Data Handing and Analysis

Question 1

define correlation

Answer 1

used to investigate an association betwen two variables
* measured not manipulated
* no cause and effect relationship found

correlation coefficients are calcualted
* negative = less than 0
* postive = more than 0
* zero = equal to 0

curvilinear relationship - one variable increases so does the toher but only utp a certian point- one variable continues to increase the other begins to decrease

Question 2

evaluation of correlation

Answer 2

• used as starting points to asses patterns between co variables before conducting an study
• quick and economical
• secondary data can be used = less time consuming
• difficult to establish cause and effect- only association is found
• third variable problem - researcher is unware of that is responsible for relationship between variables
• miusesed or minsinterpreated - presented as causation

Question 3

define and evaluate qualitative data

Answer 3

displayed in words and non numerical
* richness and depth
* allows particpants to develop their opinions = greater external validity
* meaningful insight

• difficult to analuse
• difficult to make comparisons with other data
• researcher bias - conclusions rely on subjective interpretations

* interviews
* open ended questions
* observations

Question 4

define and evaluate quantitative data

Answer 4

displayed numerically
* analysed statistically - converted into graphs
* easier to make comparisons

• lack of depth in detail
• no meaningful insight
• particiapnts not able to develop opions= low external validity

*** closed rating scales
* closed questions/ surverys **

Question 5

define and evaluate primary data

Answer 5

information is obtained first hand by researcher
* targets excat information researcher needs = fits aims and objectives

• requires time and effort and can be expensive

Question 6

define and evaluate secondary data

Answer 6

information is collected by someone else other than the researcher and is used for investigationn
* less expensive
* requires minmal effort

• data can be outdated or incomplete
• data may be unrelaible - researcher not there when study was done

Question 7

define and evaluate meta analysis

Answer 7

researcher combines results from many different studies and uses all dara to form an overall view of the subject

• more generalisability due to larger amount of data studied
• able to view evidence with more confiendence
• publication bias such as file drawer problem- researchre may intentionally does not publish all data from studies and chooses to leave out negative results = false representation

Question 8

define and evaluate mean

Answer 8

• makes use of all values
• good for interval data
• infuleunced by outliers= can be unrepresentative

Question 9

define and evaluate median

Answer 9

• not affected by extreme scores
• goof for ordinal data
• not as sensitive as mean - does not use all data

Question 10

define and evaluate mode

Answer 10

• useful for norminal data
• not useful when there are several modes

Question 11

measures of dispersion

define and evaluate range

Answer 11

• easy to calculate
• affected by extreme values
• does not use all data

Question 12

measures of dispersion

define and evaluate standard deviation

Answer 12

• precise measure where all data values are taken into accoutn
• affected by extreme values

Question 13

bar charts

Answer 13

discrete data - data has been divided into categories

Question 14

histograms + line graphs

Answer 14

continous data

Question 15

scattergrams

Answer 15

show assocation rather than differences

Question 16

define normal distribution

Answer 16

symmertical pattern of data

Question 17

define skewed distribution

Answer 17

spready of frequency data that is not symmetrical

postive skew: concentrated on right

negative skew: concentrated on left

Question 18

define levels of measurement

Answer 18

quantitative data

norminal: in form of categories - discrete data
- does not enbale sensitive analysis- does not yield a numerical result for each participant
* mode (measure of central tendency)
* N/a (measure of dispersion)

ordinal: represented in ranking form
- no equal intervals
- lacks precision as is based on the subjective opion of people
* median
* range

interval: based on numerical scales which include equal units of preciselt defines size
- based on objective measurements
- parametric test
* mean
* standard deviation

Question 19

define content analysis

Answer 19

studying human behaviour indirectly by studying things that we produce eg tv adverts
= allows insight into structured values, beliefs and prejudices

how to conduct:
1. identify hypothesis
2. create a coding system (eg: 1= male, 2= female)
3. gather resources
4. conduct content analysis and record data
5. analyse data which is descriptive and qualitative - themantic analysis
6. write up report

Question 20

evaulate content analysis

Answer 20

strenghts:
* strong external validity as data is already in real world = high mundane realsim
* produces large data set of quantitave and qualitiative data
* easy replication
* data is public domain = no ethical issues

weaknesses
* oberserver bias is presented but can be elimated by achieving inter observer reliability
* content of choice to analyse may be biased
* interpretaive bias - may ignore some things

Question 21

define themantic analysis

Answer 21

identifying and reporting patterns within the material