Data Analysis, Interpretation and Presentation
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Aims
Discuss the difference between qualitative and quantitative data and
analysis.
Questionnaires.
Enable you to analyze data gathered Interviews.
from: Observation studies.
Make you aware of software packages that are available to help your
analysis.
Identify common pitfalls in data analysis, interpretation, and
presentation.
Enable you to interpret and present your findings in appropriate ways.
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Quantitative data – expressed as
Quantitative and numbers
qualitative
Qualitative data – difficult to measure
sensibly as numbers, e.g. count number
of words to measure dissatisfaction
Quantitative analysis – numerical
methods to ascertain size, magnitude,
amount
Qualitative analysis – expresses the
nature of elements and is represented
as themes, patterns, stories
Be careful how you manipulate data and
numbers!
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Simple quantitative analysis
• Averages
– Mean: add up values and divide by number of data points
– Median: middle value of data when ranked
– Mode: figure that appears most often in the data
• Percentages
• Be careful not to mislead with numbers!
• Graphical representations give overview of data
Number of errors made Internet use Number of errors made
10
Number of errors made
4.5
Number of errors made
< once a day 4
8
3.5
6 once a day 3
2.5
4 2
once a week 1.5
2 1
0
2 or 3 times a week 0.5
0
0 5 10 15 20
once a month 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
User
User
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Visualizing log data
Interaction profiles of players in online game
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Visualizing log data
Log of web page activity
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Web analytics
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Simple qualitative analysis
• Recurring patterns or themes
– Emergent from data, dependent on observation framework if used
• Categorizing data
– Categorization scheme may be emergent or pre-specified
• Looking for critical incidents
– Helps to focus in on key events
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Tools to support data analysis
• Spreadsheet – simple to use, basic graphs
• Statistical packages, e.g. SPSS
• Qualitative data analysis tools
– Categorization and theme-based analysis
– Quantitative analysis of text-based data
• Nvivo and [Link] support qualitative data analysis
• CAQDAS Networking Project, based at the University of
Surrey ([Link]
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Theoretical frameworks for
qualitative analysis
• Basing data analysis around theoretical frameworks
provides further insight
• Three such frameworks are:
– Grounded Theory
– Distributed Cognition
– Activity Theory
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Grounded Theory
• Aims to derive theory from systematic analysis of data
• Based on categorization approach (called here ‘coding’)
• Three levels of ‘coding’
– Open: identify categories
– Axial: flesh out and link to subcategories
– Selective: form theoretical scheme
• Researchers are encouraged to draw on own theoretical
backgrounds to inform analysis
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Code book used in grounded theory analysis
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Excerpt showing axial coding
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Distributed Cognition
• The people, environment & artefacts
are regarded as one cognitive system
• Used for analyzing collaborative work
• Focuses on information propagation
& transformation
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Activity Theory
• Explains human behaviour in terms of our practical
activity in the world
• Provides a framework that focuses analysis around
the concept of an ‘activity’ and helps to identify
tensions between the different elements of the
system
• Two key models: one outlines what constitutes an
‘activity’; one models the mediating role of artifacts
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Individual model
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Engeström’s (1999) activity
system model
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Presenting the findings
• Only make claims that your data can support
• The best way to present your findings depends on the
audience, the purpose, and the data gathering and
analysis undertaken
• Graphical representations (as discussed above) may
be appropriate for presentation
• Other techniques are:
– Rigorous notations, e.g. UML
– Using stories, e.g. to create scenarios
– Summarizing the findings
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Summary
• The data analysis that can be done depends on the
data gathering that was done
• Qualitative and quantitative data may be gathered from
any of the three main data gathering approaches
• Percentages and averages are commonly used in
Interaction Design
• Mean, median and mode are different kinds of
‘average’ and can have very different answers for the
same set of data
• Grounded Theory, Distributed Cognition and Activity
Theory are theoretical frameworks to support data
analysis
• Presentation of the findings should not overstate the
evidence
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