Sneak Peek - Analyzing the Data with Excel!

Our project leaders Dr. Lazarevic and Dr. Smirnova coached me on the difference between qualitative and quantitative data, as well as the statistical concept of central tendency. My task was to find the mean, median, and mode of the data and interpret the results in preparation for our first presentation at Mount Saint Mary College!

 

Quantitative data can be assigned numerical values. This data is measurable and includes ages, time, weight, speed, area, length, height, and others.

 

Qualitative data is descriptive and cannot be measured. Examples of questions that describe involve "colors, textures, smells, tastes, appearance, beauty, etc", as noted by Regents Prep.

We also learned about central tendency, and the three common ways to measure it: mean, median, and mode.

 

Finding central tendency means determining approximately where the center of the acquired data will fall. In a bell-shaped distribution, the center of the data should be toward the middle, as demonstrated in question 12 of our survey. I'll explain the mean, median, and mode below:

Notice that the question choices (the percentages on the left) were assigned numerical, or quantitative values (column B, numbered from 1 to 10). So what are the mean, median, and mode, and how do we obtain them?

Mean

When we take the mean of data, we take the average of the responses. For question 12 above, the responses had a total numerical value of 118. Then we divide our total response value by the number of responses (19) and get 6.21053. 

Therefore, teachers spend an average of 60% of classroom time using educational technology.

Mode

When finding the mode, we find out which of our responses was answered most often. For question 12, for our 19 respondents, since 60% was chosen most often, 60% is the mode.

Median

The median value is the value that occurs in the center of our data. When there are two values that occur in the center, such as in question 12 above [these values are 5 and 6], we average the two values by adding them together and dividing by 2. We obtain the value 5.5, which is rounded to 6.

Thanks to the website Descriptive Statistics for the helpful explanations!