Introduction to ANALYSIS Data Editing

Your survey is done…. Now what?

There are two things to do before going any further.

A. Edit your forms (surveys)

B.Compose

Edit: Look for bias.

Edit: Lack of cooperation The “Screw You Effect” “The negative-participant role (also known as the screw-you effect) in which the participant attempts to discern the experimenter's hypotheses, but only in order to destroy the credibility of the study.”

Edit: Problematic responses Non-responses Illegible responses

Edit: Problematic responses Non-responses Illegible responses Illogical responses 10. If you served in the military, in which conflict did you serve? a. WWII b) Korea c) Viet Nam d) Gulf War e) Iraq/Afghanistan

Edit: Problematic responses Non-responses Illegible responses Illogical responses 10. If you served in the military, in which conflict did you serve? a. WWII b) Korea c) Viet Nam d) Gulf War e) Iraq/Afghanistan

Edit: Problematic responses Non-responses Illegible responses Illogical responses 10. If you served in the military, in which conflict did you serve? a.WWII b) Korea c) Viet Nam d) Gulf War e) Iraq/Afghanistan 30. Your age? _______

Edit: Problematic responses Non-responses Illegible responses Illogical responses 10. If you served in the military, in which conflict did you serve? a.WWII b) Korea c) Viet Nam d) Gulf War e) Iraq/Afghanistan 30. Your age? __36___

Edit: Problematic responses Non-responses (could be a case, variable, or data point (value) 1. Ignore them 2. Eliminate case 3. Input a value a. random number b. the mean c. a value calculated (usually by regression)

Edit: Problematic responses Illegible responses 1. Guess and input a value 2. Eliminate case 3. Use other answers to estimate answer

Edit: Problematic responses Illogical responses 1. Eliminate case 2. Use other answers to estimate answer

Create a codebook:

1. Case code (on each form) 2. Variable codes and labels 3. Scale of variables 4. Open-ended questions (?)

Now input your data!

Clean up you data. 1. Print out a frequency table for each variable.

Clean up you data. 1. Print out a frequency table for each variable. 2. Look for: a. wrong or impossible numbers b. Outliers (deviance) c. Missing data

Clean up you data. 1. Print out a frequency table for each variable. 2. Look for: a. wrong or impossible numbers b. Outliers (deviance) c. Missing data 3. Look at cross-tabs for relationships

Work out the stats for your project. Compose!!

Work out the stats for your project. Compose!! Whether you are this guy…

Work out the stats for your project. Compose!! Or this guy…