Assessment Form 4: Analysis and Report Writing

Activity 1. What purpose does a codebook serve? What might be the consequences of not
bothering with a codebook?
- The Purpose of codebook is to provide information on the structure, contents, and layout
of the data file. If not bothered to use, the researchers might experience difficulty in
sharing, understanding, re-analyzing, and re-evaluating the data for replication and
meta-analyses
Activity 1. Why is the use of parametric tests usually preferred to the use of nonparametric?
- A parametric test is preferred because it can distinguish between the two arms more
effectively. In other words, it emphasizes the peculiarity of the distribution more
effectively. Nonparametric tests have around 95% the power of parametric tests.
Activity 1. Conduct a detailed observation of an event or phenomenon within a field
setting. Analyze your data using open coding, providing your own set of descriptive labels.
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Activity 2. Some qualitative researchers consider that external reliability is either unattainable,
unnecessary or both. Do you agree with this stance?
- I do not agree with this stance because external reliability is also necessary in
conducting qualitative research. External reliability refers to the extent to which a
measure varies from one use to another, this only means that it helps the researcher
from differentiating good research from a bad one, external reliability has test that can
help us, researcher to avoid our research form getting bias, although external reliability
has disadvantages, we can all agree that the external reliability is a type of reliability that
Is necessary to have good research.
Topic 4. Writing up the Research
Activity 1. Examine each of the following words, and select one or more that describe the
purpose of your report: describe, explain, instruct, specify, evaluate and recommend, provoke
debate but does not seem to lead, persuade, concede and apologize, protest, reject.

Activity 2. Taking a report that you intend to write, now add a description of your audience using
the bullet points below.

Topic 5. Preparing for Presentations and Vivas

Activity 1. Think of some of the presentations you have given in the past. Now write down as
many positive points as you can under the heading: ‘Why I am a good presenter’.
-
Activity 2. Return to a presentation you have delivered recently. Explore the slides dominated by
bullet points. Try to think of a metaphor or visual image for each slide; then search for this
image in Google images.
Multiple Choice
Although with revisiting data during data analysis the steps of data analysis may change, the
initial sequence of data analysis concludes with*

a. classifying.
b. reading.
c. memoing.
d. describing.
Your text indicates that the first step in analyzing data in any qualitative study is ________ the
data.

a. interpreting
b. coding
c. organizing
d. classifying
Of the following, which is a question qualitative researchers might ask themselves when
conducting data analysis during data collection?

a. Do I have enough data?

b. Does the evidence prove my position?
c. Are my data objective enough for validity?
d. Is my research question still answerable?
When conducting data analysis during data collection one suggestion for qualitative researchers
is to

a. seek evidence to support your initial thoughts.

b. assure you have enough data for an objective analysis.
c. reflect on what you are attending to and leaving out.
d. finish data collection as quickly as possible.
Qualitative data analysis is a process of

a. deduction.
b. induction.
c. generalizability.
d. objectivity.

Karen is an instructional researcher interested in the interactions among learners in discussion

groups. Not only does Karen have observational notes and interview notes, she also has
verbatim discourse of students' discussions. According to your text, of the following, which is the
most appropriate first step for Karen to take in order to analyze her data?

a. Code her field notes

b. Code her discussion data
c. Classify her observational data
d. Sequence all notes with labels
When a researcher categorizes and codes pieces of her data and groups them into themes, she
is said to be

a. memoing the data.

b. classifying the data.
c. describing the data.
d. reading the data

Sally is a physical therapist who is conducting a narrative research study of people's

rehabilitation stories. She has organized her data and is becoming familiar with her data and is
identifying potential themes. Sally is engaged in which of the following qualitative data analysis
steps?

a. Memoing
b. Classifying
c. Describing
d. Examining
Which of the following is one of the iterative steps of qualitative data analysis as presented in
your text?

a. Justifying
b. Critiquing
c. Describing
d. Examining

The process of qualitative data analysis is sometimes described as a spiral, which involves four
iterative steps that gradually move the process forward.   The final step in the qualitative data
analysis spiral is usually:

a. quantifying certain noteworthy characteristics or events.

b. developing a new, coherent theory to account for the findings.
c. synthesizing and interpreting the data.
d. writing a paper for possible publication.
In a grounded theory study, the focus of data analysis is to: *

a. identify a new theory arising from the data.

b. test a theory grounded in previous research.
c. use open categories to identify theoretical properties rather than themes.
d. follow a structured and systematic analytical plan based on previous theories.
A key component of data analysis in a content analysis study is to: *

a. engage in axial coding around a core category.

b. speculate about possible cause-and-effect relationships.
c. systematically identify exceptions, contradictions, and outliers.
d. identify frequencies and other summary statistics for the main coding categories.

