Communication Research Methods

Methods of Data Analysis

M.Th. Communication
Tamilnadu Theological Seminary
By: Joel Ashirwadam J. W.

Introduction

In media research, data analysis is one of the vital elements. The purpose of it
is to identify, transform, support decision making and bring a conclusion to a
research. Data analysis on its own varies its name based on the domain 1 of the study
ranging from business, science and social science. There are several ways in which
the data analysis is completed. Through which, a research is substantiated with
information in relation to the research problem.

Data Analysis

Data Analysis is in short a method of putting facts and figures to solve the
research problem. It is vital to finding the answers to the research question. Another
significant part of the research is the interpretation of the data, which is taken from
the analysis of the data and makes inferences2 and draws conclusions. Often times it
becomes difficult to deduce3 the raw data, in which case the data must be analysed
and deduce the result of the analysis.4

The data obtained from a study may be in numerical or Quantitative form. If

they are not in numerical form a Qualitative analysis based on the experience of the
participants can be carried out. In any study there might be two things true and they
are (a.) There is a Difference, (b.) There is no difference. 5 Narrative6, Descriptive7,
and Statistical8 are the categories in which the data analysis can be grouped.9

a. Narrative Data Analysis

In the beginning of twentieth century the narrative data analysis
emerged out of the qualitative research. It uses field texts such as stories,
interviews, letters, conversations, photos, journals, autobiography, field notes,
etc. as units to analyse for substantiating the grounds for the research
question. This type of analysis is used as a tool to analyse in the field of

1 Field of study.
2 Reasoning.
3 Interpret.
4 Ahuja, Ram. Research Methods (New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2010), 315.
5 Research Methods: Data Analysis “http://www.smartpsych.co.uk/wp-

content/uploads/2012/02/psych_methods1.pdf” (06 August 2014, 9:45 AM)

6 e.g. laws, arts
7 e.g. social sciences
8 e.g. pure/applied sciences
9 Iman, Abdul Hamid b. Hj. Mar. Techniques of Data Analysis

“http://eprints.utm.my/4623/1/060_Techniques_of_Data_Analysis.ppt” (09 August 2014, 8:43 PM)

 cognitive science, organizational studies, arts, sociology and education. This
method is known to challenge the grounds of quantitative method of data
gathering and question the idea of objective data, but at the same time it has
been critiqued for not being theoretical enough.10

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b. Descriptive Data Analysis
Quantitative method is discipline in which the descriptive data analysis
takes its prominence. It aims at summarising a sample available to the
researcher. Thus it also shows that it is not developed on the probability
theory11. It provides simple summaries of the sample and also about the
observation made on them, such observation are usually quantitative or visual
such as graphs and lab observations. This type of analysis is sufficient in and
of themselves for a particular investigation.12

c. Statistical Data Analysis

Statistical analysis is very important for all the research or experiments
that involve statistics as a research methodology. The vast majority of social
sciences and many important researches in natural science and engineering
employ statistical analysis. It is also a very useful tool to bring out the
approximate solutions to a highly complex or unknown in its true form. In
social sciences the statistical analysis is at its heart of the research.
Unfortunately, statistical analysis can intentionally or unintentionally used to
reach a faulty conclusion. Statistics is just a tool and not a substitute for in-
depth analysis and reasoning.13

Sampling

Sampling is concerned with the selection of a subset of individuals from within

a statistical population to estimate characteristics of the whole population.14
Interpretation to the whole can be done by examining a part of it is only possible
through sampling. The main purpose of sampling is to provide various type of
statistical information, which can be of qualitative or quantitative in nature by
examining a few selected units or participants. Sampling can be categorized such as
Simple Random Sampling, Systematic Sampling, and Stratified Sampling.15

10 Narrative Inquiry “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_inquiry” (09 August 2014, 9:03 PM)

11 Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability, the analysis of random
phenomena.
12 Descriptive Statistics “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_statistics” (09 August 2014, 9:25 PM)
13 Statistical Analysis “https://explorable.com/statistical-analysis” (09 August 2014, 10:15 PM)
14 Sampling “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_%28statistics%29” (09 August 2014, 10:40 PM)
15 Basic Concept of Sampling “http://cs.gmu.edu/cne/modules/dau/stat/data/sample_frm.html”

(09 August 2014, 10:30 PM)

