6/19 Using software for statistical analysis
We can undertake our statistical analysis manually, using simple counts or 5-bar gates, but most times we use software to help us.
For the Social Sciences the best well used package is SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) - specifically designed to deal with data and generate statistics. You can use Excel - but is best for simple calculations and some statistics. Excel is very useful for generating graphs to illustrate your results.
Note of caution!
Quantitative data analysis is a powerful tool, but it is only as good as
- the original data
- data collection instrument
- operational definitions
- research question
Descriptive and inferential statistics
At the very beginning of your research you must think about what you are trying to find out. Sounds simple, of course you are thinking about it already. But pinning down exactly what you want to do will help you choose the most appropriate data collection and analysis tool for you. So, ask yourself:
1) 'Am I trying to describe what happens with the participants in my sample?'
OR
2) 'Do I want to be able to generalise my results to the wider population?'
If you want to describe what happens with your sample of participants then you will most likely use descriptive statistics. And if you follow this approach then an online survey service would be a good tool to use (more on this further on).
If you want to be able to generalise your results to a wider population you will need to use inferential statistics. And if you wish to use this approach SPSS would be a good tool to use (more on this on the next page).
