Types Of Data Flashcards
Qualitative data
Expressed in words, non-numerical
Quantitative data
Expressed numerically rather than in words
Primary data
First hand from ps, collected specifically for the purpose of the research
Secondary data
Data collected by someone other than the person doing the research, original data set collected for a different hypothesis
Meta analysis
Collates findings from several studies and then we analyse data as a whole
Strengths of qualitative data
Good external validity - more rich detail
Weakness of qualitative data
- difficult to analyse - patterns hard to find
- unreliable - conclusions can depend on subjective interpretations
Strength of quantitative data
- simple to analyse
- more objective and open to less bias
Weakness quantitative data
- poor external validity, narrower meaning fails to represent real life
Strengths of primary research
Reliable
Fits the job
Suits hypothesis
Weakness primary research
Requires time and effort
Strengths of secondary research
Inexpensive
Easily accessed
Desired info existing
Weakness secondary data
Variation in the quality and accuracy of research, could be outdated or incomplete, could affect the validity if conclusions
Standard deviation
Calculated how far scores deviate from the mean
Measures of central tendency
Find the average
Mode
The most commonly occurring value
Median
The middle value
Measures of dispersion
Find the spread
Range
The highest value minus the lowest value
Mean
The sum of values divided by the number of values there are
What are the 3 measures of central tendency
Mean, mode, median
What are the 2 measures of dispersion
Range and standard deviation
Strength of mean
Most sensitive, uses all scores in data so represents data as a whole
Weakness of mean
Distorted by extreme values
Strength of mode
Can be used will qualitative data and categories
Not effected by extreme values
Weakness of mode
Data doesn’t always have a mode
May be more than one mode
- doesn’t represent data as a whisk
Strength of median
Not affected by extreme values
Can be used when data isn’t interval
Weakness of median
May not even be in the data if there are an even set of numbers
Isn’t representative of the data as a whole
Strength of range
Convenient way to get a quick view of how data is spread
This allows for quick comparisons between groups
Weakness of range
Only takes into account the two most extreme values
Outliers May give false view if spread of scores
