Part 7 - Data Analysis and Interpretation
Part 7 - Data Analysis and Interpretation
Part 7 - Data Analysis and Interpretation
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BDU: Bahir Dar Institute of Technology: Computing Faculty
Fundamental of data analysis
• Fundamental of interpretation is presenting clear and scholarly done
analysis that may come in the form of tables, figures or charts.
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Key Consideration in Data Analysis
• Conventional story of data analysis
• Complex analysis and big words impress people.
• Analysis comes at the end when there is data to analyze.
• Qualitative analysis is easier than quantitative analysis
• Data have their own meaning
• Stating limitations and weakens the evaluation
• Computer analysis is always easier and better
Conclusions &
Raw Data
Interpretation
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Key Consideration in Data Analysis
• Identify the purpose of the analysis or research project
• Understand the issues (sample(s)) under study
• Understand the methods or methodology being used to collect data
• Be cognizant of data layouts and formats
• Establish a unique identifier if matching or merging or else….
• There is an abundance of analytical techniques that can be applied
for understanding:
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Components of a Data Analysis
• Statement of research questions
• Methods used to answer research questions
• Timeline
• Resources such as financial matters,
• File restructuring procedures (syntax creation, adding new variables
as needed)
• Algorithms for scoring, equating, etc.
• Data cleaning procedures (e.g. removing outliers or noisiness)
• Quality control procedures at every step in the research
• Knowing the common descriptive of statistics
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Components of a Data Analysis
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BDU: Bahir Dar Institute of Technology: Computing Faculty
Types of Analyses Techniques
• Benchmark techniques
• Measures and compares your performance against other similar activities or
processes internally or externally
• Differences indicate possible performance issues
• May be difficult to collect comparable measurement data
• Comparing “best in class” performance is better than comparing average
performance
• Best sources of data are in the private sector -Hays Benchmarking,
Benchmarking Exchange, The Benchmarking Exchange, etc.
• SWOT Techniques
• Identifies Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats by asking: What t
hings are we good at, what things are we not good at, what things might we do,
and what things should we not do?
• Probably the most common analytical tool for strategic planning
• Somewhat subjective, and Easy to understand and follow
• Very useful for identifying the core business research
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Types of Analyses Techniques
• SWOT Techniques example:
External Assessment of direct and indirect forces, social, economic, political, etc.
Opportunities Threats
Untapped demand exists in almost all over Other clients are investing in newer technologies
the World
New Technologies make it possible to expand Some clients are entering into strategic partners
service reach hips to expand their global footprint
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Types of Analyses Techniques
• Force field Techniques
• Visually shows significant forces that impact the problem
• Forces tend to be those factors that promote or hinder a solution to a problem
• Prioritize forces between direct (more important) and indirect (less important)
• May need to brainstorm to generate ideas to list all forces
Positive Forces – Promotes the Solution Negative Forces – Inhibits the Solution
• Customer department is promoting the service • Subscriber s are mandates lack enforcement to
• Global ISP has …. publicize the service – no major urgency to
• Branch or sub domain level have good performa become strategically focused.
nce or not • Agency is not resourced to develop strategic
• Strategic planning is growing in importance with plans and execute on non-strategic issues
in the entire service …. • Customers are has too many other change
initiatives going on
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Types of Analyses Techniques
• Impact analysis technique
• Identifies broad and diverse effects or outcomes associated with a problem a
nd/or the proposed solution
• Answers certain questions: How will this change impact our agency? What
are the consequences of not acting on the problem?
• Objective is to minimize adverse or negative impacts going forward
• Very useful in assessing risk of different proposed solutions – helps you reac
h the right solution
• Numerous tools can be used to assess impacts
• Impact analysis tools
• Scenario Playing – Storyboarding out how the future will unfold between
alternatives: Do Nothing vs. Solution
• Cost Benefit Analysis - Used to quantify impacts
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Types of Analyses Techniques
• Impact analysis tools
• Decision Tree Analysis – Build a tree and assign probabilities to each alternative
to arrive at the most likely solution
• Simulation – Modeling a process and seeing how it changes when one or more
variables change
• Prototype Model – Build and test the solution on a small scale before implement
ation to flush out lessons learned
• Pareto analysis
• Quantifies what is most important on a graph and puts focus on the significant
problems or issues
• Must group problems or issues based on a common and measurable attribute
(such as reworks, errors, downtime, hours, etc.)
