Slide 12.1

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Chapter 12Analysing quantitative data

Slide 12.2

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Quantative data analysis (1)

Key points

• Data must be analysed to produce information

• Computer software analysis is normally used for this process

• Data should be carefully prepared for analysis

• Researchers need to know how to select and use different charting and statistical techniques

Slide 12.3

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Quantative data analysis (2)

Main concerns

• Preparing, inputting and checking data

• Choosing the most appropriate statistics to describe the data

• Choosing the most appropriate statistics to examine data relationships and trends

Slide 12.4

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Preparing, inputting and checking data (1)

Main considerations

• Type of data (scale of measurement)

• Data format for input to analysis software

• Impact of data coding on subsequent analyses

• Case weighting

• Methods for error checking

Slide 12.5

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Preparing, inputting and checking data (2)

Defining the data type

Saunders et al. (2009)Figure 12.1 Defining the data type

Slide 12.6

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Preparing, inputting and checking data (3)

Defining the data type

Saunders et al. (2009)Figure 12.1 Defining the data type (Continued)

Slide 12.7

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Preparing, inputting and checking data (4)

A simple data matrix

Saunders et al. (2009)

Table 12.1 A simple data matrix

Slide 12.8

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Preparing, inputting and checking data (5)

Main data categories for coding

• Numerical data

• Categorical data

• Missing data

Slide 12.9

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Preparing, inputting and checking data (6)

Final stages of the process

• Entering data – rubbish in = rubbish out!

• Weighting cases

• Always take time to check for errors – including illegitimate codes, illogical relationships and that rules were followed in filter questions

Slide 12.10

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Exploring and presenting data (1)

Exploratory analysis can include:

• Specific values

• Highest and lowest values

• Trends over time

• Proportions

• DistributionsSparrow (1989)

Slide 12.11

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Exploring and presenting data (2)

Checklist Box 12.8

Complete the Checklist in Box 12.8

to help you design diagrams and tables

Saunders et al. (2009)

Slide 12.12

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Exploring and presenting data (3)

Showing aspects of individual variables

• Specific values

• Highest and lowest values

• Trends

• Proportions

• Distribution of values

Slide 12.13

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Examples of diagrams (1)Bar Chart

Source: adapted from Eurostat (2007) © European Communities, 2007 Reproduced with permission

Figure 12.2 Bar chart

Slide 12.14

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Examples of diagrams (2)Histogram

Saunders et al. (2009)Figure 12.4 Histogram

Slide 12.15

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Examples of diagrams (5)

Pie chart

Saunders et al. (2009)Figure 12.8 Pie chart

Slide 12.16

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Exploring and presenting data (4)

Comparing variables to show

• Specific values and independence

• Highest and lowest values

• Proportions

• Trends and conjunctions

Slide 12.17

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Exploring and presenting data (5)

Comparing variables to show

• Totals

• Proportions and totals

• Distribution of values

• Relationship between cases for variables

Slide 12.18

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Describing data using statistics (1)

Statistics to describe a variable focus ontwo aspects

• The central tendency

• The dispersion

Slide 12.19

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Describing data using statistics (2)

Describing the central tendency

• To represent the value occurring most frequently

• To represent the middle value

• To include all data values

Slide 12.20

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Describing data using statistics (3)

Describing the dispersion

• To state the difference between values

• To describe and compare the extent by which values differ from the mean

Slide 12.21

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Examining relationships, differences and trends

Using statistics to

• Test for significant relationships and differences

• Assess the strength of relationship

• Examine trends

Slide 12.22

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Summary: Chapter 12• Data for quantitative analysis can be collected and

then coded at different scales of measurement

• Data type constrains the presentation, summary and analysis techniques that can be used

• Data are entered for computer analysis as a matrix and recorded using numerical codes

• Codes should be entered for all data values

• Existing coding schemes enable comparisons

Slide 12.23

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, Research Methods for Business Students, 5th Edition, © Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 2009

Summary: Chapter 12

• Data must be checked for errors

• Initial analysis should use both tables and diagrams

• Subsequent analyses involve describing data and exploring relationships by using statistics

• Longitudinal data may necessitate different statistical techniques