data handling Flashcards
quantitative data
numbers
qualitative data
words
evaluate quantitative data
- easy to analyse and draw conclusions
- lacks depth
analyse qualitative data
- more depth and detail
- difficult to analyse and summarise
- researcher bias
primary data
obtained first hand
secondary data
data from other studies or government stats
evaluate primary data
- suits the aims of the research
- takes time and effort
evaluate secondary data
- easy and convenient to use
- may not be fit for what is investigated
descriptive statistics
- range
- mean
- median
- mode
range
spread of data, arrange data in order and subtract lowest from highest score
mean
mathematical average, add up scores and divide by the number of scores
median
middle value, data put in order from lowest to highest
mode
most common scores
find the mean, median, mode and range:
3,6,6,7,2,8,5,9,3,3,5,3,7,1
range - 8
mean - 4.9
median - 5.5
mode - 3
evaluate mean median mode and range
range - easy to calculate, can be distorted by extreme scores
mean - uses all data so is the most sensitive measure, can be distorted by extreme values
median - not effected by extreme scores, less sensitive than the mean to variation in values
mode - very easy to calculate, can be unrepresentative