JamieDoiron EDTECH505 Chapter6 1. Whatarethedifferencesbetweenqualitativeandquantitative? Thequalitativetechniquefordatacollectionrequiresupcloseobservationanddescriptionof whatishappening.Thedatabeingcollectedisusuallyaboutwhatishappeningatthepresent momentanddoesnotincludeanyinformationregardingresultsoftheactionsoccurring.The focusisondevelopingmeaningbyobservingactionsratherthanthroughgatheringraw numericaldataaboutanevent. Thequantitativetechniquefordatacollection,ontheotherhand,isallaboutconcretenumerical analysis.Datacanbecollectedthroughtests,counts,measuresandotherinstruments. Qualitativedataisusedtomakepredictions,determineresults,andshowcausalrelationships betweenevents. Inmyevaluationproject,IamtryingtodetermineifGoogleSitesisanadequatetooltouseasan LMSformyschooldistrictbasedontheirneeds.

Icouldgatherqualitativedataaboutstaffneeds anddesiresthroughsurveys.Anothersourceofqualitativedatawouldbeinterviewswith administratorsabouttheirgoalsinadoptingsometypeofLMS.Icouldgatherquantitativedatafor myevaluationfromwebanalyticsthatshowusageofGoogleSitesovertimeorbyquizzingstaff membersonhowtouseGoogleSitestodeterminetheircomfortlevelwiththesoftware. 2. Whatarethelevelsofdatayoumightencounter? Nominaldatarelatestoonlyoneprincipal.Thistypeofdatacouldbeeitherqualitativeor quantitative,buteachassociateddataentryshouldbeunique.Forexample,ifstaffmembers werefillingoutasurveyformyevaluationprojectandtheyhadtoanswerthefollowingquestion: HowmanymonthshaveyouusedGoogleSites?Lessthan3,46,712,morethan12,the datawouldbenominalbecauseitisallaboutonetopicandeachrespondercanonlychooseone answer. Ordinaldataisalsobasedononeprinciple,butitisusedtoconveyorderorrank.Anexampleof thistypeofdataisfromsurveyquestionswheretherespondentshavetoranksomethingas high,medium,loworagree,neutral,ordisagree.Ifyouweretochangetheorderoftheitems,it wouldnolongermakesense.Additionally,ordinaldatadoesnotimplyequaldistancebetween eachcategory.AnexampleofhowImightencounterordinaldataonmyevaluationprojectisifI askedsurveyrespondentstorankfivepiecesofsoftwareaccordingtotheircomfortlevel,where eachpiecehadtoreceiveadifferentnumberbetween1and5. Intervaldataalsoimpliesarankororderofsomekind,butitinvolvesequalintervals.Thatisto saythatthedifferencebetween3and4isthesameasbetween33and34.Thistypeofdatais

oftenusedontests.ItislikelythatIwouldencounterthistypeofdataifIweretoquizstaff membersonGoogleSitestodeterminewhattheirpreexistingknowledgeofthesoftwarewas. Thelasttypeofdataisratiodata.Ithasallofthesamecharacteristicsofnominal,ordinaland intervaldatabutitalsohasanabsolutezeropoint.Thismeansthatnegativenumbersand positivenumbershavethesamedistancebetweenthem,so10to10hasadistanceof20, whichisthesameas2040.ThisisthetypeofdataIwouldencounterifIresearchedwebtraffic analyticsongooglesitestoseehowoftenfacultyandstaffwereusingit. 3. Whataresomeinstrumentsthatyoumightuseordevelop? Myevaluationprojectwillrelyheavilyonsurveyandinterviewdatatodeterminefirstwhatthe districtsneedsarefromGoogleSites.Thisdatawilllargelybequalitativeandlikelybothnominal andordinal.Thebestwayformetocollectthisdataisthroughinpersonobservationandonline surveysthataredevelopedbyme.OtherinstrumentsthatIwouldusetocollectdataareteststo seewhattheusersalreadyknowaboutGoogleSites,sinceitisbeingusedindistrictcurrently. Also,IwilllikelyperformoutsideresearchaboutthecapabilitiesofGoogleSitesandcompare themtotheneedsofthedistrict.Thisresearchdatacanberecordedineitheraquantitativeor qualitativeway,butIthinkthebestthingtodoistreatitquantitatively.Icoulduseaspreadsheet tocomparethefeaturesofGoogleSitesagainstthedistrictneedsandputa1iftheymatchora 0iftheyarenotaligned.Thatwillresultinanoverallscorethatcanbemanipulated.Forexample, Icangiveweighttocertaincategoriesofneedsiftheyaremoreimportantthanothers.