Research methods

Chapter Six: Data processing,

Analysis and Interpretation
Outline
Measurement Scales
Data Processing Operations
Data Analysis (qualitative and
quantitative)
Measurement Scales

Your data can only be in the form of one of the

measurement scale types
Measurement and Measurement Scales
Definition: measurement is the assignment of numbers to
objects
•Measurement is the foundation of any scientific investigation
•Everything we do begins with the measurement of whatever it
is we want to study
-Three characteristics for scaling,

1. Numbers are ordered. One number is less than, greater

than, or equal to another number.

2. Differences between numbers are ordered. The difference

between any pair of numbers is greater than, less than, or
equal to the difference between any other pair of numbers.

3. The number series has a unique origin indicated by the

number zero.
Four Types of Measurement Scales
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Ratio
•The scales are distinguished on the relationships assumed
to exist between objects having different scale values
•The four scale types are ordered in that all later scales
have all the properties of earlier scales—plus additional
properties
Nominal Scale
•Not really a ‘scale’ because it does not scale objects along
any dimension
•It simply labels objects
Gender is a nominal scale
Male = 1
Female = 2
Religious Affiliation

Catholic= 1
Protestant= 2
Jewish= 3
Muslim= 4
Other= 5

Categorical data are measured on nominal scales

which merely assign labels to distinguish categories
Ordinal Scale
•Numbers are used to place objects in order
•But, there is no information regarding the differences
(intervals) between points on the scale
Eg. Class rank
Preference rank
4==1
3.9==2
2.9==3
2.5==4
Interval Scale
•An interval scale is a scale on which equal intervals
between objects, represent equal differences
•The interval differences are meaningful
•But, we can’t defend ratio relationships
Fahrenheit Scale/ Degree Celsius
•Interval relationships are meaningful
•A 10-degree difference has the same meaning anywhere
along the scale
•For example, the difference between 10 and 20 degrees is
the same as between 80 and 90 degrees
•But, we can’t say that 80 degrees is twice as hot as 40
degrees
•There is no ‘true’ zero, only an ‘arbitrary’ zero
Ratio Scale
•Have a true zero point
•Ratios are meaningful
•Physical scales of time, length and volume are ratio
scales
•We can say that 20 seconds is twice as long as 10
seconds
Data Processing Operations
1.Editing (field vs Central)
2.Coding
3.Classification
4.Tabulation
1. Editing
- Is the process of examining the collected raw data to detect
errors and omissions and to correct these when possible.
- Editing is done to assure that the data are accurate,
consistent with other facts gathered, uniformly entered, as
complete as possible and have been well arranged to
facilitate coding and tabulation
Field Editing: (during data collection) is conducted by the
investigator to check if the enumerator have filled the right
information, check handwriting etc.
- Should be done right after the questionnaire is filled to be able to
guess about the omitted information.
Central Editing: (after entry)
-Editor may correct the obvious errors such as an entry in the
wrong place.
-Eg. Entry recorded in months when it should be in weeks.
2. Coding
- Coding refers to the process of assigning numbers to
qualitative information.
- Coding should be prepared at the development of
questionnaire.
3. Classification: is categorization of data based on some criteria's
such as age, gender, literacy etc.
4. Tabulation: is the process of summarizing raw data and
displaying it in compact form for further analysis.
Advantages of tabulation:
i) It conserves space and reduces explanatory and descriptive
statement to a minimum.
ii) It facilitates the process of comparison.
iii) It facilitates the summation of items and the detection of outliers,
errors and omissions.
iv) It provides a basis for various statistical computations.
Qualitative and quantitative data analysis
Data Analysis: Refers to the computation of certain
measures along with searching for patterns of relationship
that exist among data-groups.
-Analysis involves estimating the values of unknown
parameters of the population and testing of hypotheses for
drawing inferences.
-Qualitative vs Quantitative methods
-Analysis can be either descriptive or inferential
Cgpa= 0.8 + 0.5study hrs -0.2 gender

3.2 3.4
5hrs

Male / 1 male and 0 female

1. Qualitative methods
 textual descriptions of how people experience a given
research issue
 why people do what they do?
 Eg. Participation in non farm activities?

Quantitative (do they participate?)

20% participate
80% do not participate.
Qualitative? Why do they participate?
• Need for extra cash?
• Agri production not enough for subsistence?
• Passion for the job?
• Etc.
Advantages of Qualitative research
It uses open ended questions which enables responses
that are:
meaningful and culturally relevant to the participant
unanticipated by the researcher
rich and explanatory in nature
Ask questions based on response
New and rich information can be obtained
Methods of qualitative research

1.Case study
2.Focus group discussion
3.Participatory research
1. Case study
- In-depth understanding of a case (person,
organization, etc).

Select one student from each group or

Male and female students from one /two

departments
focus group discussion
 background info and objectives
Methodology (who participated, when, group selection
procedure)
Summary and consideration
Highlights of findings

Eg. Campus life (select group of students)

Quantitative analysis
Descriptive vs Inferential statistics

Descriptive Analysis: is largely the study of distribution of

one variable.
-They describe and summarize data using a few or statistics.
A. Frequency Distribution:
A frequency table indicates “how many times” each score or
response occurs.
40% male 60% female
B. Measures of Central Tendencies:
-are used to compute summary statistics of variables being
studied.
-three measures of central tendency: mode, median, and
mean
 Definitio
Stat Example Characteristics
n

Is the
 It is a quick and crude way of
value or Example:
describing a distribution of
score Number of
scores
that peoples in a
 A set of scores may have
appears family:
Mode more than one mode
most 3,4,5,5,6,7,8
 It is possible for a scores not
frequentl ,9,10
both have any mode when
y in a The mode is
all the scores occurred with
particular 5
the same frequency
variable
 It is the
middle
score that Example: It does not take into account
divides Score: the extreme values of
Median ranked 75,80,82,8,87 distributions since it is only a
scores The median score in the middle of the
into two is 82 distribution.
equal
parts
It is the
average
of a set of Example:
scores or 10,12,12,20,1  The mean takes into account
measure 5,10,18,16,8, each score in the distribution.
Mean ments: 5 ; then the  One weakness is that it is
Mean of × mean is pulled towards an outlier or
= Sum of 126/10 = larger score/s/.
x÷ 12.6
number of
scores
C. Measures of Variability: is used to describe the
measures of variation in the data.
Static Definition Example Characteristics

 It gives a quick rough

estimation of variability. A
small range signifies that the
Example:
Is the difference score are not spread out, and a
Scores:
between the big range implies that scores
78,79,80,81,82,
Range highest score and are spread out or dispersed.
85
the lowest scores  It only involves two scores,
The range is 85-
in a distribution i.e. the highest score and the
78 = 7
lowest score. It is therefore not
sensitive to the total
population.
 That is:
S2= ∑ ( xi – xm )2  It involves subtracting the mean
It is the sum of
n-1 from each score to obtain the
squares of
Where: deviation, each deviation is then
deviation from
xi = each scores squared, and the sum of the
Variance the mean
xm = sample mean squared deviations is divided by
divided by the
n-1 = degree of the degrees of freedoms.
degrees of
freedom  If the value is small, it implies
freedom.
n = no. of that the variance is small.
observations

It shows the
extent to which  It takes into account all scores
scores in a and relates to the mean of their
Standard S = √ ∑ ( xi – x)2
distributions distributions
Deviation n-1
deviate from  It is very sensitive to extreme
their mean or scores.
average.
Inferential Analysis: includes
-Estimation of population values.
-Testing statistical hypothesis.
Analysis techniques can be
-Correlation
-Causal (regression)