Step 5: Data Analysis

Abstract

Once the data are deemed to be of sufficient quality (step 4), the team proceeds to the data analysis in step 5. Data analysis involves representing and summarizing the data in an insightful and clear manner, so this can then be interpreted. Representing the findings visually in a diagram can also aid in the data’s interpretation. The activities that the team must conduct as part of the data analysis step depend on the type of data that were collected. In this chapter, different kinds of data analysis approaches are explained using concrete examples. Different summary measures are discussed, such as mean, standard deviation, and percentages, the minimum and maximum scores, and the mode and/or median. Sometimes, unanswered questions remain after the descriptive data analysis. Therefore, this chapter will also briefly cover some other types of statistics: T-tests, correlation, and chi-squared analysis. Furthermore, the analysis of qualitative data will be addressed.