Chapter 16

Exploring,
Displaying, and
Examining Data

McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Business Research Methods, 10e Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 16-2

Learning Objectives

Understand . . .
• That exploratory data analysis techniques
provide insights and data diagnostics by
emphasizing visual representations of the data.
• How cross-tabulation is used to examine
relationships involving categorical variables,
serves as a framework for later statistical testing,
and makes an efficient tool for data visualization
and later decision-making.
 16-3
Researcher Skill Improves Data
Discovery

DDW is a global player

in research services. As
this ad proclaims, you
can “push data into a
template and get the job
done,” but you are
unlikely to make
discoveries using that
process.
 16-4

Exploratory Data Analysis

Exploratory Confirmatory
 16-5
Data Exploration, Examination,
and Analysis in the Research Process
 16-6

Frequency of Ad Recall

Value Label Value Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
 16-7

Bar Chart
 16-8

Pie Chart
 16-9

Frequency Table
 16-10

Histogram
 16-11

Stem-and-Leaf Display

5 455666788889
6 12466799
7 02235678
8 02268
9
10 24
11 018
12 3
13 1
14 06
15 3
16 36
17
18 3
19
20 6
21 8
 16-12

Pareto Diagram
 16-13

Boxplot Components
 16-14

Diagnostics with Boxplots

 16-15

Boxplot Comparison
 16-16

Mapping
 16-17

Geograph: Digital Camera Ownership

 16-18

SPSS Cross-Tabulation
 16-19

Percentages in Cross-Tabulation
 16-20

Guidelines for Using Percentages

Averaging
Averaging percentages
percentages

Use
Use of
of too
too large
large percentages
percentages

Using
Using too
too small
small aa base
base

Percentage
Percentage decreases
decreases can
can
never
never exceed
exceed 100%
100%
 16-21

Cross-Tabulation
with Control and Nested Variables
 16-22
Automatic Interaction Detection
(AID)
 16-23

Exploratory Data Analysis

This Booth Research

Services ad suggests that
the researcher’s role is to
make sense of data
displays.

Great data exploration and

analysis delivers insight
from data.
 16-24

Key Terms

• Automatic interaction • Five-number summary

detection (AID) • Frequency table
• Boxplot • Histogram
• Cell • Interquartile range (IQR)
• Confirmatory data • Marginals
analysis • Nonresistant statistics
• Contingency table • Outliers
• Control variable • Pareto diagram
• Cross-tabulation • Resistant statistics
• Exploratory data • Stem-and-leaf display
analysis (EDA)
 1-25

Working with
Data Tables

McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Business Research Methods, 10e Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 16-26

Original Data Table

Our grateful appreciation to eMarketer for the use of their table.

 16-27

Arranged by Spending
 16-28

Arranged by No. of Purchases

 16-29

Arranged by Avg. Transaction, Highest

 16-30

Arranged by Avg. Transaction, Lowest