Types of data

• Quantitative data


  Data in the form of numbers
• Qualitative data


  Data in the form of words, meaning descriptions of behavior, thoughts and feelings
• Quantitative data


  • Objectively measured, less chance of bias, more scientific
  • Easy to summarize using graphs and tables to show patterns
• Qualitative data


  • Subjective, open to interpretation by the researcher, potentially biased
  • More difficult to summarize
• Primary data


  Data collected by the researchers themselves, first-hand or original data
• Secondary data


  Data that has already been collected and published, often to answer a different research question
• Primary data


  • Likely to be more valid as it is collected to answer the specific research question
  • Researchers can control the study to avoid extraneous variables
• Secondary data


  • Cost-saving as the data is already collected and accessible
  • Researchers have to trust the original data collection and analysis was accurate and unbiased
• Meta-analysis


  A process that collects and combines results of a range of previously published studies asking similar research questions
• Meta-analysis


  • Combines a large participant sample from multiple studies, giving more statistical power
  • Results seen as more trustworthy than individual studies
  • Can identify relationships by comparing and contrasting results
• Disadvantages of meta-analysis include the data being secondary, potential bias in the selection of studies, and the effect reported may not reflect true behavior due to publication bias