DATA ANALYSIS TOPICS DISCUSSED GETTING DATA READY FOR ANALYSIS 1 )- Editing Data (Definition) The process of checking

g and adjusting responses in the completed questionnaires for omissions, legibility, and consistency and readying them for coding and storage Purpose of Editing For consistency between and among responses For completeness in responses to reduce effects of item non-response To facilitate the coding process.

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Handling Blank Responses . a) Not all respondents answer every item in the questionnaire. Answers may have been left blank due many reasons . if 25% questionnaire have been left unanswered dont use It. b) IF few answers are left blank , assign the midpoint in the scale as the response to those items. c) assign to the item the mean value of the responses of all those who have responded to that particular item. Taking action when response is obviously an error. a) If solid evidence exists that the respondent failed to answer properly , then the response to the question can be changed . A change should only be made in accordance with the multiple pieces of existing evidence .

ii)

2)- Coding (Definition) The process of identifying and classifying each answer with a numerical score or other character symbol The numerical score or symbol is called a code, and serves as a rule for interpreting, classifying, and recording data Identifying responses with codes is necessary if data is to be processed by computer.

DATA ANALYSIS (Definition.) The process of evaluating data using analytical and logical reasoning to examine each component of the data provided. Data from various sources is gathered, reviewed, and then analyzed to form some sort of finding or conclusion 1-Testing Goodness of Data a) Reliabilitythe reliability of a measure is established by testing for both consistency and stability. Consistency indicates how well the items measuring a concept hang together

as a set. Cronbachs alpha is a reliability coefficient that indicates how well the items in a set are positively correlated to one another. Cronbachs alpha is computed in terms of the average intercorrelations among the items measuring the concept. The closer Cronbachs alpha is to 1, the higher the internal consistency reliability. Reliability Analysis

1. From the menus, choose: Analyze Scale Reliability Analysis 2. Select the variables constituting the scale. 3. Choose Model Alpha.

b) Validity (Definition.) Verification that something is correct or conforms to a certain standard. it is the process of ensuring that the data that are entered fall within the accepted boundaries of the application collecting the data a)-Factor analysis a process in which the values of observed data are expressed as functions of a number of possible causes in order to find which are the most important.

Factor Analysis

1. From the menus, choose: Analyze Data Reduction Factor 2. Select the variables.

 Descriptive Statistics (Definition) A set of brief descriptive coefficients that summarizes a given data set, which can either be a representation of the entire population or a sample. The measures used to describe the data set are measures of central tendency and measures of variability or dispersion. i) Frequency Distributions

Frequencies

From the menus, choose: Analyze Descriptive Statistics Frequencies (Select the relevant variables) Choose needed: Statistics Charts Format (for the order in which the results are to be displayed)

1-Bar Chart.(Definition) a chart that uses narrow columns of different heights to show and compare different amounts. The bars may be drawn vertically or horizontally.

The following diagram illustrates the method. Illustration 1:

2-Histogram It is a graphical presentation of frequencies and the corresponding class intervals. The class intervals are taken on x axis and the respective frequencies are considered on y axis. Adjacent rectangles are constructed by considering the width of the class interval as base and the frequency as the height. The area of the Histogram represents the distribution of total frequency over the class intervals. The difference between a Histogram and a Bar Diagram is that the latter is a one dimensional diagram in which the heights of the bars represent the corresponding figures and in

histogram, the height and the base, both are significant. Histograms are used to show distributions of variables while bar charts are used to compare variables. Histograms plot quantitative data with ranges of the data grouped into bins or intervals while bar charts plot categorical data.

3-Pie Chart (Definition)

A pie chart is a circular chart divided into sectors, illustrating numerical proportion. In a pie chart, the arc length of each sector (and consequently its central angle and area), is proportional to the quantity it represents.

The following example illustrates the Pie Diagram.

ii)

Descriptive Statistics: Measures of Central Tendencies

Measures of central tendency include the mean, median and mode, while measures of variability include the standard deviation SPSS (From the menus, choose: Analyze Descriptive Statistics Descriptive (Select the variables) Options (Choose the relevant statistics needed))

1-Mean The mean is the average of the numbers: a calculated "central" value of a set of numbers. 2-Median The middle number in a sorted list of numbers. 3-Mode Mode. The number which appears most often in a set of numbers 4-Standard Deviation. It is defined as the positive square root of the arithmetic means of the squares of the deviations of the observations from the arithmetic mean. It is denoted by (sigma).

Difference in Graph and diagram 1-In the construction of a graph, graph paper is used. A graph helps to study the mathematical relation between two variables such as price and demand; income and consumption, time and population etc. On the other hand, diagrams are generally constructed on a plain paper. A diagram is used for sake of comparison but not for studying the relation between two variables. 2-Graphs are more precise and accurate than diagrams. They are more helpful to a researcher for studying the relationship between two variables and for further statistical analysis and interpretation.