Data Handling and Analysis

Question 1

what is quantitative data?

quantitative and qualitative

Answer 1

data that is in numerical form. e.g. reaction time, tally of times behaviour is shown, rating out of 10.

Question 2

what is qualitative data?

quantitative and qualitative

Answer 2

data that is in the form of words. e.g. descriptions of behaviour, feelings or emotions

Question 3

how can qualitative be turned to quantitative?

quantitative and qualitative

Answer 3

operationalise the behaviour (behavioural categories) and then tally.

Question 4

how is quantitative data collected?

quantitative and qualitative

Answer 4

experimental and observational techniques, closed questionnaires.

Question 5

how is qualitative data collected?

quantitative and qualitative

Answer 5

case studies, open question interviews and questionnaires

Question 6

what are the strengths and limitations of quantitative data?

quantitative and qualitative

Answer 6

S: objective so no bias, descriptive statistics allow data t be summarsied in graphs, more reliable
L: lacks depth and detail, only focus on behaviours that can be mathematically tested.

Question 7

what are the strengths and limitations of qualitative data?

quantitative and qualitative

Answer 7

S: rich in depth and detail to provide high understanding + validity
L: subjective so risk of bias, challenging to summarise, less reliable

Question 8

what is primary data?

primary and secondary data

Answer 8

data collected first hand by the researcher, specifically for the purpose of the investigation

Question 9

what is secondary data?

primary and secondary data

Answer 9

data that is collected second hand from already published sources that didn’t initally set out to answer the current research question.

Question 10

what are the strengths and limitations of primary data?

primary and secondary data

Answer 10

S: high validity as data collected to answer Q specifially and researcher has control of collection process.
L: requires time and effort to develop resources, may be costly compared to secondary data which can be easily accessed.

Question 11

what are the strengths and limitations of secondary data?

primary and secondary data

Answer 11

S: already exists so very quick
L: low validity as not collected initially to answr Q and researcher has no control over collection process (variables)

Question 12

what is a meta analysis?

primary and secondary data

Answer 12

collecting and combining the results from previously conducted studies investigating a similar question and analysing them.

Question 13

what are the strengths and limitations of a meta analysis?

primary and secondary data

Answer 13

S: large sample size, more trustworthy as extraneous influence reduced
L: secondary data, choice of which studies are or arent included leads to bias, statistically unimportant studies not included

Question 14

what are descriptive statistics?

descriptive statistics

Answer 14

describe and summarise data collected.

Question 15

what are the two brances of descriptive statistics?

descriptive statistics

Answer 15

1. measurs of central tendency
2. measures of dispersion

Question 16

what is a measure of central tendency?

descriptive statistics

Answer 16

a single value that summarises a set of data, identifying a typical value (the average)
- mean
- mode
- median

Question 17

what is the mean?

descriptive statistics

Answer 17

the arthimetic average of a set of data, calculated by adding all values and dividing by number of values.

Question 18

what are the strengths and limitations of using the mean?

descriptive statistics

Answer 18

S: all raw data used so most sensitive measure
L: easily disrorted by extreme scores (outliers)

Question 19

what is the mode?

descriptive statistics

Answer 19

the most frequently occuring value in a set of data.
if 2 - bimodal
if more than 2 - multimodal

Question 20

what are the strengths and limitations of using the mode?

descriptive statistics

Answer 20

S: unaffected by outliers, only way to give average in categories (e.g. pet type)
L: doesn’t take all values into account, unreliable in small data sets (no mode if all values are the same)

Question 21

what is the median?

descriptive statistics

Answer 21

the middle value of a set of scores by putting values into numerical order and selecting middle. if even, halfway between the middle data points.

Question 22

what are the strengths and limitations of using the median?

descriptive statistics

Answer 22

S: easy to calculate, unaffected by extreme outliers.
L: doesn’t include all values in the data set, if even set, the median won’t be a value in the data set at all.

Question 23

what are measures of dispersion?

descriptive statistics

Answer 23

values that summarise the spread of the data.
- range
- standard deviation

Question 24

what is the range?

descriptive statistics

Answer 24

the difference between the highest value and the lowest value in a set of data.

