Descriptive Analysis
Descriptive Analysis
Introduction
description plays a critical role in the scientific process in general and education research in
particular. description can also point toward causal understanding and to the mechanisms
methods to translate raw data into reported findings in a format that is useful for each
intended audience
process will conclude observed patterns in data and must be in a suitable format to
To be useful as an application of the scientific method both the goals and the findings of
descriptive work should be clear.
Iterative Process
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Additional Info
Things to Avoid
the vast majority of audiences, graphs and tables are much more easily understood
necessary to fully meet the needs of the audience. Keep figures simple and neat,
label axes, and avoid formats that are likely to confuse readers. The benefits of an
appealing image are not worth the risk of misrepresenting data or message
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A Checklist for a Good Descriptive Analysis
● Clear about what it is trying to describe, its justification of methods and measures,
and how data were transformed into a description of the phenomenon of interest.
● Provides detail and breadth that fully capture a phenomenon without being
neither too narrow nor too broad in focus; it is not unsuitably coarse or
unnecessarily fine-grained.
approaches, does not distort data or lend itself to misinterpretation, and will be
relies on relevant measures, and is presented in a manner that relates the salient
audience.