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Data
The term data refers to a collection of information. A more detailed definition includes types of data that combine to be the collected information such as numbers, words, pictures, video, audio, and concepts. Many definitions of data include the word fact, or facts, but this implies an inference about the data and not the data themselves. This occurs more often in the physical sciences. One may also see the word raw as a descriptor of the data. This description is used to separate data such as the number 42 from information such as at 42 one is 5 years older than one's sibling. Once data are gathered, they are typically put into a format that can be analyzed by machine or human. The format can be a spreadsheet, notecards, or literary analysis software and serves to increase the ease of data analysis.
In the generic split of quantitative versus qualitative research, quantitative research gathers data that are in numerical form. The original data can be in nonnumerical form such as statements that are recoded on some specific numerical scale. Quantitative data separate into categories based on their measurement type—nominal (e.g., gender), ordinal (e.g., law school class rank), interval (e.g., degrees Fahrenheit), and ratio (e.g., degrees Kelvin).
Qualitative data are generally nonnumerical but have a greater variety of sources. Those data sources are generally categorized as verbal and nonverbal. Data are verbal if the majority of what is being analyzed is words. Verbal data sources include items such as personal diaries, letters, media reports, surveys/interviews, and fieldnotes. Within the group of interviews the data can come from in-depth/unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews, structured interviews, questionnaires containing substantial open-ended comments, focus groups, and so on.
Nonverbal data sources include items such as student concept maps, kinship diagrams, pictures, video, film, art, and print advertisements. Each type of data and how it was collected has different strengths and weaknesses in relation to the research questions and analysis techniques. For example, nonparticipant observations from video collected through surveillance cameras potentially allow the researcher to collect data without influence in the field, but there are issues with the ethics of these observations.
Further Readings
- Approaches and Methodologies
- A/r/tography
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- Appreciative Inquiry
- Artifact Analysis
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- Autobiography
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- Biography
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- Critical Research
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- Discourse Analysis
- Document Analysis
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- Ethnodrama
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- Evaluation Research
- Evidence-Based Practice
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- Historical Research
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- Internet in Qualitative Research
- Interpretive Inquiry
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- Meta-Ethnography
- Meta-Synthesis
- Methodological Holism Versus Individualism
- Methodology
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- Observational Research
- Oral History
- Orientational Perspective
- Para-Ethnography
- Participatory Action Research (PAR)
- Performance Ethnography
- Phenomenography
- Phenomenology
- Place/Space in Qualitative Research
- Playbuilding
- Portraiture
- Program Evaluation
- Q Methodology
- Readers Theater
- Social Justice
- Social Network Analysis
- Survey Research
- Systemic Inquiry
- Theatre of the Oppressed
- Transformational Methods
- Unobtrusive Research
- Value-Free Inquiry
- Virtual Ethnography
- Virtual Research
- Visual Ethnography
- Visual Narrative Inquiry
- Arts-Based Research, Ties to
- A/r/tography
- Aesthetics
- Artifact Analysis
- Arts-Based Research
- Arts-Informed Research
- Audience
- Autobiography
- Bricolage and Bricoleur
- Collage
- Connoisseurship
- Critical Arts-Based Inquiry
- Dance in Qualitative Research
- Dramaturgy
- Ethnodrama
- Ethnopoetics
- Fictional Writing
- Film and Video in Qualitative Research
- Literature in Qualitative Research
- Memoirs
- Multimedia in Qualitative Research
- Music in Qualitative Research
- Performance Ethnography
- Photographs in Qualitative Research
- Photonovella and Photovoice
- Place/Space in Qualitative Research
- Playbuilding
- Poetry in Qualitative Research
- Portraiture
- Readers Theater
- Researcher as Artist
- Resonance
- Storytelling
- Theatre of the Oppressed
