16-1

Chapter 16

Data
Preparation
and
Description

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

 16-2

Learning Objectives

Understand . . .
• importance of editing the collected raw data
to detect errors and omissions
• how coding is used to assign number and
other symbols to answers and to categorize
responses
• use of content analysis to interpret and
summarize open questions
 16-3

Learning Objectives

Understand . . .
• problems and solutions for “don’t know”
responses and handling missing data
• options for data entry and manipulation
 16-4

Exhibit 16-1 Data Preparation

in the Research Process
 16-5

Editing

Accurate
Accurate Consistent
Consistent

Criteria
Criteria
Arranged
Arrangedforfor Uniformly
Uniformly
simplification
simplification entered
entered

Complete
Complete
 16-6

Field Editing

• Field editing review

• Entry gaps identified
• Callbacks made
• Validate results
 16-7

Central Editing

Be familiar with instructions

given to interviewers and coders

Do not destroy the original entry

Make all editing entries identifiable and in

standardized form

Initial all answers changed or supplied

Place initials and date of editing

on each instrument completed
 16-8

Exhibit 16-2
Sample Codebook
 16-9

Exhibit 16-3 Precoding

 16-10

Exhibit 16-3 Coding Open-

Ended Questions
 16-11

Coding Rules

Appropriate to the
Exhaustive
research problem

Categories
Categories
should
should be
be

Derived from one

Mutually exclusive
classification principle
 16-12

Content Analysis

QSR’s XSight
software for
content analysis.
 16-13

Types of Content Analysis

Syntactical

Referential

Propositional

Thematic
 16-14

Exhibit 16-4 & 16-5

Open-Question Coding
Locus of
Responsibility Mentioned Not Mentioned
A. Company ________________________ ________________________

B. Customer ________________________ ________________________

C. Joint Company-Customer ________________________ ________________________

F. Other ________________________ ________________________

Locus of Responsibility Frequency (n = 100)

A. Management
1. Sales manager 10
2. Sales process 20
3. Other 7
4. No action area identified 3
B. Management
1. Training 15
C. Customer
1. Buying processes 12
2. Other 8
3. No action area identified 5
D. Environmental conditions
E. Technology 20
F. Other
 16-15

Exhbit 16-7 Handling

“Don’t Know” Responses

Question: Do you have a productive relationship

with your present salesperson?

Years of Purchasing Yes No Don’t Know

Less than 1 year 10% 40% 38%

1 – 3 years 30 30 32

4 years or more 60 30 30
100% 100% 100%
Total n = 650 n = 150 n = 200
 16-16

Data Entry

Database
Database
Keyboarding
Keyboarding Programs
Programs

Digital/
Digital/ Optical
Optical
Barcodes
Barcodes Recognition
Recognition

Voice
Voice
recognition
recognition
 16-17

Missing Data

Listwise Deletion

Pairwise Deletion

Replacement
 16-18

Key Terms
• Bar code • Editing
• Codebook • Missing data
• Coding • Optical character
• Content analysis recognition
• Data entry • Optical mark recognition
• Data field • Precoding
• Data file • Record
• Data preparation • Spreadsheet
• Database • Voice recognition
• Don’t know response
 16-19

Appendix 16a

Describing Data
Statistically

McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

 16-20

Frequencies
A
Unit Sales Cumulative
Increase (%) Frequency Percentage Percentage
5 1 11.1 11.1
6 2 22.2 33.3
7 3 33.3 66.7
8 2 22.2 88.9
9 1 11.1 100
Total 9 100.0
B
Unit Sales Cumulative
Increase (%) Frequency Percentage Percentage
Origin, foreign (1) 6 1 11.1 11.1
7 2 22.2 33.3
8 2 22.2 55.5

Origin, foreign (2) 5 1 11.1 66.6

6 1 11.1 77.7
7 1 11.1 88.8
9 1 11.1 100.0
Total 9 100.0
 16-21

Distributions
 16-22

Characteristics of
Distributions
 16-23

Measures of
Central Tendency

Mean Median Mode

 16-24

Measures of Variability

Variance
Variance

Quartile
Quartile Standard
Standard
deviation
deviation deviation
deviation

Dispersion
Dispersion
Interquartile
Interquartile Range
range
range
 16-25

Summarizing
Distributions with Shape
 16-26

Symbols
Variable Population Sample
_
Mean µ X

Proportion  p

Variance 2 s2

Standard deviation  s

Size N n

Standard error of the mean x

_ _
Sx
Standard error of the proportion p Sp
 16-27

Key Terms

• Central tendency • Normal distribution

• Descriptive statistics • Quartile deviation (Q)
• Deviation scores • Skewness
• Frequency distribution • Standard deviation
• Interquartile range • Standard normal
(IQR) distribution
• Kurtosis • Standard score (Z score)
• Median • Variability
• Mode • Variance