How to Manage, Analyze, and Interpret Survey Data

by Arlene Fink

• ISBN13: 9780761925767
• ISBN10: 0761925767
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-22
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

Clearly written with useful checklists, guidelines, and examples, How to Manage, Analyze, and Interpret Survey Data shows readers how to manage survey data and become better users and consumers of statistical and qualitative survey information. Fink explains the basic vocabulary of data management and statistics, and then demonstrates the principles and logic behind the selection and interpretation of commonly used statistical and qualitative methods to analyze survey data: from cleaning the data to measurement scales through to how to read computer output and judge significance using confidence intervals. Thoroughly reorganized and revised, the book now includes coverage of:* How to organize and manage data for analysis* How to draft an analysis plan* How to define and format a data file* How to create a complete code book, including how to establish the reliability of the coding* How to calculate the odds ratio and risk ratio* How to do the basic steps in a content analysis of qualitative data* How to recognize and deal with missing data and outliers for recoding* How to enter data accurately into spreadsheets, database management programs, and statistical programs

Table of Contents

How to Manage, Analyze, and Interpret Survey Data: Learning Objectives	viii
Data Management	1	(24)
Drafting an Analysis Plan	2	(2)
Creating a Codebook	4	(5)
Establishing Reliable Coding	9	(3)
Measuring Agreement Between Two Coders: The Kappa Statistic	9	(3)
Reviewing Surveys for Missing Data	12	(3)
Entering the Data	15	(2)
Cleaning the Data	17	(8)
Some Surveys Have Not Been Returned	18	(3)
Some Returned Surveys Have Data Missing	21	(1)
Some People Are Outliers	22	(1)
Some Data Need to Be Recoded	23	(2)
What Statistics Do for Surveys	25	(28)
Measurement Scales: Nominal, Ordinal, and Numerical	28	(3)
Nominal Scales	28	(1)
Ordinal Scales	29	(1)
Numerical (Interval and Ratio) Scales	29	(2)
Independent and Dependent Variables	31	(7)
Checklist for Choosing a Method to Analyze Survey Data	38	(1)
Descriptive Statistics and Measures of Central Tendency: Numerical and Ordinal Data	38	(5)
Mean	39	(1)
Median	40	(2)
Mode	42	(1)
Distributions: Skewed and Symmetric	43	(1)
Checklist: When to Use the Mean, Median, and Mode	44	(1)
Measures of Spread	44	(5)
Range	45	(1)
Standard Deviation	45	(3)
Percentile	48	(1)
Interquartile Range	48	(1)
Guidelines for Selecting Measures of Dispersion	49	(1)
Descriptive Statistics and Nominal Data	49	(4)
Proportion and Percentage	50	(1)
Ratio and Rate	51	(2)
Relationships and Comparisons	53	(24)
Numerical Data	53	(3)
Calculating the Correlation Coefficient	56	(2)
Size of the Correlation	58	(2)
Ordinal Data and Correlation	60	(1)
Regression	61	(2)
A Note on the Relationship Between Two Nominal Characteristics	63	(1)
The Normal Distribution	64	(1)
Comparisons: Hypothesis Testing, p Values, and Confidence Levels	65	(2)
Guide to Hypothesis Testing, Statistical Significance, and p Values	67	(4)
Risk and Odds	71	(6)
Odds Ratios and Relative Risk	72	(5)
Selecting Commonly Used Statistical Methods for Surveys	77	(46)
Reading Computer Output	81	(16)
Chi-Square	82	(8)
t Test	90	(5)
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)	95	(2)
Practical Significance: Using Confidence Intervals	97	(4)
Content Analysis of Qualitative Survey Data	101	(14)
Assemble the Data	103	(4)
Learn the Contents of the Data	107	(1)
Create a Codebook	108	(2)
Enter and Clean the Data	110	(1)
Do the Analysis	111	(3)
Relational Databases	114	(1)
Analysis of Open-Ended Questions: Best and Least Liked	115	(8)
Exercises	123	(8)
Answers	127	(4)
Suggested Readings	131	(2)
Glossary	133	(8)
About the Author	141