Chapter 15: Emotional and Social Development From Four to Six NK.
Chapter 15 Social Research
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Transcript of Chapter 15 Social Research
Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis
Chapter 15
Introduction
Quantitative or Qualitative? What is the difference been qualitative and
quantitative? The distinction between qualitative and
quantitative data is not as important as the distinction between the strategies driving their collection
Introduction
Quantitative data analysis Analysis that tends to be based on the
statistical summary of data Quantitative researchers typically focus on the
relationship between or among variables, with a natural science-like view of social science in the backs of their minds.
Introduction
Qualitative data analysis Analysis that tends to results in the
interpretation of action or representations of meanings in the researcher's own words
Empathic understanding or an in-depth, thick description
Quantitative Data Analysis
Presumes one has collected data about a reasonably large, and sometimes representative, group of subjects, whether these subjects are individuals, groups, organizations, social artifacts, etc.
The data does not always come in the form of numerical data
Quantitative Data Analysis
Sources of Data for Quantitative Analysis When data is collected by researcher, coding
is an important first step Coding is the process by which raw data are
given a standardized form. This means making data computer usable.
For example, if you are coding gender – you may have Male = 1 and Female = 2
The assignment of numbers to words is arbitrary
Quantitative Data Analysis
Elementary Quantitative Analyses Descriptive statistics
Statistics used to describe and interpret sample data
Example Fifty-five percent of the people sampled were
married.
Quantitative Data Analysis
Elementary Quantitative Analyses Inferential statistics
Statistics used to make inferences about the population from which the sample was drawn
Example Men are significantly more likely than women to
have been employed full-time.
Quantitative Data Analysis
Univariate analyses Analyses that tell us something about one
variable
Quantitative Data Analysis
Bivariate analyses Analyses that focus on the association
between two variables
Quantitative Data Analysis
Multivariate analyses Analyses that permit researchers to examine
the relationship between variables while investigating the role of other variables
Univariate Analysis
Measures of Central Tendency Mode
The measure of central tendency designed for nominal level variables. The value or category that occurs most frequently. It can be computed for any variable because all ordinal and interval level variables are also nominal.
Univariate Analysis
Measures of Central Tendency Median
The measure of central tendency designed for ordinal level variables. The middle value when all values are arranged in order. Can also be used for interval variables because they are also ordinal variables.
Univariate Analysis
Measures of Central Tendency Mean
The measure of central tendency designed for interval level variables. The sum of all values divided by the number of values.
Univariate Analysis
How does a researcher know which measure of central tendency (mode, median, or mean) to use to describe a given variable? Do not use a measurement that is
inappropriate for a given level of measurement Example: Mean or Median for a nominal level
variable like gender
Univariate Analysis
Variation Frequency Distribution
A way of showing that number of times each category of a variable occurs in a sample
Assume we have 20 people in our sample, with 17 females and 3 males
Frequency Distribution
GENDER FREQUENCY %
Female 17 85
Male 3 15
Total N = 20 100
Univariate Analysis
Variation Examining frequency distribution, and their
percentage distribution is a good way of understanding variation in nominal or ordinal variables
Example If you are looking at gender and discern that
100% of your sample is female and 0% is male, you know that there is no variation in gender in your sample.
Univariate Analyses
Measures of Dispersion of Variation for Interval Scale Variables
Measures of dispersion Measures that provide a sense of how spread
out cases are over categories of a variable
Univariate Analyses
Measures of Dispersion of Variation for Interval Scale Variables Range
A measure of dispersion or spread designed for interval-level variables. The difference between the highest and lowest values.
Univariate Analyses
Standard Deviation A measure of dispersion designed for interval-
level variables and that accounts for every value's distance from the sample mean
The standard deviation has properties that make it useful in measuring variation when the variable is normally distributed
Univariate Analyses
The graph of a normal distribution is bell-shaped and symmetric
In a normal distribution 68% of cases would fall between one standard deviation above the mean and one standard deviation below the mean
Standard deviation is not as useful if the variable is not normally distributed.
Bivariate Analyses
Examining the relationship between variables Crosstabulation is the process of making a
bivariate table to examine a relationship between two variables
Bivariate Analyses
Measures of association Measures that give a sense of the strength of
a relationship between two variable – or how strongly two variables “go together”
Bivariate Analyses
Measures of correlation Measures that provide a sense not only of the
strength of the relationship between two variables, but also the direction of the association
Pearson’s r is a measure of correlation designed for examining relationships between interval level variables.
