Chapter 6

Analyzing and Interpreting

Quantitative Data
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Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson Education, Inc.
Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 4e All rights reserved.
 Steps in the Process of
Quantitative Data Analysis
 Preparing the data for analysis
 Conducting the data analysis
 Reporting the results
 Interpreting the results

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-2
 Preparing the Data for
Analysis: Inputting Data
 Score data by assigning numeric codes
to responses
 Create a codebook
 Use information from instruments when
possible as a part of coding scheme
 Create a data file in data grid
 Create variable, value labels
 Clean database, missing values
Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-3
 Selecting a Statistical
Program
 Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS) most popular
 Other programs
 Minitab
 JMP
 SYSTAT
 SAS

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-4
 Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive Statistics

Central Variability Relative

Tendency Standing

Mean Variance Z-Score

Median Standard Deviation Percentile
Mode Range Ranks

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-5
 Conducting Descriptive
Analysis
 Measures of central tendency (value or score that
represents the entire distribution)
 Mean: Typically called the “average”

 Median: The value or score that divides the top half

of a distribution from the bottom half

 Mode: The value or score that occurs most often

 Measures of variability (describes the “spread” of the

scores
 Range: The difference between the highest and

lowest scores
 Standard deviation: The standard distance the

scores are away from the mean

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-6
Conducting Descriptive Analysis
 Measures of relative standing
 Percentile rank: The percentage of
participants in the distribution with scores
at or below a particular score
 Calculated score: Enables a researcher
to compare scores from different scales
 Z-Score: A popular form of the standard
score, has a mean of 0 and a standard
deviation of 1
Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-7
 Inferential Statistics
Inferential Statistics

Analysis of Chi- Pearson Multiple

T-test
Variance Square Correlation Regression

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-8
Conducting Inferential Analysis
 Measures of relative standing
 Pearson r: find correlation between at least
two continuous variables. Value of
correlation lies between 0.00 (no correlation)
and 1.00 (perfect correlation)
 Spearman rho: Demonstrate the
relationship between two ranked variables
 Chi square test:show expectations compare
to actual observed data (or model results).
Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson
and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-9
Conducting Inferential Analysis
 Measures of relative standing
 t-test: This assess whether the means of
two group are statistically different from
each other.(independent and paired)
 ANOVA: used to describe/compare the
relationship among a number of groups

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-10
 Conducting Inferential
Analysis (cont’d)
 Effect size: A means for identifying the
practical strength of the conclusions
about group differences or about the
relationship among variables

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-11
Selecting an Appropriate Statistic
 Determine the type of quantitative research question or hypothesis you
want to analyze
 Identify the number of independent variables
 Identify the number of dependent variables
 Identify whether covariates and the number of covariates are used in
the research question or hypothesis
 Consider the scale of measurement for your independent
variable(s) in the research question or hypothesis
 Identify the scale of measurement for the dependent variables (e.g.,
continuous or categorical)
 Determine if the distribution of the scores is normal or skewed

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-12
Reporting the Results
 Tables summarize statistical information (FOLLOW APA
format)
 Title each table

 Present one table for each statistical test

 Organize data into rows and columns with simple and clear

headings
 Report notes that qualify, explain, or provide additional

information in the tables, which can be helpful to readers.

Notes include information about the size of the sample
reported in the study, the probability values used in
hypothesis testing, and the actual significance levels of the
statistical test

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-13
 Reporting the Results (cont’d)
 Figures (charts, pictures, drawings) portray variables and their
relationships
 Labeled with a clear title that includes the number of the

figure
 Augment rather than duplicate the text

 Convey only essential facts

 Omit visually distracting detail

 Easy to read and understand

 Consistent with and are prepared in the same style as

similar figures in the same article


Carefully planned and prepared

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-14
 Reporting the Results (cont’d)
 Detailed explanations about statistical
results
 Report whether the hypothesis test was
significant or not
 Provide important information about the
statistical test, given the statistics
 Include language typically used in
reporting statistical results

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-15
 Instructions: Identify if the following statements is
descriptive (D) statistics or Inferential (I) statistics

1. What is the profile of the students-respondents in terms of

age, sex, and type of school graduated from?
2. Is there a significant relationship between educational
attainment and job performance rating?
3. What is the English performance of seventh grade
students during the first quarter
4. Which group of students has performed better?
5. How many are interested in Statistics?
6. Is there a significant difference between the performance
of male and female students in Practical Research 2?

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-16
 Instructions: Write HELLO if the statement
contributes to correct guidelines of discussing the
results and write BYE if not.
1. Summarize major results
2. Explain why they occurred
3. Show all the results including the tally sheets.
4. Explain the implications of the results for the audiences
5. Objectives must be reported if its significant only
6. Advance limitations
7. Suggest future research
8. Add more details for visually attraction
9. End on positive note

Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, © 2012, 2008, 2005, 2002 Pearson

and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Education, Inc.
Research, 4e – Creswell All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0132755912 6-17