Seamus has determined that there is a 95% chance that the number of people visiting the
Blarney Stone in the month of June will be between 1,760 and 2,025.  This is: *

a. a point estimate.
b. an interval estimate.
c. a high percentile rank.
d. a strong correlation.
Statistical hypothesis testing involves testing the: *

a. research hypothesis.
b. probability level.
c. significance level.
d. null hypothesis.

Researchers do not want to make a Type II error, because if their study has an effect, they want
to be able to find it.  Thus, they make their studies as powerful as they can.  Of the following, the
best way to increase the power of a study is to:

a. raise the significance level used for the study.

b. use inferential statistics.
c. test a large sample.
d. compute fewer statistical analyses.
When conducting a meta-analysis, a researcher will typically:*

a. identify interval estimates for the population parameters.

b. reject the null hypothesis and conclude there’s a significant effect.
c. compare the effect sizes for a set of independent studies on a single topic.
d. use nonparametric statistical techniques.
Before beginning to write a report of your own research study, you should first:*

a. confirm the required style or format.

b. surf the Internet for published reports on similar topics.
c. complete all data collection and analyses.
d. find a friend or colleague who is willing to read it when it’s finished.

Alana has completed a study on the development of political attitudes in adolescence as part of
her graduate studies.  She begins her dissertation by stating, “Previous research has shown…”
and then summarizes the related literature on her topic.  Which of the following pieces of advice
is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?*
a. Introduce your hypotheses immediately after the review of the literature.
b. Begin with a statement of the problem, in context, before introducing previous research.
c. Discuss the studies in chronological order, ending with the most recent study, to highlight how
your study fits into the history of research on this topic.
d. Define “political attitudes” in the first paragraph, to ensure that the readers will be able to
follow the literature review.

Option 5

Marc is working on his dissertation.  He wants the introductory section to be thorough and easy
to understand, so for any terms that might be ambiguous, he explains how he’s defined the
term, why he’s defined it in that particular way rather than in another way, and an example.
Which of the following pieces of advice is his advisor most likely to give him for revision?

a. Keep it up; it’s important to be clear and define your terms so that everyone is on the same
page.
b. Cut back — for a dissertation, assume that your reader is familiar with your topic and explain
only new terminology.
c. Take out the examples; a definition and explanation should be clear enough to an intelligent
reader.
d. Move any operational definitions to the method section, where you should explain how
variables are measured.

Kimathi conducted a case study that included a series of interviews.  He knows that he should
describe his research methods in sufficient detail that someone else could replicate his study
exactly, so in a section titled “Methodology,” he includes all of his interview questions, and all
accompanying follow-up probes, in a lengthy table. Which of the following pieces of advice is his
advisor most likely to give him for revision?*

a. keep all the questions in the table, but exclude the follow-up probes.
b. describe the purpose of the interview and how it was conducted in the method section and
put all the questions into the appendix.
c. include only sample questions in the method section but put the full interview protocol in an
appendix.
d. include only the interview questions that led to significant results.

Estrella has completed a qualitative study, and although she coded and organized her data, she
did not conduct any statistical analyses.  She thus does not want to present a separate results
section in her paper.  Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give
her for revision?

a. It’s okay to go straight to conclusions since she doesn’t have statistical results.
b. She does not need a results section in the paper itself as long as she presents all her data in
an appendix.
c. Every paper really needs a dedicated results section, so she should include this section in the
paper.
d. However the section is labeled, she should present a summary of the data, in detail, in the
body of the paper.

Tiffani has completed an experiment with a factorial design and begins to write the section of
her report titled “Results.”  She starts by saying she conducted a factorial analysis of variance
and then describes, in sequence, each of the other statistics she ran.   Which of the following
pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision? *

a. Present only the statistics that provide evidence to support the original research hypothesis.
b. Be sure that the reader can understand how each analysis is related to the problem or
subproblem.
c. After each individual statistic, provide a clear conclusion so that readers fully understand what
it shows.
d. Don’t forget to back up your numbers with thick description of the data so that readers will be
able to replicate the study.

Zara finished a survey study and found unexpected results — in some cases, the analyses
showed that variables were correlated, but Zara had no a priori hypothesis about those
variables.  She is unsure whether to include these results at all in the final report.  Which of the
following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?

a. Present the unexpected results, perhaps after she presents the results that relate directly to
the original questions and hypotheses.
b. Present only the statistics that provide evidence to support the original research hypothesis in
the results section and save the others for a discussion section.
c. Consider revising the introduction, possibly with a review of more literature, to see if the
unexpected results should have been expected after all.
d. Present the results in the order in which she ran the analyses, without distinguishing that
some were unexpected.

