Data analysis: Kinds of data, descriptive statistics & graphs

Question 1

qualitative data

Answer 1

data that is expressed in words and non-numerical

Question 2

quantitative data

Answer 2

data that can be counted, usually given as numbers

Question 3

Primary data

Answer 3

information that has been obtained first-hand by the researcher for the purposes if a research project. gathered directly from participants

Question 4

Secondary data

Answer 4

information has already been collected by someone else and so pre-dates the current research project

Question 5

Meta-analysis

Answer 5

‘Research about research’, refers to the process of combing results from a number of studies on a particular topic to provide an overall view. This may involve a qualitative review of conclusions and/or a quantitative analysis of the results producing an effect size

Question 6

Descriptive statistics

Answer 6

the use of graphs, tables and summary statistics ti identify trends and analyse sets of data

Question 7

Measures of central tendency

Answer 7

the general term for any measure of the average value in a set of data

Question 8

Mean

Answer 8

the average calculated by adding up all the values in a set of data and dividing by the number of values there are

Question 9

Median

Answer 9

the central value in a set of data when values are arranged from lowest to highest

Question 10

Mode

Answer 10

the most frequently occurring value in a set of data

Question 11

Measures of dispersion

Answer 11

the general term for any measure of the spread or variation in a set of scores

Question 12

Range

Answer 12

a simple calculation of the dispersion in a set of scores which is worked out by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score and adding 1 as a mathematical correction

Question 13

Standard deviation

Answer 13

a sophisticated measure of dispersion in a set of scores. Tells us how much scores deviated from the mean by calculating the difference between the mean and each score. All the differences are added up and divided by the number of scores. This is the variance. The SD is the square root of the variance

Question 14

Scattergram

Answer 14

represents the strength and direction of a relationship between co-variables in a correlational analysis

Question 15

Bar chart

Answer 15

the frequency of each variable is represented by the height of the bars

Question 16

Normal distribution

Answer 16

a symmetrical spread of frequency data that forms a bell-shaped pattern. The mean, median and mode are all located at the highest peak

Question 17

Skewed distribution

Answer 17

a spread of frequency data that is not symmetrical, where the data clusters to one end

Question 18

Positive skew

Answer 18

a type of distribution in which the long tail is on the positive (right) side of the peak and most of the distribution is concentrated on the left

Question 19

Negative skew

Answer 19

a type of distribution in which the long tail is on the negative (left) side of the peak and most of the distribution is concentrated on the right