This page offers you some useful guiding questions to help you get started as you assess what you hope to get out of your research.
Remember to define your topic with enough flexibility to adapt to available data!
Data is not available for every thinkable topic. Some data is private, must be purchased, uncollected, or unavailable. Be prepared to try alternative data.
Data
If you want to understand a phenomenon, you want data. Data is used to create new information and knowledge.
Raw data is the direct result of research that was conducted as part of a study or survey. It is a primary source. It usually comes in the form of a digital data set that can be analyzed using software such as Excel, SPSS, SAS, and so on.
This is what a data set looks like:
Statistics
Data can be analyzed and interpreted using statistical procedures to answer “why” or “how.” A statistic repeats a pre-defined observation about reality.
Statistics usually come in the form of a table or chart. This is what a statistical table looks like:
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