maths and descriptive statistics

what are the 2 different types of data?

quantitative and qualitative

what is quantitative data?

numerical data

what is qualitative data?

rich and detailed descriptions (words)

what are the 2 different types of data collection?

primary and secondary

what is nominal data?

data in separate categories

what is ordinal data?

data is ordered and ranked from highest to lowest, slowest to fastest

what is interval data?

data is measured using units of dispersion

what is primary data?

collected by the researcher to use in the current study - collected first hand

what is secondary data?

data collected for another purpose - second hand data

what is raw data?

data that has not been processed

what are the measures of central tendency?

mean, median and mode

what are the measures of dispersion?

range, variance and standard deviation

how do you calculate standard deviation?

calculate the mean
each value subtracts the mean
square each difference
calculate the sum of all squared differences
divide the value by the number of scores minus 1 (= variance)
square root the value to find standard deviation

what is the strength of quantitative data?

easy to make comparisons without bias from researcher - increases validity as it is accurately measured

what is the weakness of qualitative data?

does not provide reasons for why behaviour happens - reduces validity as it is not accurately measured

what is the strength of qualitative data?

gives rich detail about how people behave/true nature of human behaviour - increases validity

what is the weakness of qualitative data?

introduces opinion which must be interpreted - subjective and reduces validity

what is the strength of primary data?

data collection can be designed to fit the aims of the study

what is the weakness of primary data?

can be lengthy/expensive, not time/cost effective

what is the strength of secondary data?

simpler/quicker/cheaper to use

what is the weakness of secondary data?

may not fit the needs of the study - reduces validity/accuracy

what is the strength of nominal data?

easy to generate from closed questions to find consistent patterns - increases consistency

what is the weakness of nominal data?

can only use the mode to measure most common scores - reduces validity/accuracy

what is the strength of ordinal data?

indicates relative values on a linear scale instead of just total - more info than nominal which increases validity

what is the weakness of ordinal data?

gaps between the values aren’t equal so a mean cannot be used to assess central tendency - reduces validity/accuracy

what is the strength of interval data?

more info as data is directly comparable - highly reliable/scientific

what is the weakness of interval data?

participants can demonstrate a variable the scale doesn’t measure - reduces reliability/consistency

what are the strengths of the mean?

most representative/sensitive as it considers all scores - increases validity/accuracy

what are the weakness of the mean?

can’t be used with nominal data, unrepresentative of extreme values

what is the strength of the median?

not affected by extreme scores - increases validity/accuracy

what is the weakness of the median?

doesn’t take all data into account - reduces validity/accuracy

what is the strength of the mode?

useful for nominal data, not affected by extreme scores - increases accuracy/validity

what is the weakness of the mode?

not useful when there are several/no mode - increased validity/accuracy

what is the strength of the range?

easy to calculate, provides a broad overview of the data

what is the weakness of the range?

provides no info as to all other scores, doesn’t show the degree of variation from the mean

what is the strength of variance?

precise measure of spread as all data is used - increases reliability/consistency of how data is spread

what is the weakness of variance?

sensitive to extreme scores which skews findings - decreases reliability/consistency of how data is spread

what is the strength of standard deviation?

precise measure of spread as all data is used, produces smaller/more usable numbers than variance, shows if data is reliable

what is the weakness of standard deviation?

hides characteristics like extreme values which skews data/provides misleading interpretation, harder to calculate than range