DISCUSSION BACKGROUND ---In the real world of research IN NURSING, careful attention is given to every potential "problem data point." Data managers are hired to trace down and confirm dataset issues. Researcher teams will often debate precisely how to handle missing or extreme data points. Everything in the dataset is "cleaned," but the original dataset (with all the errors/extremes) is kept in a separate file for future reference. Next, the research team meets for a preliminary examination of the cleaned data. Data analysts are tasked with creating multiple graphics (scatter plots, bar graphs, et cetera) and description tables. Correlation matrices are often explored. But no actual hypothesis testing is done yet. This type of initial evaluative effort should be a regular practice for you when you do research. Before any actual analytical research is performed, you will clean/prepare the dataset and then start your descriptive analysis (including bar charts, histograms, scatter plots, and box plots) to see what your data "looks" like. It is important that datasets be examined for possible errors (i.e. missing or extreme or illogical values) related to data entry. Performing a SORT on each variable column will allow one to visually capture such extreme values (check the "top" and "bottom" of a sorted column).
INSTRUCTIONS
- Create a demographic table from given data. SEE ATTACHMENT UPLOADED -DONE
- Interpret the information presented in a demographic tables.
- Write about statistical concepts- Descriptive statistics, using Box and whiskers approach, historgrams and Q-Q plotting.
- Describe one or two of the challenges you found while performing these exercises and how you resolved the issues. Where appropriate, provide the address of any website that helped you.
references list used: Ghasemi, A., & Zahediasl, S. (2012). Normality tests for statistical analysis: A guide for non-statisticians. International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 10(2), 486–489.
Dr Nic's Maths and Stats. (2014, May 1). Understanding probability: Probability 1 [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHmIRCw5CLY
Dr Nic's Maths and Stats. (n.d.). Understanding the normal distribution [Video] | Transcript. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtH1fmUVkfE