Research Methods

Research Stages cont.

Dr. Giamal Mashina

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 Research Stages
1 • Selection of a research topic and problem

2 • Definition and formulation of a research problem

3 • Literature survey and reference collection

4 • Assessment of current status of the topic chosen

5 • Formulation of hypotheses

6 • Research design

7 • Actual investigation

8 • Data processing & analysis

9 • Interpretation of result and conclusion

10 • Writing Reports

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 8- Data processing & analysis

Data Cleaning
 One of the first steps in analyzing data is to
“clean” it of any obvious data entry errors:
 Outliers? (really high or low numbers)
Example: Age = 110 (really 10 or 11?)
 Value entered that doesn’t exist for variable?
Example: 2 entered where 1=male, 0=female
 Missing values?
Example: Did the person not give an answer? Was
answer accidentally not entered into the
database?

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 8- Data processing & analysis
Planning your analysis
This will allow you to plan the proper levels and types of analysis

 Proper planning will make things easier later

 Leave enough time for data entry

 Note the type of variable (Nominal/Categorical,

Ordinal, or Continuous) for each measurement

 Choose the type of statistical analysis

appropriate for your the variables
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 8- Data processing & analysis
Entering Data
There are many softwares to perform statistical analysis and visualization
of data. Some of them are SAS (System for Statistical Analysis), S-
plus,
Type Matlab,
of Minitab, BMDP, Stata, SPSS, StatXact, Statistica, LISREL,
variable
JMP, GLIM, HIL, MS Excel etc.
 Continuous variables:
 Always numeric
 Can be any number, positive or negative
 Examples: age in years, weight, blood pressure readings,
temperature, concentrations of pollutants and other
measurements
 Categorical variables:
 Information that can be sorted into categories
 Types of categorical variables – ordinal, nominal and
dichotomous (binary)
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 8- Data processing & analysis

Type of Categorical variables

 Ordinal variable—a categorical variable

 Examples of ordinal variables:

‫متغيرات ترتيبية‬

 Education (no high school degree, HS

degree, college degree, university
degree)
 Agreement (strongly disagree, disagree,
neutral, agree, strongly agree)
 Rating (excellent, good, fair, poor)

 Frequency (always, often, sometimes,

never)
 Any other scale (“On a scale of 1 to 5...”)

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 8- Data processing & analysis

Type of variable
 Nominal variable

 Examples of nominal variables: ‫المتغيرات االسمية‬

 Where a person lives in the U.S.

(Northeast, South, Midwest, etc.)
 Sex (male, female)

 Nationality (American, Mexican, French)

 Race/ethnicity (African American, Hispanic,

White, Asian American)
 Favorite pet (dog, cat, fish, snake)

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 8- Data processing & analysis

Type of variable
 Dichotomous ) Binary ( variables – a
categorical variable with only 2 levels of
categories ‫متغيرات ثنائية‬

 Often represents the answer to a yes or no

question
 Example:
 “Did you eat potato at the picnic?”

 Anything with only 2 categories

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 8- Data processing & analysis
Data Summarzation and visulization

The aim of data summarization

and visualization. It is to bring
about the main features of the
data and to guide in choosing
the appropriate statistical
techniques.

Furthermore, these procedures will help in spotting

errors and unusual values in the data matrix allowing
corrective steps to be taken early in the analysis.

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 8- Data processing & analysis
Data Summarzation and visulization
Basic statistics
Before we get more into statistical uses of graphics,
we need to define some basic statistics. These
statistics are typically referred to as “descriptive
statistics”. These basic statistics address specific
aspects of the distribution of the data.

• What is the range of the data?

• When we sort the data, what number might we
see in the “middle” of the range of values?
• What number tells us over what sub range do
we find the bulk of the data ?
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 8- Data processing & analysis
Data Summarzation and visulization
Commonly used methods: range, variance, standard deviation,
interquartile range, coefficient of variation etc.

10 60 60 60 60 60 70 130 140 140 160 160 160 160 160 160 180 180 200 210 210 210

if we sort the data we Extremes

can immediately identify • Minimum(calories) = 10
the extremes. • Maximum(calories) = 210

Range: the difference between the largest and smallest

measurements of a variable.
Range =Maximum-Minimum =210-10 = 200
Tells us something about the spread of the data.
The middle of the range is a measure of the “center” of the data.
Midrange = minimum + (Range/2) =10 + 200/2
=110
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 8- Data processing & analysis
Measures of Central Tendency

Estimate the value that is in the center of the

“distribution” of the data.