Question 25

what are the strengths and limitations of using the range? | descriptive statistics

Answer 25

S: easy to calculate L: easily distorted by extreme values, doesn't represent every value in the data set

Question 26

what is the standard deviation? | descriptive statistics

Answer 26

a measure of how much each score deviates from the mean on average.

Question 27

what is the equation to calculate standard deviation? | descriptive statistics

Answer 27

sum of (value - mean) squared divided by number of values - 1. all square rooted.

Question 28

what does the calculated standard deviation value mean? | descriptive statistics

Answer 28

the larger the SD, the more spread out the data is around the mean -> less representative and less reliable.

Question 29

what are the strengths and limitations of using the SD? | descriptive statistics

Answer 29

S: uses all values so more sensitive measure of spread L: more difficult to calculate, distorted by extreme results

Question 30

how are percentages used in psychology? | descriptive statistics

Answer 30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsSWLB0aEWs&list=PLUQ8QDGvbAwhFY-fZkcJ3k4R2NCnZlqB4&index=19

Question 31

what are the three types of tables that can be used to display data? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 31

1. raw data table 2. frequency table 3. descriptive statistics table

Question 32

what is a raw data table? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 32

a record of individual data points.

Question 33

what is a frequency table? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 33

a tally chart, log of the number of times a behavioural category is seen

Question 34

what is a descriptive statistics table? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 34

a table with the measures of central tendencies and measures of dispersion of behavioural categories.

Question 35

what is a bar chart? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 35

a chart that summarises the frequency of a category

Question 36

what type of data does a bar chart display? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 36

nominal data (categories). e.g. type of pet

Question 37

what variable goes on which axis on a bar chart? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 37

X - category Y - frequency

Question 38

what does the height of the bar represent in a bar chart? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 38

the frequency

Question 39

what is important when drawing a bar chart? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 39

**LINES DO NOT TOUCH AS DATA IS NOT CONTINUOUS - THATD BE A HISTOGRAM**

Question 40

what is a pie chart? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 40

a circular graph that represents all the data in the set. each wedge represents the proportion of one category.

Question 41

what type of data is displayed in a pie chart? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 41

nominal data -> each category has a 'wedge' where its size represents the proportion

Question 42

what does a scattergram display? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 42

the relationship between two co-variables. (correlations)

Question 43

what is on the x and y axis of a scattergram? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 43

the co variables. e.g X - attendance Y- test score

Question 44

what does each point on a scattergram represent? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 44

one participant's measure. e.g. their attendance and their test scores.

Question 45

what can a scattergram indicate? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 45

a positive or negative correlation between the co variables.

Question 46

what is a histogram? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 46

a graph that displays the frequency of continuous, numerical data.

Question 47

what variable is placed on which axis in a histogram? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 47

X - continuous variable e.g. age group, months etc. Y - frequency

Question 48

what is important when drawing a histogram? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 48

**THE BARS ARE TOUCHING AS IT IS SHOWING CONTINUOUS NOT CATEGORIAL DATA.**

Question 49

what is a line graph used for? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 49

to display two sets of continuous data on the same graph.

Question 50

how is a line graph drawn? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 50

place an X on the midpoint of the top of each bar and join with a line.

Question 51

what is a line graph also known as? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 51

a frequency polygon

Question 52

what variables go on which axis on a line graph? | displaying quanitative data

Answer 52

X - continuous variable

Question 53

what graph is used in distributions? | distributions

Answer 53

histograms

Question 54

what is a normal distribution | distributions

Answer 54

when the frequency distribution forms a symmetrical bell shaped curve

Question 55

what does a normal distribution curve indicate? | distributions

Answer 55

more ppts are in the middle, with fewer on either side

Question 56

where is the mean, mode and median found on a normal distribution curve? | distributions

Answer 56

the top at the centre of the curve

Question 57

where is the mode found on a normal distribution curve? | distributions

Answer 57

the top of the curve as most frequent.

Question 58

where is the median found on a normal distribution curve? | distributions

Answer 58

the middle score

Question 59

where is the mean found on a normal distribution curve? | distributions

Answer 59

the middle as an equal number of outliers on either side

Question 60

why does the normal distribution never touch the x-axis? | distributions

Answer 60

because there will always been an extreme score from at least one person.

