Data analysis is a subject of interest to me because it is possibly one of my favorite things. Since I was a young child, I found great pleasure in organizing things, and according to Mertler (2012), data analysis is basically organizing data from the large, overwhelming form in which it begins to a manageable, readable form that will be used in the research paper. Qualitative and quantitative data are analyzed differently because of the content of the data. Qualitative data is narrative information such as transcriptions of interviews, observations from the classroom, or field notes that require extensive and careful reading and grouping. Quantitative data is presented in numerical form, which may not require quite as much time to analyze but still must be done carefully.
It was interesting to me that Mertler pointed out in his video that researchers will often find data analysis to be the most frustrating and difficult part of research, because I believe that I would find it invigorating. The hard part is finished and now the researcher gets to help it all make sense! I suppose I'll have to do some research before I can truly make this determination.
Another thing that I greatly enjoyed about the material for this week was the calculation of descriptive statistics and correlations for the purpose of data analysis. The reasoning behind my enjoyment is two-fold: we learned about the basis of this statistical analysis for our Assessment course earlier this year, so I already had a good foundation in the topic, and descriptive statistics is math, which I have always enjoyed. I believe this is another reason why I tend to associate myself more with quantitative research; it is easier for me to "mathemetize" data in my head, which is obviously easier to do with numerical data.
The discussion of experimental research was in the Phillips (2008) text, in which he discussed three different articles and provided a commentary (for the first one) of the ways the articles were examples of experimental studies. He classified the articles based on whether they were true-experimental or quasi-experimental, but it was difficult for me to determine the differences between the two. I suppose I should conduct further research on the specifications of the differences to understand better.
Overall, this week proved to be one of the more relaxed and enjoyable weeks of research study for my mathematical and organization-loving mind as the content was directly relatable to my strengths. I look very forward to analyzing the data from the questionnaire I distributed earlier this week as I receive it from my participants.
References:
Phillips, K.H. (2008). Exploring research in music education and music therapy. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Mertler, C.A. (2012). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators. Los Angeles:
Sage Publications.
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