Stop and Think
Would you expect the association between education and income for adults in the US to be positively or negatively correlated?
Bivariate Analyses
Inferential Statistics P-value
Allows the reader to make an inference about the relationship between variables.
The typical cut off is 0.05, p<.05
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Why would a researcher want to examine
more than two variables at a time?
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Elaboration
The process of examining the relationship between two variables by introducing the control for another variable or variables
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Control variable
A variable that is held constant to examine the relationship between two other variables
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Partial relationship
The relationship between an independent and a dependent variable for that part of a sample defined by one category of a control variable
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Four kinds of elaboration
1. Replication
2. Explanation
3. Specification
4. Interpretation
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Replication
A kind of elaboration in which the original relationship is replicated by all of the partial relationships
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Explanation
A kind of elaboration in which the original relationship is explained away as spurious by a control for an antecedent variable
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Specification
A kind of elaboration that permits the researcher to specify conditions under which the original relationship is particularly strong or weak
Multivariate Analysis and the Elaboration Model Interpretation
A kind of elaboration that provides an idea of the reasons why an original relationship exist without challenging the belief that the original relationship is causal.
Qualitative Data Analysis
The outputs of qualitative data analyses are usually words, the inputs are also usually words – typically in the form of extended texts
Data is almost always derived from what the researcher has observed, heard in interviews, or found in documents
Qualitative Data Analysis
Social anthropological versus interpretivist approaches Social anthropologists (and others, like
grounded theorists and life historians) believe that there exist behavioral regularities (for example, rules, rituals, relationships, and so on) that affect everyday life and that it should be the goal of researchers to uncover and explain those regularities.
Qualitative Data Analysis
Social anthropological versus interpretivist approaches Interpretivists (including phenomenologists
and symbolic interactionists) believe that actors, including researchers themselves, are forever interpreting situations, and that these, often quite unpredictable, interpretations largely affect what goes on.
Qualitative Data Analysis
Does qualitative data analysis emerge from or generate the data collected? The question of which comes first
Data or ideas about data
Qualitative Data Analysis
The strengths and weaknesses of qualitative data analysis revisited Strengths
Can produce theories More likely to be grounded in the immediate
experiences of those participants than in the speculations of researchers.
Qualitative Data Analysis
The strengths and weaknesses of qualitative data analysis revisited Weaknesses
Generalizability
Qualitative Data Analysis
Are there predictable steps in qualitative data analysis? First researchers code their own data or
acquire computer-ready data Other steps are much more fluid Typical flow includes data collection –data
reduction—data displaying—conclusion drawing and verification
Qualitative Data Analysis
Data Collection and Transcription Several software packages exist to facilitate
the processing of qualitative data Qualitative data software packages have
many pros an cons and should be considered carefully before adopting.
Qualitative Data Analysis
Data Reduction The various ways in which a researcher orders
collected and transcribed data Coding and memoing are common data
reduction techniques
Qualitative Data Analysis
Coding The process of assigning observations, or data,
to categories In qualitative analysis, coding is more open-
ended because both the relevant variables and their significant categories are apt to remain in question longer
Qualitative Data Analysis
Coding The goal of coding is to create categories that
can be used to organize information about different cases
Assigning a code to a piece of data is the first step in coding
The second step is putting the coded data together with other data coded the same way
Qualitative Data Analysis
Coding Types of Coding
One purpose of coding is to keep facts straight – called descriptive coding
Coding to advance your analysis is analytical coding
The preliminary phase of analytical coding is called initial coding
Initial coding eventually becomes focused coding, which is concentrating or elaborating on codes specific to analysis
Qualitative Data Analysis
Coding Memos
Extended notes that the researcher writes to help herself or himself understand the meaning of codes
Qualitative Data Analysis
Data displays Visual images that summarize information
Summary
Quantitative data analyses Qualitative data analyses
Quiz – Question 1
Measures of central tendency do not includea. the mode.
b. median.
c. mean.
d. standard deviation.
Quiz – Question 2
In a frequency distribution, we area. displaying the number of cases that fall in
categories.
b. showing the connections between descriptive statistics.
c. examining the central tendencies of variables.
d. testing out our coding schemes.
Quiz – Question 3
As a measure of dispersion, a _______ tells us how far the mean is from individual scores.
a. range
b. standard deviation
c. mode
d. regular distribution