Ami conducted a quasi-experimental study for her thesis.  In her final report, she includes one
section titled “Results and Conclusions.”  In that section, she presents statistical analyses, the
limitations of her study, and plans for future research. Which of the following pieces of advice is
her advisor most likely to give her for revision? *

a. That looks good — everything is covered in one place so it’s easy for the reader.
b. Include interpretations of the data — how do the data help us answer the research question?
c. Take out the section on limitations — no need to draw attention to a study’s weaknesses.
d. For a quasi-experimental study, a separate Results section is really needed.
Monisha conducted a narrative study that turned out exactly opposite of what she expected.
She ends the report of her study with a brief summary of the findings and a more lengthy
discussion of the importance of the research question, including a new literature review that
might explain her unexpected findings.  Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor
most likely to give her for revision?  

a. Don’t lose sight of what you actually found — suggesting new research is great, but in this
report focus first on interpreting the data you have and reflecting on any possible weaknesses in
your design.
b. It was smart to do a new literature review — but it should replace the old one, so that the
results do not appear to be unexpected; you should reorganize the paper with a new prediction.
c. Sometimes research doesn’t turn out as we expect, but those studies generally don’t get
published. So don’t spend too much time on a revision of this paper.
d. Instead of a new literature review at the end of the paper, include more information about the
possible weaknesses of the method, analyses, and interpretations. That way the reader will
have a better understanding of why the results are so unexpected.

Joselito completes a qualitative action research study as part of his student teaching
experience.  His report includes a front matter in which he acknowledges the people who helped
with the study and an appendix showing his interview questions.  When discussing his results,
he presents quotations from the participants, who were students in his class.  He uses only their
initials, to preserve their anonymity.  In his conclusions, he notes the next steps he plans to take
in the classroom, based on his results.  Which of the following pieces of advice is his advisor
most likely to give him for revision?

a. It’s okay as is — because Joselito was in the classroom as a student teacher, preserving
anonymity is impossible.
b. Remove the acknowledgments so that any information about the school is anonymous, and
then the initials are anonymous and so okay.
c. Revise the results section so that the students are not identifiable, but keep the
acknowledgments.
d. Remove the acknowledgments section and the students’ initials to preserve everyone’s
anonymity.

Malia did a lot of reading for her dissertation project as she tried to narrow her topic to
something that was researchable.  She looked at primary and secondary sources, journal
articles, Internet sites, and even interviewed a few people who are prominent in the field. She
kept careful notes, and when writing the literature review for her project she discussed only
those studies that were directly relevant to the research question she ultimately focused on.
However, she wants to be sure that her advisors know she completed a comprehensive search
of the literature, so she includes a full bibliography chapter, listing all the sources she read.
Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her for revision?

a. For a dissertation project, that’s sensible —in a dissertation, a student needs to show that she
is an expert in the area.
b. Revise the reference list to include only those sources cited in the paper.
c. Revise the literature review to include all the sources you read.
d. Instead of a chapter, use an appendix of “Additional Sources” so that the readers can see the
full list.

As part of her graduate work, Liana conducted an ethnographic study, which included several
participant-observers — undergraduate students who received course credit for their
participation across a full semester.  Liana is unsure whether to include the students as co-
authors on a conference proposal she is submitting, in which she summarizes the main findings
of the study.  Which of the following pieces of advice is her advisor most likely to give her?

a. Include them, because their participant observation required substantial intellectual

contribution to the project.
b. Do not include them, because they received course credit for their participation.
c. Only include the students whose observations were used to support the conclusions you
drew.
d. Include them for the conference presentation but not a later journal article, because journals
have more rigid rules about shared authorship.

Danzell is a purchasing agent for a major grocery store chain.  He has noticed over the years
that the higher the outdoor temperature, the more likely people are to buy fresh fruit.   Based on
Danzell’s observations, we would say the correlation between outdoor temperature and buying
of fresh fruit is:

a. positive.
b. negative.
c. causal.
d. moderate.

Frank Fitness found a correlation coefficient of –.74 between hours of strenuous exercise each
week and a standard measure of body mass.  He interprets this to mean that there is a:

a. strong, positive correlation between hours of strenuous exercise and body mass.
b. strong, negative correlation between hours of strenuous exercise and body mass.
c. weak, positive correlation between hours of strenuous exercise and body mass.
d. weak, negative correlation between hours of strenuous exercise and body mass.
Essay Questions

After completing planned analyses, the researcher must interpret the results of statistical tests.
Note several steps that are involved in such interpretation

Throughout your textbook the authors return to the importance of interpreting the findings of a
research project.  Explain why this is an essential element in a high-quality research report.

Please prepare the following in accordance with the requirements for your research proposal in
Advanced Research Subject: 1) Research Title; 2) Statement of the Problem (purpose and
subproblems or research questions); 3) Hypotheses; 4) Research Method/s and Design/s; 5)
Study Population/Population and Sample; 6) Data-collection Method/s and Procedures; and 7)
Statistical Treatment of Data.