Median = middle value in the sorted list of n numbers: at position (n+1)/2

= unique value at (n+1)/2 if n is an odd number or
= average of the values at n/2 and n/2+1 if n is even

Trimmed mean = mean of data where some fraction of the

smallest and largest data values are not considered.
Usually the smallest 5% and largest 5% values
(rounded to nearest integer) of data are removed for
this computation.
= 136.0 (with 10% trimmed, 5% each tail).
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 8- Data processing & analysis
Mean
We will need some mathematical notation if we are to make any
progress in understanding statistics. In particular,
Let Y be the symbolic name of a random variable . Let yi symbolically
represent the i-th value of variable Y, observed in the sample. Let the
symbol, S, represent the mathematical equation for summation. Then
the sample mean can be expressed as: Number of observations

Symbolic “name” yy1  y2 

i
 yn
for sample mean y 
i 1
n n
Mean: Summing up all the observation and dividing by number of
observations. Mean of 20, 30, 40 is (20+30+40)/3 = 30.

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 8- Data processing & analysis
Variance and Standard Deviation
Variance: The sum of squared deviations Sample Mean
of measurements from their n

mean divided by n-1. y i

y i 1

n n

 iy  y 2

s2  i 1
n 1

Standard Deviation: The square

root of the variance. s  s2

These measure the spread of the data.

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 8- Data processing & analysis
Data visulization
As you create graphics keep the following in mind.

 Avoid distortion of the true story.

 Induce the viewer to think about the substance,
not the graph.
 Reveal the data at several layers of detail.
 Encourage the eye to compare different
pieces.
 Support the statistical and verbal descriptions
of the data. ‫دعم الشروحات والعمليات االحصائية‬

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 8- Data processing & analysis
Type of statistical analysis
You should choose the type of statistical analysis
appropriate for the variables you have

‫الطرق‬
‫االستنتاجية‬

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 8- Data processing & analysis

 Univariate - simplest form, describe a case in terms

of a single variable. Describing a case in terms of
the distribution of attributes that comprise it.
Example:
– Gender - number of women, ‫متغير وحيد‬
number of men.
Goals:
 Provide reader with the fullest degree of detail
regarding the data.
‫تزويد القارئ بأكبر قدر من‬
 Present data in a manageable from. ‫التفاصيل فيما يتعلق‬
‫بالبيانات‬
 Simple and straightforward

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 8- Data processing & analysis

 Bivariate - subgroup comparisons, describe a case

in terms of two variables simultaneously.
 Describe a case in terms of two variables
simultaneously.

Example:
 Gender
 Attitudes toward equality for men and women
 How does a respondent’s gender affect his or her
attitude toward equality for men and women?
 Correlations
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 8- Data processing & analysis

 Multivariate - analysis of two

or more variables
simultaneously
 Analysis of more than
two variables simultaneously.
 Can be used to understand the relationship
between multiple variables.
‫تحليل االنحدار‬
 Most typical: Regression analysis

Principal component analysis, factor analysis, correspondence

analysis, cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and canonical
analysis are the most widely used multivariate methods.
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 8- Data processing & analysis
Graphical Presentation
Various methods to achieve data summarization and
visualization include;
Tabulations , density estimates among others, Boxplots ,
X-Y scatter plots , Category-value plot, Normal probability
plots

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 8- Data processing & analysis
Graphical Presentation
Boxplots Box-Plot: Describes
the five-number
summary

200

Box Plot: A box plot is a graph of

c al ori es
the five number summary. The Maximum
100

central box spans the quartiles. A

line within the box marks the 75th percentile (Q3) 0

median. Lines extending above and

below the box mark the smallest and Median (Q2)
the largest observations. Outlying
samples may be additionally plotted 25th percentile (Q1)
Minimum
outside the range.
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 8- Data processing & analysis
Charts and graphs
Histogram Frequency polygon
The time series graph is a graph
of data that have been measured
over time. The horizontal axis of
this graph represents time
periods and the vertical axis
shows the numerical values
corresponding to these time
periods

Time Series Graph Another common method for graphically

Frequently used to graphically present
interval and ratio data
Is often used for interval and ratio data
The adjacent bars indicate that a numerical
range is being summarized by indicating the
frequencies in arbitrarily chosen classes
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presenting interval and ratio data
To construct a frequency polygon mark
the frequencies on the vertical axis and
the values of the variable being measured
on the horizontal axis, as with the
histogram.
If the purpose of presenting is
comparation with other distributions, the
frequency polygon provides a good
summary of the data
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 8- Data processing & analysis
Ogive Charts and graphs
The pie chart is an effective way of displaying the Bar chart
percentage breakdown of data by category.
Useful if the relative sizes of the data components
are to be emphasized
Pie charts also provide an effective way of presenting
ratio- or interval-scaled data after they have been
organized into categories