• Must categorize problems or issues – what type is it? (poor quality, long wait times,
etc.)
• Plot the data and rank according to frequency
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Types of Analyses Techniques
• Quantitative : Statistical descriptive and inferential or experiments
Laboratory experiment
Using machine learning algorithms (for NLP, DM, IR….)
Using network analysis tool (simulators, emulators, test beds..
Different parameter settings and various experiments
How many experiments ?
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BDU: Bahir Dar Institute of Technology: Computing Faculty
Types of Analyses Techniques
• Quantitative :
• Statistical - two types
Descriptive statistics
Used to describe the phenomena with frequency, mean, median, mode
Inferential statistics
Is used to infer about the population from the sample data
T-test to compare means of two groups
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)- (When groups more than two)
Regression , ……
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Types of Analyses Techniques
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Relational Databases
• Accessible using Structured Query Language (SQL)
• Optimal for filtering & sorting
• One or more rectangular tables contain data of interest
• This format is often at odds with statistical analysis needs
Index Student TestDate Measure Score
• Example: 1
2
29101
29101
10/13/2006
10/13/2006
Verbal
Math
650
640
SAT 3
4
29102
29102
5/21/1995
5/21/1995
Verbal
Math
370
400
Collect the data in your selected source and study all the data carefull
y to find out similarities and difference, concepts and reflection.
The data analysis can be stopped only with the emergence of regulari
ties (Saturation and sufficiency of information).
Divide the data into smaller , more meaning units related to your maj
or points after reading them all.
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Data analysis principles
The categories are flexible and are modified as further data analysis
occurs.
o To explain the real significance i.e. why students finding are what they
are.
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Meaning of interpretation
Therefore, It is the task that the researcher discuss/interprets the
newly analyzed data and suggests a conclusion.
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Meaning of interpretation
• The data will either support the propositions and hypotheses or they
won’t.
• This may lead the researcher to cycle back to an earlier step in th
e process and begin again with a new hypothesis.
This is one of the self-correcting mechanisms associated with th
e scientific method.
Interpreting the data means several things. In particular, it means:
Relating the findings to the original research problem and to the specific resea
rch questions and hypotheses.
Researchers must eventually come full circle to their starting point – why they
conducted a research study in the first place and what they hoped to discover –
and relate their results to their initial concerns and questions
Relating the findings to preexisting literature, concepts, theories, and research
studies.
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Meaning of interpretation
• To be useful, research findings must in some way be connected to the larger pictu
re – to what people already know or believe about the topic in question.
Perhaps the new findings confirm a current theoretical perspective, perhaps they
cast doubt on common “knowledge”, or perhaps they simply raise new questions
that must be addressed before we can truly understand the phenomenon in question
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What we interpreting?
• Data interpretation
• Analysis not left until the end
• To avoid collecting data that are not important the student
s and/or researcher must ask:
o How am I going to make sense of this data?
• As they collect data we must ask:
o Why do the participants act as they do?
o What does this focus mean?
o What else do I want to know?
o What new ideas have emerged?
o Is this new information?
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Interpreting our data
• Threats to validity
• History
• Finding out about job satisfaction after some dramatic change in the rece
nt past of the firm could influence your research findings.
• Testing
• Suppose your research included timing the number of issues tested like c
oding testing, computability,
• Instrumentation
• Suppose the hardware and software compatibility, memory, processors
• Fault tolerant
• Computability and speed...
• Ambiguity regarding causal direction
• Its clarity, understand ability, usability....
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BDU: Bahir Dar Institute of Technology: Computing Faculty
Interpreting on results and work flow as a whole
• What did you learn? – about the program, about the participants,
about the evaluation.
• Are there things you don’t understand very well – where further stu
dy is needed?
