Data Handling

two types of data research studies:

  • Quantitative data

  • Qualitative data


Quantitative data:

→ Primary data: data that has been collected firsthand from the source(participants) directly by the researchers.

→ Secondary data: data that has been already published & simply used by researchers in the own work.

Strengths

Weaknesses

  • easy to measure

  • meaningful details may be lost/ lacking

    → because researchers focus on a narrow set of responses

  • precise measures

  • lack depth/ detail

  • high in reliability & can be checked

-

  • data easily examined

-

  • easily written down study

-


Qualitative and Quantitative are both research methods used for interviews and questionnaires in psychology.

Quantitative data is divided into two subgroups:

→ Primary data: data that has been collected firsthand from the source(participants) directly by the researchers.

→ Secondary data: data that has been already published & simply used by researchers in the own work.


Quantitative data:

  • find a large number of answers to set questions

  • looks for descriptive, rich & detailed answers, in a study



Qualitative data:

→ descriptive & detailed

→ collected through open questions

→ different opinions

Strengths

Weaknesses

  • rich in detail

  • subjective (biases)

  • helps researchers understand people’s attitudes

  • difficult to quantify

-

  • reliability might be difficult to rely on

    → different opinions from different participants




Mean, Median, Mode and Range

There are three types of averages that can be calculated from raw data

  • The mean average

  • The median average

  • The mode

→ range is not an average, but still able to work out


1- Mean Average:

  • add all values of the set together

  • divide by the number of values in the set

    → 3 + 4 + 9 + 3 + 1 = 20 / 5 = 4


2- Median Average

  • arrange all values from lowest to highest

  • find middle value of set

    → 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 = 3

    → 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 = 3 + 4 / 2 = 3.5


3- The Mode

  • most frequently occurring value in a set of scores

    → 9, 8, 2, 8, 8, 3, 5, 1 = 8


4- The Range

  • Numerical difference between the highest and lowest value in a set

  • Arrange values from lowest to highest and subtract them from each other

    → 10, 6, 8, 9, 3 = 3, 6, 8, 9, 10 = 10 - 3 = 7





Ways to express results

  • Ratios

  • Fractions/ decimals

  • Percentages


Ratio: comparing the amount of something between each other.

→ 15 boys and 12 girls in one class, the ratio would be 5:4 (simplest form)


Fractions and Decimals: way of expressing a part of a whole number.

→ 20 boys’ tot. and 15 of those ran, fraction would be 15/20 or ¾ (simplest form) or 0.75 as decimal. Therefore, the number of boys who didn’t run would be 0.25.


Percentage: way of expressing a fraction of hundred.

→ 50/100 would be 50%




Ways to write results down

Bar Charts

  • used to display data that is in categories

    → bars should not touch and be separated from one another


Histograms

  • used to present data that are continuous measurements such as test scores or even heights

    → have no spaces in between the bars


Scattergrams

  • used to visualize the relationship between two variables

    → random points on a graph, always showing either a positive, negative or zero correlation.





Normal Distribution

  • → On a graph, this shows as a bell-shaped curve containing the mean, median and mode.