Question 61

what is standard deviation like on a normal distribution curve? | distributions

Answer 61

68% fall within one SD of the mean, 95% within two SD and 99.7% within three SD.

Question 62

what is a skewed distribution? | distributions

Answer 62

when the distribution of the scores are assymetric - most scores on one side.

Question 63

what does a posiitve skew look like? | distributions

Answer 63

the 'tail' points to the right, with the majority on the left.

Question 64

what does a negative skew look like? | distributions

Answer 64

the 'tail' points to the left, with the majority on the right.

Question 65

how is data distributed on a positive skew? | distributions

Answer 65

more scores at the lower end, outliers at higher end of x axis.

Question 66

how is data distributed on a negative skew? | distributions

Answer 66

more scores at the higher end, outliers at the lower end of x axis.

Question 67

where is the mode found on a skewed distribution? | distributions

Answer 67

the highest point still

Question 68

where is the median found on a skewed distribution? | distributions

Answer 68

at the point where 50% of graph is either side.

Question 69

where is the mean on a skewed distribution? | distributions

Answer 69

shifted towards the outlier scores

Question 70

what are the 3 levels of measurement? | levels of measurements

Answer 70

- nominal - ordinal - interval/ratio

Question 71

what is nominal data? | levels of measurements

Answer 71

categorical data that has no natural order - the frequency count of the variable is recorded. e.g. birth country, pets, career choice

Question 72

what are the variables in nominal data? | levels of measurment

Answer 72

discrete (non overlapping).

Question 73

what is ordinal data? | levels of measurment

Answer 73

categorical data that has a natural order - it can be placed into some kind of order or scale

Question 74

is the difference consistent on ordinal scales? | levels of measurement

Answer 74

no

Question 75

what are examples of ordinal data? | levels of measurement

Answer 75

positions in a competition, height in a class, choice on a likert scale.

Question 76

what is interval data? | levels of measurement

Answer 76

data that is measured in fixed units with equal distance between points on the scale. e.g. temperature, a mm ruler - precise and continuous

Question 77

what is ratio data? | levels of measurement

Answer 77

interval data with an absolute zero e.g kelvin scale

Question 78

how do you convert interval to ordinal data? | levels of measurement

Answer 78

1. gather the interval data 2. list each ppt's data from highest to lowest 3. assign a rank

Question 79

how do you convert ordinal to nominal? | levels of measurement

Answer 79

1. create categories (fast and slow) 2. place highest half into one category and lowest into the other.

Question 80

how do you perform content analysis? | content analysis and coding

Answer 80

1. decide on a research question 2. select a sample from all possible content 3. coding : decide on categories (coding units) to be recorded 4. work through data - tally number of times category appears 5. data analysis

Question 81

what is a coding unit in content analysis? | content analysis and coding

Answer 81

the operationalised categories decided beforehand that will be looked for in the content analysis

Question 82

how do you test for reliabaility of a content analysis? | content analysis and coding

Answer 82

1. test-retest reliability: run the analysis again on the same sample and compare 2. inter-rater reliability: a second investiator repeats the content analysis and compare

Question 83

how do you test the consistency between the original CA and the repeats? | content analysis and coding

Answer 83

correlation study e.g. spearman's rho. 0.8 or higher is accepted as reliable

Question 84

what are the strengths and limitations of content analysis? | content analysis and coding

Answer 84

S: high external validity (generalisable), easy to gather sample L: possible observer bias, the 'artefacts' are written for purposes other than the research so may lack validity

Question 85

what is thematic analysis? | content analysis and coding

Answer 85

when researchers read the **text** first and then allow themes to emerge. **not predetermined**

Question 86

how do you perform a thematic analysis? | content analysis and coding

Answer 86

1. gather sample of texts 2. read texts and spot patterns that can be coded 3. re-read and look for the themes.

Question 87

what are the strengths and limitations of thematic analysis? | content analysis and coding

Answer 87

S: stops observer bias as theories come after theme discovery, same as content analysis L: same as content analysis