DATA INTERPRETATION,

CITATION, AND, REFERENCING

Badino, D.A., Abrenica, L. O., Octavio, R. P., Embudo, J. E.
 Module 5
Data Interpretation
By: Derilyn A. Badino, Lialyn O. Abrenica,
Renan P. Octavio, Jemima D. Embudo

I. Overview

Data interpretation is turning the gathered data into useful information.

There is a need to interpret data in order for the researcher (and the reader)
to easily grasp the context from the collected data. However, before the
data interpretation, data analyzation must first be conducted. Proper
method of data analyzation and interpretation must be done so that the
information needed will be accurate. Visualization of the data is one way to
convey effectively the meaning and interpretation of the collected data.
Report writing should be then carried out without bias and prejudice from
someone’s point of view.
Citations and references are necessary when a piece of work is used
in another's work. When including a quote, paraphrased information,
photographs, or any other piece of information from another’s work, it is
needed to show where the information is found by including a citation and
a reference. The most straightforward method of avoiding plagiarism is to
properly document your sources during the research and to properly cite
your sources in writing and presentations.

II. Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the session, the students should be able to:
1. Determine how to conduct data analyzation and its visualization;
2. Interpret collected data into useful information from specific method;
3. Carry out formal report writing from analyzed and interpreted data;
4. Explain the significance of citations in academic journals, and;
5. Follow the APA style 7th edition when citing sources in an academic
paper
III. Take off
Using the provided line graph below, fill out the chart with the given data.

Mang Kanor's Annual Crop

Production

450

350
KILOGRA

250
M

150

50

Rice Corn Soybean Adlay

CROPS

Data Collected:

Rice ----- 356kg

Adlay ---- 285kg
Soybean—
178kg Corn
-------------418k
g
 IV. Learning Focus

DATA INTERPRETATION

What is Data Interpretation?

Data interpretation is the process of reviewing data, which will help assign some meaning
to the data and arrive at a relevant conclusion. It involves taking the result of data
analysis. Therefore, before one can talk about interpreting data, they need to be analyzed
first. What then, is data analysis?

Data analysis is the process of ordering, categorizing, manipulating, and summarizing

data to obtain answers to research questions. It is usually the first step taken towards
data interpretation. In other words, data analysis is essentially about identifying and
extracting relevant information from the data gathered.

DATA INTERPRETATION METHODS:

• Qualitative Data Interpretation Method (Categorical Data)

- Uses texts, rather than numbers or patterns to describe data

Two (2) Main Types:

a. Nominal Data
b. Ordinal Data

• Quantitative Data Interpretation Model (Numerical Data)

- contains numbers and is therefore analyzed with the use of numbers
and not texts

Two (2) Main Types:

a. Discrete Data
b. Continuous Data
 Statistical methods used in analyzing quantitative data are:

• Mean

The mean is a numerical average for a set of data and is calculated by dividing the
sum of the values by the number of values in a dataset.

• Standard Devation

This technique is used to measure how well the responses align with or deviates
from the mean. It describes the degree of consistency within the responses; together
with the mean, it provides insight into data sets.

• Frequency Distribution

This technique is used to assess the demography of the respondents or the number
of times a particular response appears in research.
There are three (3) important steps to analyze your data:

Gather relevant
Use the instruments selected to get relevant data from different sources.
data
'Cleaning' your data means eliminating responses that can't be used (e.g.
Summarize and answers that are incomplete or impossible to decipher) or regrouping
‘clean’ the data similar answers into categories to better identify trends. Always clean
your data before analyzing it.
Identify the
Review the trends identified and their relative importance.
trends

VISUALIZATON IN DATA ANALYSIS

Visualization in data analysis is used to encourage people to view and understand

the data at its most simple manner.

• Bar Graphs

Advantages:
✓ It helps to summarize a large data
✓ Estimations of key values c.an be made at a glance
✓ Can be easily understood

Disadvantages:
✓ It may require additional explanation.
✓ It can be easily manipulated.
✓ It doesn't properly describe the dataset.

Figure 1. Bar Graph

• Pie Chart

Advantages:
✓ It is visually appealing.
✓ Best for comparing small data samples.

Disadvantages:
✓ It can only compare small sample sizes.
✓ Unhelpful with observing trends over time.

Figure 2. Pie Chart

• Tables

Advantages:
✓ Can contain large data set
✓ Helpful in comparing two (2) or more similar things

Disadvantages:
✓ They do not give detailed information
✓ Maybe time-consuming

Figure 3. Tables

• Line Graph

Advantages:
✓ Great for visualizing trends and changes over time
✓ Simple to construct and read

Disadvantages:
✓ It can not compare different variables at a single place or time

Figure 4. Line Graph

REPORT WRITING

A report is a very formal document written for a variety of purposes. Petter Little
(1965:158) defines report as a document, which provides an account of something
witnessed or examined, or of an investigation together with conclusions arrived as a
result of the investigation.

Structure of a Report

1. The Report Title

▪ Provides short but clear idea about the subject matter of the report
▪ Must be accurate and concise
2. Introduction
▪ Gives a kind of background of the report
▪ Gives the reader some kind of idea as to the reasons for writing
any piece of report
3. The Body
▪ Provides the material which the writer presents to support his point
of view
▪ Divided into sections and subsections , each one marked with
suitable heading and subheadings
4. Recommendations
▪ Offer suggestions on the issue presented in the report
▪ Give insights on what need to be done to solve the problem being
investigated
5. Conclusion
▪ Presents the main points arising from the report
▪ Should be conclusive, definite, and in brief manner
▪

Features of a Good Report

1. Accuracy
a. A report must be accurate and factual. This will prove that the report is
authentic and well treated.
2. Logicality and Objectivity
a. The writer must avoid any form of sentimentality, subjectivity,
prejudice and the like.
b. Facts must be presented without any misinterpretation or undue
influence from the writer.
3. Clarity
a. A good report must be clear and lucid
b. The writer should select words suitable for the subject matter
c. The information contained in a report should be direct and straight
forward and should be able to capture the message intended
4. Coherence
a. The structure must be perfectly adapted to its subjects and be
presented step by step and logically too
5. Formality
a. A good report should be formal. Thus, formal writing should be
employed.
6. Brevity
a. A good report must not be long
 APA STYLE 7TH EDITION CITATION AND REFERENCING
What is APA Style?

