Kinds of Data

• qualitative data


  data expressed in words that cannot be counted or quantified
• quantitative data


  data that is expressed numerically
• primary data


  information that has been obtained first-hand by the researcher for the purpose of the investigation
• secondary data


  data that has been obtained by someone other than the person who is conducting the research and for a purpose other than the current one
• meta-analysis


  a process of combining results from a number of studies on a particular topic to provide an overall view
• qualitative data strengths


  -greater external validity= richness of detail and more meaningful insight into the ppts' world view
• qualitative data weaknesses


  -difficult to analyse and draw conclusions

  -risk of subjective interpretation and bias
• quantitative data strengths


  -simple to analyse

  -objective and less open to bias
• quantitative data weaknesses


  -low in external validity= much narrower scope and so less likely to represent real world
• primary data strengths


  -data is specific to research question
• primary data weaknesses


  -time consuming and expensive to collect data- conducting an experiment takes planning, preparation and resources
• secondary data strengths


  -easy and cheaper to access someone else's data
• secondary data weaknesses


  -content of data might not match the researcher's needs or objectives
• meta-analysis strengths


  -can increase the validity of the conclusions drawn because they are based on a wider sample of ppts.
• meta-analysis weaknesses


  -research designs in the different studies may vary considerably and so studies may not be truly comparable leading to possibly invalid conclusions