Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Quantitative or Qualitative? John’s reaction time with 10 hours’ sleep averaged0.21 seconds; with 6 hours’ sleep it was 0.28 seconds. Jenny gave a detailed account of her relationship with each of her children or

Quantitative and Qualitative Data Data that focuses on numbers and frequencies which can be counted. Eg. Experiments, questionnaires and psychometric tests. Data that describes meaning and experiences which is expressed in words Eg. Case studies, interviews and observations (although observations can produce quantitative data as well!)

Choose 5 words from this description of Quantitative data that will help you to remember and outline characteristics AO1 Quantitative data is expressed numerically. It usually involves data such as individual scores from Pps i.e. the number of words a Pp can accurately recall in a memory experiment. Such methods aim to produce results that can be easily compared and analysed such as being converted in to graphs. Quantitative data produces results that can go through statistical tests to see if they are significant.

Choose 5 words from this description of Qualitative data that will help you to remember and outline characteristics AO1 Qualitative data aims to produce results which are meaningful. It aims to produce data which is in a natural setting, to understand phenomena from the point of view of an individual, and to understand the meanings that people give to their experiences. Qualitative data is not just about “thoughts and feelings” though it is concerned with the interpretation of language from interviews, observations and other written formats

QUANTITATIVE TO QUALITATIVE Interviews could contain a mixture of open and closed questions Surveys could contain a mixture of open and closed questions

Converting Qualitative to Quantitative data Unstructured interviews produce qualitative data such as transcripts… These interview transcripts can be analysed for THEMES and every time this theme is identified, a tally is recorded.

Which method is best? Neither….. It depends.. Many researchers use both techniques i.e. collect quantitative data as part of a controlled experiment AND interview Pps to gain more insight in to the behaviours they produced.

Data produced by the different methods Experiment Self Report Observation Correlation Case Study Quantitative: DV is measured to establish cause and effect. Closed Questions: Quantitative. Open questions: Qualitative Structured: Quantitative. Description of observed: Qualitative Quantitative: two scores correlated. Qualitative: in-depth, detailed.

Complete handout.

Primary & Secondary Data • Primary data – Data that you or your colleagues collect specifically for the purpose of answering your research question. • Secondary data – Existing data collected for another purpose that you employ to answer your research question.

Primary & Secondary Data Use two colours to identify characteristics of Primary and Secondary data

This data could be found in journal articles, books or websites.   This data is also known as field research. Information that has been obtained first hand by the researcher. This data has already been subject to statistical testing In Psychology, this kind of data is gathered directly from Pps using one or more methods. Information that has already been collected by previous researchers This is also known as ‘desk research’ Information contained in a government census is an example of this

What is META-ANALYSIS? Define Meta Analysis# What is meant by the ‘effect size’ ? Provide an example of the process i.e. explain how the study was conducted Find two strengths and two weaknesses of the process.

Can you…..??.... Outline characteristics of qualitative and quantitative data? Differentiate between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques? Outline characteristics of primary and secondary data?# Identify and explain two strengths and weaknesses of all of the above?