Research Instruments and Procedures

A research instrument is a survey, questionnaire, focused study groups,

interviews are tool designed to measure the variables, characteristics, or information
of interest, often a behavioural or psychological characteristic. Research instruments
can be helpful tools to the research study.16 Page | 3

a. Survey
Survey is often used to access the opinion, thoughts and feelings. It can
be of timed and limited or the other way around. It is widely used by
Psychologists and Sociologists to understand the participants‟ behaviour. A
survey consists of predetermined questions that are given to a select group
of people. It can also be used to determine the change in behaviour or
attitudes over time. There are four main methods of employing the survey
method; mail survey, personal interview, telephone interview, and internet
survey.17

b. Questionnaire
A questionnaire is one of the simplest and the quickest of getting
information from a large number of people.18 A questionnaire consists of a
set of questions presented to a respondent for answers. The respondents
read the questions, interpret what is expected and then write down the
answers themselves. Because there are many ways to ask questions, the
questionnaire is very flexible.19 It is necessary that the questions are pre-
tested on the target audience.20 There are three basic types of
questionnaire: Closed –ended, Open-ended and Combination of both.21

1. Closed –ended Questionnaire:

Closed ended questions include all possible answers/prewritten response
categories, and respondents are asked to choose among them. e.g. multiple
choice questions, scale questions.22

2. Open-ended Questionnaire:
Open-ended questions allow respondents to answer in their own words.
Questionnaire does not contain boxes to tick but instead leaves a blank

16 Arvin, Shelley. Research Instruments “http://libguides.indstate.edu/instruments”

(09 August 2014, 11:10 PM)
17 Survey “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey_research” (09 August 2014, 11:30 PM)
18 Davies, Máire Messenger and Nick Mosdel. Practical Research Methods for Media and Cultural

Studies (New Delhi: Rawat Publications, 2007), 78.

19 Research Methodology “http://www.ihmgwalior.net/pdf/research_methodology.pdf”

(09 August 2014, 11:45 PM)

20 Bedekar, V.H. How to Write Assignments, Research Papers, Dissertations and Thesis (New Delhi:

Kanak Publications, 1982), 40.

21 Research Methodology, Op.cit.
22 Ibid.
 section for the respond to write in an answer. Open-ended questionnaires
might be used to find out what people think about a service. This type of
questionnaire is in search of opinions which are rather than numbers;
fewer questionnaires need to be distributed.23

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3. Combination of both:
This way it is possible to find out how many people use a service and
what they think of the service in the same form. Begins with a series of
closed – ended questions, with boxes to tick or scales to rank, and then
finish with a section of open-ended questions or more detailed response.24

c. Focused Study Group

Focus Study Group comes under the Qualitative method of research.
The term is coined by psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter
(1907-1991). In which the questions are asked in a group of people.
Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are
free to talk with other group members. The analysis of focus group data
presents both challenges and opportunities when compared to other types
of qualitative data. Some authors have suggested that data should be
analysed in the same manner as interview data, while others have
suggested that the unique features of focus group data - particularly the
opportunity that it provides to observe interactions between group
members - means that distinctive forms of analysis should be used. Data
analysis can take place at the level of the individual or the group. Focus
group data provides the opportunity to analyse the strength with which an
individual holds an opinion. At the collective level, focus group data can
sometimes reveal shared understandings or common views. 25
d. Interview
Questioning in the verbal form is known as Interview. As a research
tool, interview is different from general interviewing in regard to
preparation, construction and execution. It is controlled by the researcher
to avoid any biasness and distortion. In the research interview, the
interviewer asks specific questions pertaining to research objectives and
the respondent answers appropriately. The interview can be of flexible in
its own form, such as structured or unstructured, individual or group, self-
administered or other-administered, personal or non-personal, focused,
telephonic, etc. collecting data through interview technique may be easy,
but its adequacy, reliability and validity pose crucial problems.
Interviewers differ in interest and skill, respondents differ in ability and
motivation and content of interview differs in feasibility. To obtain a

23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
25 Focus group “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_group” (10 August 2014, 04:00 PM)
 successful interview; accessibility26, understanding27 and motivation28 are
crucial.29

Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Qualitative research is particularly good at answering the „why‟, „what‟ or „how‟ Page | 5
questions. Each of these questions could be addressed using quantitative techniques
such as structured questionnaires, attitude scaling, and measurement of standard
outcomes such as mortality, morbidity or staff absence rates. All of these can be
readily analysed statistically, and you will get some sort of answer to the question.
Qualitative data tends to take up many pages of typescript, or lots of megabytes on a
disc! It is usually in the form of words and narratives, but may include visual images,
videotape, or other media.30

Quantitative data is a numerical measurement expressed not by means of a

natural language description, but rather in terms of numbers. However, not all
numbers are continuous and measurable. For example, the social security number is
a number, but not something that one can add or subtract. E.g. the numbers on the
Debit Card. Quantitative data always are associated with a scale measure. These
data may be represented by ordinal, interval or ratio scales and lends themselves to
most statistical manipulation.31

Frequency Tables

Frequency table is a tabulation of data values that displays the number of

times each value or group of values occurs in the dataset.32 Frequency distribution
tables can be used for both categorical and numeric variables. Continuous variables
should only be used with class intervals, which will be explained shortly. Frequency
distributions can show either the actual number of observations falling in each range
or the percentage of observations. In the latter instance, the distribution is called a
relative frequency distribution.33

26 Respondent‟s willingness to provide information.

27 Respondent‟s understanding about the question.
28 Respondent to be motivated to give accurate information.
29 Ahuja, Ram. Op.cit., 220 – 229.
30 Lacey A. and Luff D. Qualitative Research Analysis. (The NIHR RDS for the East

Midlands / Yorkshire & the Humber, 2007.) “http://www.rds-yh.nihr.ac.uk/wp-

content/uploads/2013/05/9_Qualitative_Data_Analysis_Revision_2009.pdf” (10 August 2014, 04:30
PM)
31 Statistics/Different Types of Data/Quantitative and Qualitative Data, Wikibooks, The Free

Textbook Project,
http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Statistics/Different_Types_of_Data/Quantitative_and_Quali
tative_Data&oldid=2675653 (10 August 2014, 04:55 PM).
32 Frequency Table “http://wikieducator.org/MathGloss/F/Frequency_table” (10 August 2014, 08:20

PM)
33 Frequency Distribution Table “http://www.statcan.gc.ca/edu/power-pouvoir/ch8/5214814-eng.htm”

(10 August 2014, 08:30 PM)

Computer Application in Data Analysis

Computers have always assisted in solving problems faced by humankind

since the time of its invention. The word “Computer” means “something which
computes”. Today it is being used in every walk of life. There are five main
characteristics to the computer; Speed, Accuracy, Automation34, Diligence35 and Page | 6
Storage. Computers are indispensible throughout the research process. The role of
computer becomes more when the research is on a large scale. The collected data can
be stored on the computer for immediate use or as a backup in auxiliary storage
devices. During data analysis, the computer helps in the mathematical part i.e.
calculation of the various statistical methods. There are various softwares available
for calculation purposes like MS-Excel, SPSS, NCSS-PASS, STATA, and Sysat are
being popularly used for research data analysis. They can also be used to calculate
the sample size of the proposed study, hypothesis testing and calculating the power
of the study. Computers are not only useful for statistical analysis, but also to
monitor the accuracy and completeness of the collected data.36

Conclusion

On looking at the significance of the data in relation the media research, the data
analysis has its own prominence in bringing out the substantial support in
answering the research problem. At times the research may cover a large number of
people which may result in not being able to cover all, due to the lack of time and
resource. Thus by sampling of the select subset of individual in the unit can help the
researcher to come-up with a rough picture of the result. This is done by the use of
research instruments or tools such as survey, questionnaire, focused study group and
interview. These tools help the researcher to collect the data form the select
respondents as accurately as possible and distinguishes the data between qualitative
and quantitative. Finally after the collection of data frequency tables are used
manually or with the help of computer in the case of large scale researches to
visualize the collected raw data and properly analyse the data and substantiate the
research findings.

Facilitated by: Rev. Dr. M. Peter Singh

Tamilnadu Theological Seminary

34 A system in which a workplace or process has been converted to one that replaces or minimizes
human labour with mechanical or electronic equipment.
35 Persistent and hard-working effort in doing something and does not tier like human beings.
36 Saravanan. Role of Computers in Research “http://www.slideshare.net/saravananmsw/role-of-

computers-in-research#” (10 August 2014, 11:00 PM).