- Transformational Methods
- Vignettes
- Visual Ethnography
- Visual Narrative Inquiry
- Visual Research
- Associations, Centers, and Institutes
- Computer-Assisted Data Analysis
- Data Analysis
- Abduction
- Analytic Induction
- Artifact Analysis
- ATLAS.ti" (Software)
- Audience Analysis
- Auditing
- Axial Coding
- Bricolage and Bricoleur
- Categories
- Categorization
- Co-Constructed Narrative
- Codes and Coding
- Coding Frame
- Collage
- Comparative Analysis
- Computer-Assisted Data Analysis
- Concept Mapping
- Conceptual Ordering
- Constant Comparison
- Content Analysis
- Context and Contextuality
- Context-Centered Knowledge
- Conversation Analysis
- Core Category
- Counternarrative
- Creative Writing
- Critical Discourse Analysis
- Cultural Context
- Data
- Data Analysis
- Data Management
- Data Saturation
- Deduction
- Descriptive Statistics
- Diction (Software)
- Discourse
- Discourse Analysis
- Discovery
- Discursive Practice
- Diversity Issues
- Document Analysis
- Embodied Knowledge
- Emergent Themes
- Emic/Etic Distinction
- Emotions in Qualitative Research
- Essence
- Ethnograph (Software)
- Ethnographic Content Analysis
- Ethnostatistics
- Evaluation Criteria
- Everyday Life
- Experiential Knowledge
- Explanation
- Exploratory Data Analysis
- Findings
- Foucauldian Discourse Analysis
- Framework (Software)
- Gender Issues
- Grounded Theory
- Heteroglossia
- Historical Context
- Historical Discourse Analysis
- Horizonalization
- HyperRESEARCH (Software)
- Imagination in Qualitative Research
- In Vivo Coding
- Indexicality
- Induction
- Interpretation
- Intertextuality
- Knowledge
- Liminal Perspective
- Literature Review
- Lived Experience
- Marginalization
- MAXqda (Software)
- Meaning
- Membership Categorization Device Analysis (MCDA)
- Memos and Memoing
- Meta-Analysis
- Meta-Narrative
- Meta-Synthesis
- Metaphor
- Narrative Analysis
- Narrative Genre Analysis
- Negative Case Analysis
- Nonverbal Communication
- NVivo (Software)
- Open Coding
- Otherness
- Peer Review
- Perception
- Photonovella and Photovoice
- Power
- Psychological Generalization
- Qualrus (Software)
- Rapid Assessment Process
- Reconstructive Analysis
- Recursivity
- Reflexivity
- Research Diaries and Journals
- Research Literature
- Researcher as Artist
- Researcher as Instrument
- Researcher Sensitivity
- Response Groups
- Rhythmanalysis
- Rigor in Qualitative Research
- Secondary Analysis
- Selective Coding
- Situatedness
- Social Context
- Social Network Analysis
- SuperHyperQual (Software)
- Systematic Sociological Introspection
- Tacit Knowledge
- TextQuest (Software)
- Textual Analysis
- Thematic Coding and Analysis
- Themes
- Theoretical Memoing
- Theoretical Saturation
- Thick Description
- Transana (Software)
- Transcript
- Transcription
- Truth
- Typological Analysis
- Understanding
- Video Intervention/Prevention Assessment
- Vignettes
- Visual Data
- Visual Data Displays
- Writing Process
- Data Collection
- Access
- Active Listening
- Artifacts
- Audiorecording
- Captive Population
- Checklists
- Closed Question
- Cognitive Interview
- Collage
- Convenience Sample
- Convergent Interviewing
- Conversational Interviewing
- Covert Observation
- Creative Writing
- Critical Incident Technique
- Data
- Data Archive
- Data Collection
- Data Generation
- Data Management
- Data Security
- Data Storage
- Debriefing
- Deception
- Dialogue
- Diaries and Journals
- Documents
- Dramaturgy
- Email Interview
- Emotions in Qualitative Research
- Empathy
- Ethnopoetics
- Fictional Writing
- Field Data
- Fieldnotes
- Fieldwork
- Film and Video in Qualitative Research
- Focus Groups
- Free Association Narrative Interview
- Funding
- Hypothesis
- In-Depth Interview
- In-Person Interview
- Interactive Focus Groups
- Interactive Interview
- Internet in Qualitative Research
- Interview Guide
- Interviewing
- Leaving the Field
- Life Stories
- Literature in Qualitative Research
- Literature Review
- Lived Experience
- Memoirs
- Memos and Memoing
- Multimedia in Qualitative Research
- Narrative Interview
- Narrative Texts
- Natural Setting
- Naturalistic Data
- Naturalistic Observation
- Negotiating Exit
- Neutral Question
- Neutrality in Qualitative Research
- Nonparticipant Observation
- Nonprobability Sampling
- Nonverbal Communication
- Observation Schedule
- Open-Ended Question
- Participant Observation
- Peer Debriefing
- Perception
- Photographs in Qualitative Research
- Pilot Study
- Poetry in Qualitative Research
- Population
- Probes and Probing
- Projective Techniques
- Prolonged Engagement
- Psychoanalytically Informed Observation
- Purposive Sampling
- Quota Sampling
- Random Sampling
- Rapport
- Raw Data
- Recruiting Participants
- Research Diaries and Journals
- Research Literature
