Question 5

explain primary data?

Answer 5

• original data that has been collected specifically for the purpose of the investigation
• first hand, from pp’s themselves
• experiments/questionnaires

Question 6

explain secondary data?

Answer 6

• collected by someone other than the person conducting the research
• data already exists
• normally been statistically tested so significance is known

Question 7

evaluate secondary data?

Answer 7

+easily accessed with minimal effort

• quality and accuracy may be poor
• content may not match the researchers needs

Question 8

evaluate primary data?

Answer 8

+authentic and is obtained for the purpose of the research
+directly from pp’s
-requires time+effort from researcher
-loads of planning, secondary is quicker