CD 314: Research Methods

and Skills

STATISTICAL DATA
PROCESSING

Mr. John Lanata

 Scope

 Initial situation  Processes

• Set of data • manual editing &
• Recorded on forms coding
 Objective • data capture
• Description • machine editing
• Sample
• estimation
• Population
• Inference • summarization
• From sample to • inference
population
• presentation
Methodological analysis

 Sample size
 Response rate
 Non-response bias
 Missing data
 Manual editing

 Less done now than in days

before personal computers
became widespread
 Only those tasks that are not
feasible to be done by computer
need be done, eg.
• checking that all forms are present
• assessing legibility
 Manual coding

 Needs to be done where data are

in textual form
 Process consists of allocating a
suitable code to each such data
item
 It may be necessary to develop
suitable code lists based on data
if not already done
 Data entry/capture

 Process consists of entering data into

computer records, usually through a
keyboard
 Storage options include:
• Spreadsheet (eg. Excel)
• Database (eg. Access)
• Other programs
 Choice depends on volume &
complexity of data
 Data entry into Excel

 Raw data should be kept in one

or more sheets
 Analysis etc. should be done in
other sheets or in other
workbooks
 Data entry into Access

 May be done directly into one or

more tables
 Usually better to design special
forms for data entry
 Machine editing

 Process consists of detecting and

possibly amending data that is or
may be incorrect
 Two main types of edit check:
validity & consistency
 Simple editing may be done in Excel
 Access queries enable much more
complex editing
 Estimation

 Process consists of producing estimates

relating to population from sample data
 For self-weighting sample, estimates are
calculated directly from sample data
 Otherwise, suitable weights must be
calculated and applied to sample data
 These calculations more easily done in
Access than in Excel
 Summarization

 Forms include:
• Frequency distributions (one or more
variables)
• Measures of central tendency
• Measures of dispersion
• Positional measures
• Correlation
• Regression
 Extent of multivariate tabulation is
constrained by sample size
 Summarizing in Excel

 Frequency distribution for one variable

may be constructed by using Histogram
option
 Cumulative distribution may be easily
constructed with COUNTIF function
 Statistical functions use raw data as input
 If data available only in form of frequency
distribution, calculation tables may be set
up
 Multivariate analysis in
Excel
 Bivariate & multivariate frequency
distributions are difficult to
construct in Excel
 Data Analysis option of Tools menu
enables more advanced multivariate
analysis of raw data, eg.
• multiple regression
• moving averages
 Summarizing in Access

 Only few statistical functions

available
 Frequency distribution for one
variable may be easily constructed
by using Total query
 Bivariate & multivariate
frequency distributions may be
constructed by using Crosstab query
 Inference in Excel &
Access
 Excel has many suitable
functions, eg.
• CHIDIST
• FDIST
• NORMDIST
• TDIST
 Access does not facilitate
inference
 Inference in other
programs
 Many specialized statistical
programs available, eg.
• SPSS
• SAS
• Minitab
 These require some knowledge of
inference theory in order to choose
suitable tests & interpret them
 Tabular presentation

 Simple tabulations may be

constructed in Excel
 Complex tabulations may be
constructed in Access by using
wizards
 Graphical presentation

 Excel may be used to produce

wide range of charts
 Access does not produce charts
so easily
 Joint use of Excel &
Access
 Each program has its relative
advantages
 Easy to transfer data between
Excel & Access
 Best to use both & transfer data
etc. between them as needed
 Strengths of Access

 Generally best to use Access

for:
• data entry & storage
• machine editing
• complex estimation
• frequency distributions
 Strengths of Excel

 Generally best to use Excel for:

• summarization
• inference
• charts
 Overall presentation

 Easy to transfer tables & charts

from Access & Excel into:
• Word for full report
• PowerPoint for summary
presentation
 OpenOffice programs

 Similar remarks apply to equivalent

programs in the OpenOffice suite,
which is available in some ITS labs
 Equivalent programs are:
MS OFFICE OPENOFFICE
Word <> Writer
Excel <> Calc
Access <> Base
PowerPoint <> Impress