Types of Data Flashcards
(62 cards)
1
Q
● What is quantitative data?
A
Data expressed numerically
2
Q
● What is qualitative data?
A
Data expressed in words
3
Q
● Give an example of quantitative data.
A
Number of words recalled
4
Q
● Give an example of qualitative data.
A
Diary entry
5
Q
● Name three levels of measurement.
A
Nominal, Ordinal, Interval
6
Q
● What is nominal data?
A
Data in the form of categories
7
Q
● What is ordinal data?
A
Data that is ordered or ranked
8
Q
● What is interval data?
A
Standardised objective measurement
9
Q
● Name a type of primary data.
A
Experiment
10
Q
● Name a type of secondary data.
A
Government statistics
11
Q
● What is primary data?
A
Data gathered directly from participants
12
Q
● What is secondary data?
A
Previously collected by a third party
13
Q
● What is a meta-analysis?
A
A form of research using secondary data
14
Q
● What is content analysis?
A
Method of analysing qualitative data by coding
15
Q
● What is coding in content analysis?
A
Placing qualitative data into categories
16
Q
● What is thematic analysis?
A
Identifying emergent themes in qualitative data
17
Q
● What is a measure of central tendency?
A
Average value in a set of data
18
Q
● Name three measures of central tendency.
A
Mean, Median, Mode
19
Q
● What is the mean?
A
All scores added and divided by number of scores
20
Q
● What is the median?
A
Middle score in ranked order
21
Q
● What is the mode?
A
Most common value in a set of data
22
Q
● What is a measure of dispersion?
A
Spread of scores
23
Q
● Name two measures of dispersion.
A
Range, Standard deviation
24
Q
● What does a high standard deviation indicate?
A
Scores are more spread around the mean
25
● What does a low standard deviation indicate?
Scores are less spread around the mean
26
● What is a bar chart used for?
Displaying discrete/categorical data/nominal
27
● What is a histogram used for?
Displaying continuous data or frequencies
28
● What is a scattergraph used for?
Displaying a relationship between two variables/correlation
29
● In a normal distribution, where are the mean, median, and mode?
At the midpoint of the curve
30
● What statistical test is used for nominal data and repeated measures?
Sign Test
31
● What statistical test is used for independent groups and ordinal data?
Mann Whitney U
32
● What statistical test is used for correlation and interval data?
Pearson’s r
33
▲ Which level of measurement is used for categories such as hair colour?
Nominal
34
▲ Which level of measurement is used for a rating scale out of 10?
Ordinal
35
▲ Which level of measurement is used for time in seconds?
Interval
36
▲ If two people both rate their enjoyment as 8/10, why might this not be precise?
Ordinal data is subjective
37
▲ Why is ordinal data considered 'unsafe'?
Lacks precision and is subjective
38
▲ Give an example of secondary data from a scenario.
Meta-analysis of previous studies
39
▲ A researcher interviews people with OCD. Is this primary or secondary data?
Primary data
40
▲ Comparing crime statistics from different cities is what type of data?
Secondary data
41
▲ A researcher observes children playing games. What type of data is collected?
Primary data
42
▲ Why would you use a content analysis?
To analyse qualitative data
43
▲ What type of graph should be used to display mean scores from two groups?
Bar chart
44
▲ What type of graph displays frequency of test scores in intervals?
Histogram
45
▲ What type of graph is used to show a relationship between stress and hours worked?
Scattergraph
46
▲ How do you calculate the range?
Subtract lowest from highest and add 1
47
▲ Which measure of central tendency is most accurate?
Mean
48
▲ Why might the mean be misleading?
Affected by extreme scores
49
▲ Why is the mode less useful with multiple modes?
Not all data is represented accurately
50
▲ Why is the standard deviation more precise than the range?
Uses all scores in calculation
51
▲ What does a high mean score suggest about the DV?
Greater score/effect
52
▲ What should you do if your experiment uses interval data and a repeated measures design?
Use a related t-test
53
✪ Critically evaluate the depth and meaning provided by quantitative versus qualitative data using explicit phrases from the text.
Quantitative data lacks depth and meaning to behaviour especially when it is complex as it prevents participants from being able to develop their thoughts, feelings and opinions.
Whereas, qualitative data is rich in detail and which can provide a greater understanding of human behaviour.
54
✪ Explain how meta-analysis increases generalisability and discuss publication bias
Meta-analysis gather data from a number of studies which allows us to view data with much more confidence and increases the generalisability of the findings.
Meta-analysis may be prone to publication bias as the researcher may not select all relevant studies, choosing to leave out those studies with negative or non-significant results.
55
✪ Evaluate the internal validity of primary versus secondary data
Primary data is collected first hand from the participant specifically for the aim of the research which allows researchers to specifically target the information that they require and organise and experiment in a way that suits them and their aim.
56
✪ Discuss researcher bias in content analysis
Potential researcher bias as the content that confirms the researcher’s hypothesis is more likely to be identified and recorded compared to the content that contradicts their aims and expectations.
57
✪ Analyse why operationalising coding categories is important for reliability.
If coding categories are vague (not operationalised) then it would not be possible to repeat the research to check for consistent results. Operationalising increases reliability as if the coding categories are operationalised the other researchers can repeat the research in the same way to check for consistent results.
58
✪ Evaluate the reliability of qualitative data using the inter-rater method as described
It is easy to assess the reliability of the findings and conclusions because other researchers can access the materials and use the coding system, to ensure findings are consistent (inter-rater reliability).
59
✪ Critically assess the use of face validity and concurrent validity to check content analysis validity.
Face validity involves an independent psychologist seeing if a coding category looks like it measures what it claims to measure at first sight.
Concurrent validity is assessed by comparing the results of a new content analysis with the results from another similar pre-existing content analysis which has already been established for its validity. If the results from both are similar then we can assume the test is valid.
60
✪ Discuss limitations of the mode as a measure of central tendency.
Does not take account of all scores so may be less accurate UNLIKE mean which takes all data in to account. Moreover, the mode may not be useful if there is more than one mode in a data set.
61
✪ Evaluate standard deviation versus range
Standard deviation is the most precise/sensitive measure of dispersion as uses all scores in calculation making it a more accurate measure of dispersion than the range, which only looks at the smallest and largest data. SD is less easily distorted by extreme values.
62
✪ Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of secondary data.
Secondary data is easily accessed and requires minimal effort to obtain. The researcher might find that information that he/she wants to collect already exists.
Secondary data may be poor quality or have inaccuracies. It may appear to be valuable at first but could be out-dated or incomplete and might not meet the direct needs of the researcher.