The American Psychological Association (APA) style (also known as the APA format) is a
writing style and format for academic documents such as scholarly journal articles and
book chapters. It walks users through the entire scholarly writing process, from authorship
ethics to reporting research and finally publishing their findings. APA places a high value on
the currency of work and thus cites by the author(s) and year. Writers who employ the APA
style must inform their readers not only of the authors they are using but also of how
current or timely their sources are. In order to achieve excellence in writing and make an
impact with their work, students and professionals need a resource like this.

The current edition of the American Psychological Association's Publication Manual is the
seventh, which was published in October 2019. The book's objective is to assist readers in
becoming more effective writers and communicators by emphasizing clarity, precision, and
inclusivity. It provides specific guidelines for choosing the headings, tables, figures,
language, and tone that will result in powerful, concise, and elegant scholarly
communication.

Why cite your sources?

The need of citing your sources can be explained by the following reasons:

• It acknowledges the authors of the sources that you utilized in your research.

• It offers your reader additional information about your sources.

• It establishes your credibility

• Protects you from plagiarism!

The most straightforward method of avoiding plagiarism is to properly document your

sources during the research and to properly cite your sources in your writing and
presentations.

When to cite your sources?

• When you use an exact quote

• When you restate or paraphrase an idea from a resource

• When you summarize a work

How should sources be cited according to the APA 7th Edition Guidelines?

Types of Citation in APA

1. In-text Citations – An in-text citation is the brief form of reference incorporated in

the body of the text. It contains sufficient information to allow the source to be
uniquely identified in the reference list. The brief form usually consists of the family
name of the author(s), and year of publication.

2. Reference List - The reference list citation gives all the information the reader would
need to find your source. They appear at the end of the paper as a separate page
listing all of the sources used.

Types of In-text Citation

1. Parenthetical citations include the author(s) and the date of publication within
parentheses.

Example: APA style is an easy citation format for first-time learners (Smith, 1998).

2. Narrative citations intertwine the author as part of the sentence with the date of
publication (in parentheses) following.

Example: According to Smith (1998), APA style is an easy citation format for first-time
learners

Author Type Parenthetical citation Narrative citation

One author Gonzales, 2019) Gonzales (2019)

Two authors (Gonzales & Jones, Gonzales and Jones (2022)

2019)

Three or more authors (Gonzales et al., 2019) Gonzales et.al. (2019)

Group author with

abbreviation:
(American Psychological American Psychological
First citation Association [APA], Association (APA, 2020)
2020)
APA (2020)
(APA, 2020)
Subsequent citation

Group author without (University of California, University of California

abbreviation 2020) (2020)
Creating a Reference List at the End of the Paper

Remember: All references in the list must be double-spaced, both between references and
within references, with a hanging indent of ½ inch for reference with more than one line.

Book with One Author or Editor

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle
Format
Publisher.

Example Franks, A. (2005). Margaret Sanger's eugenic legacy: The control

of female fertility. McFarland & Company.

Book with Two Authors of Editors

Format Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., & Author Surname, First

Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle. Publisher.

Example Burley, J., & Harris, J. (Eds.). (2002). A companion to genetics. Blackwell.

Book with Three to Five Authors

Format Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial., Author Surname, First

Initial. Second Initial., & Author Surname, First Initial. Second

Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle. Publisher.

Example Johnson, N. G., Roberts, M. C., & Worell, J. (Eds.). (1999). Beyond

appearance: A new look at adolescent girls. American Psychological

Association.
 Book with No Author
Format Book title: Subtitle. (Year). Publisher.

Example Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2005). Merriam

Webster.

Article or Chapter in Edited Books

Format Author Surname [of Chapter or Article], First Initial. Second Initial. (Year).

Article or chapter title. In Editor First Initial. Second Initial.

Surname (Ed.), Book title: Subtitle (pp. page range of article or

chapter). Publisher.

Example Lawrence, J. A., & Dodds, A. E. (2003). Goal-directed activities and life

span development. In J. Valsiner & K. Connolly (Eds.), Handbook of

developmental psychology (pp. 517-533). Sage Publications.

Ebook
Format Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Book title: Subtitle.

http://doi.org/xx.xxxxxxxxx OR URL of the home page of the

ebook provider.

Example Ochs, S. (2004). A history of nerve functions: From animal spirits to

molecular mechanisms. http://www.ebrary.com/corp/

Basic Website
Format Personal or Corporate Author. (Last update or copyright date; if not

known put n.d.). Title of specific document. Site name (if

 needed). URL of specific document

Example Ahmadi, S. (2018). Lesson plan: Filter bubbles. Digital Writing & Research

Lab. https://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/2018/01/02/lesson-plan-filter

bubbles/

VII. References

Anigbogu, Ngozi. (2017). REPORT WRITING.

Formplus Blog. June 2020. What is Data Interpretation? + [Types, Method and Tools]

formpl.us/blog/data-interpretation

ICAO Global Aviation Training. 2020. Data Analysis. icao.int/training/TNA/Pages/Data-

Analysis.aspx

Library Guides. (2022). APA 7th Referencing: Getting Started in APA 7th.

https://libraryguides. vu.edu.au/apa-referencing/7GettingStarted