Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Tips 'n Tricks
Data analysis guidelines
Some general guides to follow when considering
issues of data analysis
•
Qualitative data may need to be saved in a
text only
(.txt) or
rich text
format
(.rtf) with few extraneous symbols or markings.
•
Qualitative data may need to be formatted in a specific way for use in a
particular research application (e.g. HyperReseach or NVIVO.
•
Quantitative data may need to be “cleaned” so that they contain few, if
any, extraneous symbols or markings.
•
It may be necessary to be familiar with a spreadsheet application (e.g.
Microsoft Excel) to aid simple data cleaning with the ability to search, cut
and paste.
Supporting the research participant
Too often when preparing to conduct an online study, researchers focus on
theirownneedsandissuesofeaseofuseandneglecttheneedsofparticipants.
For example, a market researcher may consider conducting a focus group
using a shareware chat application to conduct a study with a group of corpo-
rate clients. While focusing on logging capabilities and ease of management
for conducting the focus group, the marketer may neglect to consider that
some corporate policies will not allow staff to download applications on a
company computer. Others may have firewalls configured to prevent an indi-
vidual from participating in a chat session. In other cases, participants may
havelimited,ifany,technicalskills,requiringtheresearchertodoagreatdeal
of virtual hand-holding to facilitate their participation. In the end, assuming
the study proceeds, it may be more prudent to consider these types of user
issues prior to embarking on a study.
The technical cost/benefit analysis
If money were no object, everyone would have access to a variety of techni-
cal tools and ample technical support. Alas, however, this is not the case,
particularly in academia. Therefore, a researcher needs to consider a
cost/benefit analysis when investing in a research study. When conducting
self-administered, mail-in surveys, most people know how to budget. In