• Basic concepts
• Select and plan the solution that has the greatest impact on solvi
ng the problem
• Use a solutions rating matrix to weigh different solutions based
on selection criteria (costs, probability of success, ease of imple
mentation)
• Solutions should have support from your previous analysis that
you can clearly communicate to the client
• Test your solutions as much as you can – use some of the Impact
Analysis Tools
• Briefly discuss the outcomes
• Remember to discuss expected results and interpretation of an
alysis
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Techniques and fundamental of Interpretation
• Fundamental concepts
• By comparing the issues to a peer in the norm group to determine ho
w different the issue is from the norm group
Research
question
Analysis of
Collection of
findings
information
• Limitations
• Briefly discussed as it happened including
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Interpretation of the results
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Purpose of writing Report’s
• There are basically two main documents in the process of a research.
• A proposal
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Structuring of computer research report’s
• Title
• Write this on its own in the centre on the first page, with your name, the title
and the date. This page should following by the acknowledgements, which s
howed list of people you wish to thank for help given
• Abstract
• Give a brief summary or overview of your research report, including its conc
lusions. Restrict this to one paragraph. Omit details or examples, except main
experimental data.
• Report abstracts may be reproduced and read separately from the rest of the r
eport, so they often contain information also included on other sections.
• List of contents
• List the main section of the report and the page on which each begins, includ
ing any appendices.
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Structuring of computer research report’s
• List of tables and figures
• List any illustrations, charts, maps and others, giving the page number
for each.
• Introductions
• Briefly discuss what the research is about, why is it important or signi
ficant? State your proposals or hypothesis briefly: what are you going
to show or prove or develop?
• It address: What is the nature of the issue or problem the research inve
stigates? Why is this worthy of investigation? What have previous res
earchers discovered about this issue or problem? What does your rese
arch attempt to prove?
• Review of the literature
• It is is a summary of the major studies that have been published on a research
topic. The purpose of it is to discuss briefly some of the most important writi
ngs on the subject, discussing other authors’ main finding. Focus on how pre
vious works connects with and leads up to your research.
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BDU: Bahir Dar Institute of Technology: Computing Faculty
Structuring of computer research report’s
• Research methodology and method
• How do you conduct your research? What method do you use? Did yo
u replicate methods used by other researchers? Even if you are told to
use certain methods, include these in the report.
• Measurement criteria
• Discuss the kinds of data you gathered. How do you analyese them? H
ow reliable or accurate are your data?
• Discuss the results
• Present your main findings briefly, under headings if appropriate. Giv
e results in the order in which you conducted any experiments or start
with the most important.
• This is a longer section. Analyze and explain your findings. Were they
what you had expected? Did they fit the theory or disprove it? Were th
ey consistent with your hypothesis? How are they significant? How co
uld the research have been improved? What follow up would be usefu
l?
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BDU: Bahir Dar Institute of Technology: Computing Faculty
Structuring of computer research report’s
• Conclusions
• It is to summarize your findings, that is, to restate your argumen
t and conclude whether or not it is valid. In light of the statistical
results, what can you infer about your hypothesis? To what exte
nt did your testing confirm your analysis?
• Recommendations
• It depends as the research or subject type so as to include the recomm
endation. Therefore, it is list of suggestions for action to resolve probl
ems.
• Future research direction
• It is a direction to present an extended research work that need to synt
hesize in the future by considering some other facts.
• References
• List all your sources, according your University or publisher or intern
ationally accepted standard and rules. 45
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Structuring of computer research report’s
• Bibliography
• If required, list relevant further or additional reading as the structure a
nd rules of your references.
• Appendices
• Present together any essential extra materials, programming source co
de, tables of data or algorithms or models, some details and further co
mputational analysis. Do not include items unless they are mentioned
in the report.
• Future research direction
• It is a direction to present an extended research work that need to synt
hesize in the future by considering some other facts.
BahirBahir
Dar University, BIT: Computing Faculty, Computing
2016
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Steps in writing Report’s
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Essentials of a Good Research Report’s
• Written reports:
• Be explicit about your research work including the
limitations
• Oral reports:
• Be prepared to discuss including the limitations
• Be honest about your research results or finding
• Know your readers and what they would expect
• Do not claim causation without a true experimental
design
• Do not generalize to the population without sample and
analysis on it
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The summary of Layout of a Research Process and
Writing up of the Report
• Research process
• Research report
Title Abstract
References Appendix
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End!
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