types of data

• quantitative data: quantitative data is data that represents how much or how long, how many etc. there are of something i.e. behaviour is measured in numbers of quantities
• quantitative data: the DV in an experiment is quantitative
• quantitative data: closed questions in questionnaires collect quantitative data - numerical information about your age, how many hours you work in a week, how highly you rate different TV programmes
• quantitative data: in an observational study a tally of behavioural categories in quantitative
• qualitative data: qualitative data can't be counted or quantified but it can be turned into quantitative data by placing the data in categories and then counting frequency e.g. in the Milgram example we might count how many participants described themselves as stressed
• qualitative data: sometimes people define qualitative data as being about what people think and feel but quantitative questions can also concern what people think and feel
• qualitative data: open questions in questionnaires may collect qualitative data - data that express the 'quality' of things, this includes descriptions, words, meanings, pictures etc.
• qualitative data: in an observational study researcher can describe what they see and this would be qualitative
• quantitative data: quantity, deals w/ numbers, data which can be measured, psychologists develop measures of psychological variables, looking at averages and differences between groups
• The Kiss by Gustav Klimt - Quantitative data: painted between 1907 + 1908, the painting measures 180X180 cm etc.
• qualitative data: quality, deals w/ descriptions, data that is observed but not measures, observing people through messages they produce and the way they act, concerned w/ attitudes, beliefs, fears and emotions
• The Kiss by Gustav Klimt - Qualitative data: shows a couple locked in a kiss, shows how bright, beautiful and golden everything is when you 1st kiss someone
• psychology class - quantitative data: 24 students, 10 plan to go to study psychology at university
• psychology class - qualitative data: very enthusiastic, school located in an innercity area
• evaluation quantitative S: quantitative data are easy to analyse, using descriptive statistics and statistical tests, this enables conclusions to be easily drawn
• evaluation quantitative L: such data may oversimplify reality e.g. a questionnaire w/ closed questions may force people to tick answer that don't really represent their feelings, therefore the conclusions may be meaningless
• overall quantitative data allows researchers to produce reliable information that can be presented in a wide variety of ways (e.g. charts, graphs, statistics)
• evaluation qualitative S: qualitative data provide rich and detailed information about people's experiences this can provide unexpected insights into thoughts and behaviour because the answers are not restricted by previous expectations
• evaluation qualitative L: the complexity makes it more difficult to analyse such data and draw conclusions
• the power of qualitative data lies in helping researchers tease out the underlying meaning in what people do or say
• both primary and secondary data may be quantitative and/or qualitative
• primary data: primary data is information observed or collected directly from 1st hand experience, in the case of psychological research it is data collected by the researcher for the study currently being undertaken
• primary data: the collection of primary data would involve designing the study, gaining ethical approval, piloting the study, recruiting and testing participants and finally analysing the data collected and drawing conclusions
• primary data: the study might be an experiment possibly w/ a questionnaire and/or an observational element to measure the DV, or the study could just involve a questionnaire or just an observation, the data collected would be specifically related to the aims and/or hypothesis of the study
• secondary data: secondary data is information that was collected for a purpose other than the current one, the researcher could use data collected by themselves but for a different study or collected by another researcher
• secondary data: the researcher might make use of government statistics such as information about the treatment of mental health or make use of data held by a hospital or other institution
• secondary data: a correlation study often uses secondary data and review studies use secondary data, conducting a meta-analysis on such data
• evaluation primary S: the great strength of generating primary data is the control the researcher has over the data, the data collection can be designed so it fits the aims and hypothesis of the study
• evaluation primary L: it is a very lengthy and therefore expensive process, simply designing a study takes a lot of time and then time is spent recruiting participants, conducting the study and analysing the data
• despite these limitations collecting primary data is a key aim of most psychological research studies
• evaluation secondary S: it is simpler and cheaper to just access someone else's data because significantly less time and equipment is needed
• evaluation secondary S: such data may have been subjected to statistical testing and thus it is known whether it is significant
• evaluation secondary L: the data may not exactly fit the needs of the study
• despite being 'borrowed' data, secondary data plays an important role in much psychological research, including review studies, meta-analyses and correlational studies