DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS

Computing the Effectiveness of An Insecticide

Introduction
description plays a critical role in the scientific process in general and education research in

particular. description can also point toward causal understanding and to the mechanisms

behind causal relationships. appropriate analytical, communication, and data visualization

methods to translate raw data into reported findings in a format that is useful for each

intended audience

Chapters in conducting a descriptive analysis

1. Identification of salient features, relevant constructs, and available measures (the

process will conclude observed patterns in data and must be in a suitable format to

be presented to the audience).

2. Focusing on the research question, constructs, measures, samples, and analysis.

3. Use of appropriate communication and data visualization methods to translate raw

data into reported findings (format).

4. Concise summary of key messages (readers must understand the conclusion).

Uses of Descriptive Analyses:

- Identify and describe trends and variation in populations
- Create new measures of key phenomena, or simply describe samples in studies
aimed at identifying causal effects
- Observing phenomena
- Identifying questions
- Generating and testing hypotheses, and then producing new observations,
questions, and hypotheses

To be useful as an application of the scientific method both the goals and the findings of
descriptive work should be clear.

Target of A Descriptive Analysis

Iterative Process

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Additional Info

Things to Avoid

➔ Unnecessarily complex presentation is an obstacle to effective communication. For

the vast majority of audiences, graphs and tables are much more easily understood

than regression coefficients, three-dimensional imagery, or other complex

presentations. It is critical that graphics present just as much information as

necessary to fully meet the needs of the audience. Keep figures simple and neat,

label axes, and avoid formats that are likely to confuse readers. The benefits of an

appealing image are not worth the risk of misrepresenting data or message

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A Checklist for a Good Descriptive Analysis

● Clear about what it is trying to describe, its justification of methods and measures,

and how data were transformed into a description of the phenomenon of interest.

● Provides detail and breadth that fully capture a phenomenon without being

unnecessarily complex with respect to concept, data, methods, or presentation. It is

neither too narrow nor too broad in focus; it is not unsuitably coarse or

unnecessarily fine-grained.

● Accurate and reflects key concepts, incorporates a variety of perspectives and

approaches, does not distort data or lend itself to misinterpretation, and will be

accepted by broad communities of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers

because it reflects real-world observation.

● Both sensible and comprehensible. It uses appropriate concepts and methods,

relies on relevant measures, and is presented in a manner that relates the salient

features of a phenomenon in a way that can be readily interpreted by its intended

audience.

● Focuses on socially important phenomena (and research questions).