Describing, Clarifying and Presenting Data

1. Introduction to Module 2

1.1 Revision

In Module 1 we examined various methods that could be used to produce data with the purpose of answering specific questions. Once we have decided on the type of study that would be most appropriate for answering these questions, other decisions relating to the study need to be made. These decisions include:

• selecting units from the population to participate in the study;
• deciding which characteristic/property relating to the population units are of interest in the study; and
• specifying which variable/s to measure as representing that characteristic.

When you are reading a report of a study, these three decisions mirror the questions that you might ask about the characteristic that is selected and the variable that is used to measure this characteristic.

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