A graph of a cumulative frequency

distribution. It is used when one wants
to determine how many observations lie
Pie Chart
above or below a certain value in a
distribution.
First cumulative frequency distribution
is constructed
Cumulative frequencies are plotted at
the upper class limit of each category
Ogive can also be constructed for a
relative frequency distribution.
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method for graphically presenting
nominal and ordinal scaled data
One bar is used to represent the
frequency for each category
The bars are usually positioned
vertically with their bases located on
the horizontal axis of the graph
The bars are separated, and this is
why such a graph is frequently used
for nominal and ordinal data – the
separation emphasize the plotting of
frequencies for distinct categories
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 Statistical Softwares
Microsoft Excel
A Spreadsheet Application. It features calculation, graphing tools,
pivot tables and a macro programming language called VBA (Visual
Basic for Applications). There are many versions of MS-Excel capable of
performing a number of statistical analyses.
Worksheet: Consists of a multiple grid of cells with numbered rows down the
page and alphabetically-tilted columns across the page. Each cell is referenced
by its coordinates. For example, A3 is used to refer to the cell in column A and
row 3. B10:B20 is used to refer to the range of cells in column B and rows 10
through 20.
Statistics Package for the Social Science (SPSS)
SPSS can import data from almost any type of file to generate
tabulated reports, plots of distributions and trends, descriptive
statistics, and complex statistical analyzes.
A general purpose statistical package SPSS is widely used in the social
sciences, particularly in sociology and psychology.

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 9- Interpreting results and conclusions

Interpretation (discussion) of results is important because it:

(1) Links the present work to the previous,

(2) leads to identification of future problems,

(3) Opens new avenues of intellectual adventure and

stimulates the quest for more knowledge,

(4) Makes others understand the significance of the

research findings and

(5) Often suggests a possible experimental verification.

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 9- Interpreting results and conclusions
Interpretation (discussion) of Results
It is important that the results of analysis are
communicated to other parties in clear .
Always, results of an analysis are used to make
decisions such as:
- to repeat the study (with modifications),
- to perform another study altogether
- to influence other actions.

Report writing is the process through which we

share the findings and/or results of data analysis,
of course we can also share the same verbally.
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 9- Interpreting results and conclusions
Interpretation (discussion) of Results
Ideally, the report should begin with a brief
outline of the main point of the study or
experiment that was conducted and it’s
purpose. It is also advisable to indicate time
and place where the research was carried out.
systematic outline of the procedures
undertaken during the data analysis including
modeling should be stated clearly. The report
should also capture the main findings of the
study and should point out the next course of
action
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 9- Interpreting results and conclusions
Forming Conclusions
After researchers interpret their data, they draw a conclusion
about their hypothesis. A conclusion states whether or not the
data support the hypothesis.
the final conclusion is critical, determining success or failure. If
an excellent experiment is summarized by a weak conclusion,
the results will not be taken seriously. as long as the research
process is robust and well designed, then the findings are
sound, and the process of drawing conclusions begins.
The key to drawing a valid conclusion is to ensure that
the deductive and inductive processes are correctly used, and
that all steps of the scientific method were followed.

Draw conclusions based on your data

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 9- Interpreting results and conclusions
Conclusions
After conclusion, the researcher may ask the following questions:

(1) Are the quantitative and qualitative analysis performed

adequate for the conclusion drawn?
(‫هل التحليل الكمي والنوعي مناسب لالستنتاج؟‬

(2) Are the results and conclusion valid only for the particular
situation considered in the present work?
‫هل النتائج واالستنتاجات صالحة فقط للحالة المعينة التي تم النظر فيها في العمل الحالي؟‬
(3) Is the conclusion too broad considering the analysis
performed? ‫هل االستنتاج واسع للغاية بالنظر إلى التحليل الذي تم إجراؤه؟‬

(4) Is any evidence which weaken the conclusion omitted?

5/19/2023 research methods ‫هل تم حذف أي دليل يضعف االستنتاج؟‬ 29
 Communicating
An important part of research inquiry is
communicating. Communicating is sharing
ideas and conclusions with others through
writing and speaking.
When a researcher shares the design of an
experiment, others can repeat that
experiment to check the results.
Researcher often communicate by giving
talks at scientific meetings, exchanging
information on the Internet, or publishing
articles in scientific journals.

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 Communicating

Communicating information about scientific

discoveries often leads to new questions, new
hypotheses, and new investigations. Scientific inquiry
is a process with many paths. Work may go forward or
even backward when testing out new ideas.
Effectively communicating your findings to others can
be the most important and most challenging step of
scientific research. Try to answer the questions asked
as they apply to your results.

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 Task/assignment 4 next week

For each of the following write in brief, why you are doing it?
(I) Introduction, (II) Review of literature , (III)Methodology,
(IV) Research design, (V) Results, (VI) Discussion (VII) Conclusion.

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