Data Analysis

Dr B. S.Nhlumayo
17/10/2024
• The process of systematically applying logical and/or
statistical techniques to present, describe and
illustrate, condense and recap, and evaluate data
• Data analysis summarizes collected data. It involves
the interpretation of data gathered through the use
of logical and analytical reasoning to determine
patterns, relationships or trends
 Quantitative Data Analysis
Quantitative data analysis involves analyzing numerical data to uncover
statistical patterns, relationships, and trends. Here are some commonly used
methods for analyzing quantitative data:
• Descriptive Statistics: Summarizes dataset features using mean, median,
mode, standard deviation, and percentages.
• Inferential Statistics: Draws conclusions about a population based on
sample data using hypothesis testing, t-tests, and regression analysis.
• Data Mining: Discovers patterns and correlations in large datasets using
algorithms and statistical techniques.
• Experimental Design: Designs controlled experiments to determine causal
relationships between variables.
• Descriptive statistics serve a simple but critically
important role in your research – to describe your
data set, do not aim to make inferences or
predictions about the entire population – they’re
purely interested in the details of your specific
sample.
• Inferential statistics (when done correctly), allow you to
connect the dots and make predictions about what you
expect to see in the real-world population, based on
what you observe in your sample data. For this reason,
inferential statistics are used for hypothesis testing – in
other words, to test hypotheses that predict changes or
differences.
• T-Tests, ANOVA, correlation analysis, regression analysis
• Data mining: The process of searching and analyzing
a large batch of raw data to identify patterns and
extract useful information
• The process of understanding data through cleaning
raw data, finding patterns, creating models, and
testing those models. It includes statistics and
database systems.
 Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative data analysis involves examining non-numerical or categorical
information to uncover patterns, themes, and meanings. Here are some
commonly used methods for analyzing qualitative data:
• Thematic Analysis: Identifies recurring themes or patterns in qualitative
data by categorizing and coding the data.
• Content Analysis: Analyzes textual data systematically by categorizing and
coding it to identify patterns and concepts.
• Narrative Analysis: Examines stories or narratives to understand
experiences, perspectives, and meanings.
• Grounded Theory: Develops theories or frameworks based on
systematically collected and analyzed data, allowing theory development
to be guided by the analysis process.
 Thematic Analysis
• Thematic analysis is a good approach to research where you are trying to
find out something about people’s views, opinions, knowledge,
experiences or values from a set of qualitative data – for example,
interview transcripts, social media profiles, survey responses, etc.
• Thematic analysis is a method of analyzing qualitative data. It is usually
applied to a set of texts, such as an interview or transcripts. The
researcher closely examines the data to identify common themes – topics,
ideas, and patterns of meaning that come up repeatedly. It follows a six-
step process:
• Familiarization: Transcribing audio, reading through the text and taking
initial notes, and generally looking through the data to get familiar with it
• Coding: Coding means highlighting sections of our text – usually phrases or
sentences – and coming up with shorthand labels or “codes” to describe their
content
• Generating themes: Identify patterns among them, and start coming up with
themes.
• Reviewing themes: Making sure that your themes are useful and accurate
representations of the data, return to the data set and compare your themes
against it
• Defining and naming themes: Formulating exactly what we mean by each theme
and figuring out how it helps us understand the data, coming up with a succinct and
easily understandable name for each theme.
• Write-up: Writing up your analysis of the data. Verbatim quotes from participants,
interpret data – Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, Data Findings
 Content Analysis
• Content analysis is a research tool used to determine the presence
of certain words, themes, or concepts within some given
qualitative data (i.e. text). Using content analysis, researchers can
quantify and analyze the presence, meanings, and relationships of
such certain words, themes, or concepts.
• As an example, researchers can evaluate language used within a
news article to search for bias or partiality. Researchers can then
make inferences about the messages within the texts, the
writer(s), the audience, and even the culture and time of
surrounding the text.
• Step 1: Prepare the Data. ...
• Step 2: Define the Unit of Analysis. ...
• Step 3: Develop Categories and a Coding Scheme. ...
• Step 4: Test Your Coding Scheme on a Sample of Text. ...
• Step 5: Code All the Text. ...
• Step 6: Assess Your Coding Consistency. ...
• Step 7: Draw Conclusions from the Coded Data. ...
• Step 8: Report Your Methods and Findings.
 Narrative Analysis
• A useful method for uncovering the underlying ideologies
embedded in stories and the larger culture that creates the
narratives. From the interpretive paradigm, the focus is to
understand how individuals interpret their everyday lived
experiences.
• Narrative analysis is a qualitative analysis method focused on
interpreting human experience in the form of stories or narratives.
• Narrative analysis is generally most appropriate for research
focused on interpreting individual, human experiences as
expressed in detailed, long-form accounts.
• For example, if you were interested in understanding the
experiences and beliefs of individuals suffering social
marginalisation, you could use narrative analysis to look at the
narratives and stories told by people in marginalised groups to
identify patterns, symbols, or motifs that shed light on how
they rationalize their experiences.
 Grounded Theory
• In grounded theory analysis, this is also known as constant comparative
analysis, or theoretical sampling. The researcher collects qualitative data by
asking open-ended questions in interviews and surveys, studying historical or
archival data, or observing participants and interpreting what is seen
• Data analysis in grounded theory is a process that requires astute
questioning, a relentless search for answers, active observation, and accurate
recall.
• It is a process of piecing together data, of making the invisible obvious, of
recognizing the significant from the insignificant, and of linking seemingly
unrelated facts logically. In particular, the researcher looks for patterns that
cut across various aspects of the data. When these patterns organize
different segments of the data we call them themes. In true grounded theory
research, themes are said to “emerge from the data.”
 Expectations for Assignment 4 (300w)
• State which method of analysis you will use
• Define it
• Why is it appropriate – Justify
• Give details about how you plan to analyse your
data using your chosen method
 • Thank you

• Ngiyabonga

• Ke a leboha

• Ndza ku khensa

• Ke a leboga

• Ndi a livhuwa

• Enkosi

• Baie dankie