Field Notes

Date :15/5/2017
Time :10.30 am
Location :Block A of Faculty Y, Universiti X
Student/Code :Student 1, S1; Student 2, S2; and Student 3, S3.
Activity :Statistical Reasoning Test

Time Event
10.30 am Student 1 (S1), student 2 (S2), and student 3 (S3) were given a brief explanation about the
statistical reasoning test that they were going to answer, which include some computational
and reasoning. S1 nodded and took out her pen and calculator. Meanwhile, S2 asked the
researcher what is the meaning of reasoning. The researcher answered reasoning is
something that you can explain from the answer that you have given. All the three of them
gave a worried expression, especially S3. S3 even asked the researcher ‘Susah ka? (Is it
hard?)’ The researcher answered ‘Biasa saja (not that hard)’.
10.35 am S1, S2 and S3 started to answer the question 1, Q1 without any difficulty. They managed to
find the correct answer for the mean, mode, and median for both data sets in Q1.

10.45 am S1, S2, and S3 started to answer the question 2, Q2 from the test. In this question, S1,
immediately answer the question. She picked value 10 in data set ii to be the outlier.
Meanwhile S3 asked S2 to get information about outlier, ‘Outlier ni yang numbur dia jauh-
jauh kan? (Outlier is a number which is far away, right?) S2 answered confidently ‘Ya. Dia
la tu.’ (Yes, it is). Finally, S2 and S3 also chose value 10 in data set i to the outlier.
10.55 am S1 started to answer the question 3, Q3 from the test. In this question, S1 asked the
researcher what is the meaning of Q3 and she admitted that she didn’t understand the
question. The researcher explained to S1 that based on the data sets in Q1, which of the
measures of central tendency is likely to be ‘changed’ if the outlier present? S1 gave a nod
and wrote her answer. She admitted that she was not sure of her answer and just wrote
what is making sense to her. S2 and S3 who heard the S1’s question, also replying to the
researcher that they were doing the same like S1. They just gave a ‘make sense’ answer.
11.00 am S1, S2, and S3 finished answering the test and gave the sheet test to the researcher. S3
apologized to the researcher because she thought she was not doing well for the test. The
researcher gave the assurances to her and said that there has nothing to worry about. The
researcher thanked to S1, S2, and S3 for their participation in this study.

Researcher’s Reflections :
Based on the observations that have been conducted by the researcher during the statistical reasoning test,
there are X categories that were identified from this field notes. It helped the researcher to identify the
understanding of statistical concepts, particularly in the measures of central tendency which include mean,
mode, and median. Overall, all the three students know how to compute mean, mode, and median from the
given data sets. Even though the students have some understanding about outlier, however, they have
difficulties to answer Q3, which ask about which of the measures of central tendency is sensitive to the
extreme measurements. By giving a ‘make sense’ answer, it indicates that the students don’t understand
what is Q3 wanted, which implies that they don’t understand about what is the effect of the outlier to the
measures of central tendency. Thus, the findings from this field notes support the data from the interview
and the statistical reasoning test.