Addis Ababa Science and Technology University

College of Engineering
Department of Chemical Engineering

Research Methods and Experimental Design

(Cheg5111)

Instructor: Weynshet Ferede

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 Data Analysis and Interpretation

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 Outline

 Data Analysis

 Data Presentation

 Data Interpretation

 Discussion of the Finding

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 Data Analysis

 Analysis of data involves summarizing the collected

data and organizing these in such a manner that they
will yield answers to the research questions.
 Analysis of data means to make the raw data
meaningful or to draw some results from the data
after the proper treatment.
 Data can be reduced or summarized by use of
statistics for quantitative research or thematic
induction for qualitative data.
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 Process involved in Data Analysis

 The data analysis process in social research

involves three major steps:

1. Data Preparation/processing

2. Describing the data (Descriptive Statistics)

3. Testing Hypotheses and Models (Inferential

Statistics)
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 Data presentation

 It refer to ways of arranging data to make it clear.

 Presentation is mainly by use of visuals followed

by an explanation of the visual.

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 Methods of Presenting Data

A. Tabular Presentation

B. Graphical Presentation

C. Numerical Presentation

D. For Qualitative Data

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 Methods of Presenting Data
A) Tabular presentation

 This is the use of Tables.

 The common tables that we use in social science
research are frequency distribution tables and cross
tabulation.
 These two tables are used with categorical data.
 It is a systematic and logical arrangement of classified
data in rows and columns.

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 B) Graphical Presentation

 This is the use of graphs.

 It is dependent on the type of data collected
(scale/level of measurement).
 Bar graphs and pie charts are for categorical
data.

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 Types of Graphical Presentation

Bar charts
Histogram
Frequency polygon
Pie Charts
Line Diagram

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 Bar charts

- They are merely a way of presenting a set of

numbers by the length of a bar.
- It can be simple, multiple or component type.

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 Histogram

 It is a pictorial diagram of frequency distribution.

 It is consists of a series of blocks.
 The class intervals are given along the horizontal
axis and the vertical axis.

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 Line Diagram

 It is used to show the trend of events with the

passage of time.

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 Pie Charts

 Instead of comparing the length of a bar, the areas of

segments of a circle are compared.
 The area of each segment depends upon the angle.

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 Frequency Polygon

 A frequency distribution may be represented

diagrammatically by the frequency polygon.
 It is obtained by joining the mid point of the
histogram blocks.

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 C) Numerical Presentation

 This is the use of numbers to represent a group of

data.
 This is by the use of descriptive and inferential
statistics.

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 D) For Qualitative Data

 Use direct quotes/verbatim.

 Qualitative research uses narrative/ descriptive/
thematic methods for qualitative data.

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 Statistical Analysis in Research

 Analysis means the computation of certain indices

or measures along with searching for patterns of
relationship that exist among the data groups.

 Analysis may be classified as descriptive analysis

and inferential analysis.

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 Descriptive Statistics

 They are used to describe the basic features of the

data in a study.

 They provide simple summaries about the sample

and the measures.

 With descriptive statistics you are simply describing

what is, what the data shows.
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 Descriptive Statistics

 Univariate analysis is a descriptive analysis and it

involves the examination across cases of one variable
at a time.
 There are three major characteristics of a single
variable that we tend to look at:
 the distribution
 the central tendency
 the dispersion
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 The Distribution

 The distribution is a summary of the frequency of

individual values or ranges of values for a variable.

 The simplest distribution would list every value of

a variable and the number of persons who had each
value.

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 Distribution…cont’d…

 One of the most common ways to describe a

single variable is with a frequency distribution.
 Frequency distributions can be showed in two
ways, as a table or as a graph.
 Fig.1 shows an age frequency distribution with
five categories of age ranges defined. This type of
graph is often referred to as a histogram or bar
chart.
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 Fig1.

Distributions may also be displayed using percentages.

