qualitative data

(noun)

data centered around descriptions or distinctions based on some quality or characteristic rather than on some quantity or measured value

Related Terms

  • quantitative
  • primary data
  • variation ratio

Examples of qualitative data in the following topics:

  • Quantitative or Qualitative Data?

    • Different statistical tests are used to test quantitative and qualitative data.
    • Quantitative (numerical) data is any data that is in numerical form, such as statistics, percentages, et cetera.
    • Qualitative (categorical) research, on the other hand, asks broad questions and collects word data from participants.
    • Examples of qualitative variables are male/female, nationality, color, et cetera.
    • One of the most common statistical tests for qualitative data is the chi-square test (both the goodness of fit test and test of independence).
  • Graphs of Qualitative Data

    • Recall the difference between quantitative and qualitative data.
    • Qualitative data are measures of types and may be represented as a name or symbol.
    • Statistics that describe or summarize can be produced for quantitative data and to a lesser extent for qualitative data.
    • There are a number of ways in which qualitative data can be displayed.
    • The qualitative data results were displayed in a frequency table.
  • Describing Qualitative Data

    • Concept formation is the creation of variables (usually called themes) out of raw qualitative data.
    • It is more sophisticated in qualitative data analysis.
    • Coding is the actual transformation of qualitative data into themes.
    • Mechanical techniques rely on leveraging computers to scan and reduce large sets of qualitative data.
    • Summarize the processes available to researchers that allow qualitative data to be analyzed similarly to quantitative data.
  • Measures of Variability of Qualitative and Ranked Data

    • Variability for qualitative data is measured in terms of how often observations differ from one another.
    • A discussion of the variability of qualitative--or categorical-- data can sometimes be absent.
    • In such a discussion, we would consider the variability of qualitative data in terms of unlikeability.
    • In other words, the notion of "how far apart" does not make sense when evaluating qualitative data.
    • An index of qualitative variation (IQV) is a measure of statistical dispersion in nominal distributions--or those dealing with qualitative data.
  • Data

    • Qualitative data are the result of categorizing or describing attributes of a population.
    • Qualitative data are generally described by words or letters.
    • Researchers often prefer to use quantitative data over qualitative data because it lends itself more easily to mathematical analysis.
    • The colors red, black, black, green, and gray are qualitative data.
    • Work collaboratively to determine the correct data type (quantitative or qualitative).
  • Averages of Qualitative and Ranked Data

    • The central tendency for qualitative data can be described via the median or the mode, but not the mean.
    • In order to address the process for finding averages of qualitative data, we must first introduce the concept of levels of measurement.
    • The nominal scale differentiates between items or subjects based only on their names and/or categories and other qualitative classifications they belong to.
    • On the other hand, the median, i.e. the middle-ranked item, makes no sense for the nominal type of data since ranking is not allowed for the nominal type.
    • An opinion survey is an example of a non-dichotomous data set on the ordinal scale for which the central tendency can be described by the median or the mode.
  • Types of Data

    • Data can be categorized as either primary or secondary and as either qualitative or quantitative.
    • Qualitative data: race, religion, gender, etc.
    • Qualitative data: height in inches, time in seconds, temperature in degrees, etc.
    • Collecting information about a favorite color is an example of collecting qualitative data.
    • Differentiate between primary and secondary data and qualitative and quantitative data.
  • Summary

    • Quantitative Data (a number)- Discrete (You count it. )- Continuous (You measure it. )
  • Do It Yourself: Plotting Qualitative Frequency Distributions

    • Qualitative frequency distributions can be displayed in bar charts, Pareto charts, and pie charts.
    • Data that is not organized is referred to as raw data.
    • One common way to organize qualitative, or categorical, data is in a frequency distribution.
    • The first step towards plotting a qualitative frequency distribution is to create a table of the given or collected data.
    • Outline the steps necessary to plot a frequency distribution for qualitative data.
  • Qualitative Variable Models

    • Dummy variables are used as devices to sort data into mutually exclusive categories (such smoker/non-smoker, etc.).
    • Dummy variables are "proxy" variables, or numeric stand-ins for qualitative facts in a regression model.
    • One type of ANOVA model, applicable when dealing with qualitative variables, is a regression model in which the dependent variable is quantitative in nature but all the explanatory variables are dummies (qualitative in nature).
    • This type of ANOVA modelcan have differing numbers of qualitative variables.
    • An example with two qualitative variables might be if hourly wages were explained in terms of the qualitative variables marital status (married / unmarried) and geographical region (North / non-North).
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