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 Central Tendency/statistical average

 The central tendency of a distribution is an estimate of the

"center" of a distribution of values.
 Tells us the point about which items have a tendency to
cluster.
 There are three major types of estimates of central tendency:
 The Mean or average or arithmetic mean is probably the most
commonly used method of describing central tendency.
-To compute the mean add up all the values and divide by the
number of values.

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 Mean, and mode

 The mean identifies the average value of the set of

numbers. For example, consider the data set
containing the values 20, 24, 25, 36, 25, 22, 23.

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 Central…cont’d…

 The Median is the score found at the exact middle of the set
of values.

-One way to compute the median is to list all scores in numerical

order, and then locate the score in the center of the sample.

 The mode is the most frequently occurring value in the set of

scores. To determine the mode, you might again order the
scores and then count each one. The most frequently
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occurring value is the mode.
 Median

 The median identifies the midpoint or middle value of a set of numbers.

 Put the numbers in order from smallest to largest. Use the example set of
values: 20, 24, 25, 36, 25, 22, 23. Placed in order, the set becomes: 20, 22,
23, 24, 25, 25, 36.
 Since this set of numbers has seven values, the median or value in the
center is 24.
 If the set of numbers has an even number of values, calculate the
average of the two center values.
 For example, suppose the set of numbers contains the values 22, 23, 25,
26. The middle lies between 23 and 25. Adding 23 and 25 yields 48.
Dividing 48 by two gives a median value of 24.

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 Mode

 Like finding the median, order the data set from smallest to largest. In the
example set, the ordered values become: 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 25, 36.
 A mode occurs when values repeat. In the example set, the value 25
occurs twice. No other numbers repeat. Therefore, the mode is the value
25.
 In some data sets, more than one mode occurs.
 The data set 22, 23, 23, 24, 27, 27, 29 contains two modes, one each at 23
and 27. Other data sets may have more than two modes, may have modes
with more than two numbers (as 23, 23, 24, 24, 24, 28, 29: mode equals
24) or may not have any modes at all (as 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29).
 The mode may occur anywhere in the data set, not just in the middle.

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 Dispersion

 Dispersion refers to the spread of the values around

the central tendency. The common measures of
dispersion include: -

 range

 variance

 standard deviation.
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 Range

 Range shows the mathematical distance between the lowest and

highest values in the data set.
 Range measures the variability of the data set.
 A wide range indicates greater variability in the data, or perhaps a
single outlier far from the rest of the data.
 In the sample group, the lowest value is 20 and the highest value is
36.
 To calculate range, subtract the lowest value from the highest value.
Since

 the range equals 16.

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 Variance

 VARIANCE measures how far the values of the data

set are from the mean, on average. The average of
the squared deviations is the population variance.

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 Standard deviation

 It measures the variability of the data set.

 Like range, a smaller standard deviation indicates
less variability.
 Finding standard deviation requires summing the
squared difference between each data point and the
mean [∑(​x − µ​)2], adding all the squares, dividing
that sum by one less than the number of values (​N −
1), and finally calculating the square root of the
dividend. In one formula, this is:
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 Inferential Statistics

 We use inferential statistics to try to infer from the

sample data what the population thinks.

 We use inferential statistics to make inferences from

our data to more general conditions; we use
descriptive statistics simply to describe what's
going on in our data.
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 Interpretation of the research findings

 Interpretation refers to the task of drawing

inferences from the collected facts after an
analytical and/or experimental study.
 It means searching for meaning and implication
of research results, in order to make inferences,
draw conclusions and relate to the theory.
 Once the researchers present data, they need to
search for meaning of that data based on the
research problem.
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 Interpretation…cont’d…

 Interpretation is the device through which the

factors that seem to explain what has been
observed by researcher in the course of the study
can be better understood and it also provides a
theoretical conception which can serve as a guide
for further researches.
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  Discussion of Findings

 This means tying the finding to the literature review.

This is done by comparing and contrasting your
own finding with other empirical findings
reviewed in literature review.

 The purpose is to show how your findings agree or

disagree with the existing body of knowledge.
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