- Research Problem
- Research Question
- Research Setting
- Research Team
- Researcher as Instrument
- Researcher Roles
- Researcher Safety
- Researcher Sensitivity
- Rich Data
- Rigor in Qualitative Research
- Risk
- Sample
- Sample Size
- Sampling
- Sampling Frame
- Secondary Data
- Semi-Structured Interview
- Sensitizing Concepts
- Serendipity
- Snowball Sampling
- Stratified Sampling
- Structured Interview
- Structured Observation
- Subjectivity Statement
- Telephone Interview
- Text
- Theoretical Sampling
- Triangulation
- Unstructured Interview
- Unstructured Observation
- Videorecording
- Vignettes
- Virtual Interview
- Dissemination and Writing
- Ethnography (Journal)
- Field Methods (Journal)
- Forum: Qualitative Social Research (Journal)
- International Journal of Qualitative Methods
- Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
- Journal of Mixed Methods Research
- Narrative Inquiry (Journal)
- Oral History Review (Journal)
- Qualitative Health Research (Journal)
- Qualitative Inquiry (Journal)
- Qualitative Report, The (Journal)
- Qualitative Research (Journal)
- Advances in Qualitative Methods Conference
- Creative Writing
- Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference
- Fictional Writing
- Film and Video in Qualitative Research
- Findings
- First-Person Voice
- Interdisciplinary Qualitative Studies Conference
- International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry
- International Human Science Research Conference
- Internet in Qualitative Research
- Literature in Qualitative Research
- Literature Review
- Memoirs
- Multimedia in Qualitative Research
- Peer Review
- Poetry in Qualitative Research
- Portraiture
- Publishing and Publication
- Qualitative Health Research Conference
- QualPage
- Representational Forms of Dissemination
- Research Literature
- Research Proposal
- Rhetoric
- Storytelling
- Subjectivity Statement
- Vignettes
- Voice
- Writing Process
- History of Qualitative Research
- Participants
- Access
- Agency
- Audience
- Captive Population
- Confidentiality
- Conflict of Interest
- Debriefing
- Deception
- Disengagement
- Disinterestedness
- Diversity Issues
- Emotions in Qualitative Research
- Empathy
- Empowerment
- Ethics
- First-Person Voice
- Harm
- Identity
- Informant
- Informed Consent
- Insider/Outsider Status
- Intersubjectivity
- Key Informant
- Leaving the Field
- Lived Experience
- Marginalization
- Marginalized Populations
- Member Check
- Negotiating Exit
- Otherness
- Over-Rapport
- Participant
- Participant Observation
- Participants as Co-Researchers
- Participatory Action Research (PAR)
- Population
- Privacy
- Pseudonym
- Rapport
- Reciprocity
- Researcher–Participant Relationships
- Respondent
- Secondary Participants
- Trust
- Virtual Community
- Voice
- Vulnerability
- Quantitative Research, Ties to
- Research Design and Planning
- Access
- Data Analysis
- Data Archive
- Data Collection
- Data Generation
- Data Management
- Data Security
- Data Storage
- Ethics Review Process
- Funding
- Literature Review
- Methodology
- Methods
- Mixed Methods Research
- Participants as Co-Researchers
- Pilot Study
- Politics of Qualitative Research
- Project Management
- Publishing and Publication
- Qualitative Research Summer Intensive
- Quantitative Research
- Recruiting Participants
- Research Design
- Research Justification
- Research Literature
- Research Problem
- Research Proposal
- Research Question
- Research Setting
- Research Team
- Researcher as Artist
- Researcher as Instrument
- Researcher Roles
- Researcher Safety
- Researcher Sensitivity
- Researcher–Participant Relationships
- Rigor in Qualitative Research
- Sampling
- Secondary Analysis
- Secondary Data
- Theoretical Frameworks
- Theory
- Thinking Qualitatively Workshop Conference
- Triangulation
- Writing Process
- Research Ethics
- Access
- Accountability
- Anonymity
- Auditing
- Authenticity
- Benefit
- Bias
- Captive Population
- Confidentiality
- Conflict of Interest
- Data Security
- Debriefing
- Deception
- Ethics
- Ethics and New Media
- Ethics Codes
- Ethics Review Process
- Harm
- Informant
- Informed Consent
- Institutional Review Boards
- Integrity in Qualitative Research
- Key Informant
- Leaving the Field
- Negotiating Exit
- Over-Rapport
- Participant
- Participants as Co-Researchers
- Peer Debriefing
- Power
- Privacy
- Pseudonym
- Reciprocity
- Recruiting Participants
- Relational Ethics
- Researcher–Participant Relationships
- Respondent
- Risk
- Secondary Participants
- Sensitive Topics
- Trust
- Unobtrusive Research
- Vulnerability
- Rigor
- Audit Trail
- Authority
- Bias
- Bracketing
- Confirmability
- Constant Comparison
- Credibility
- Dependability
- Disengagement
- Disinterestedness
- Evidence
- Generalizability
- Inter- and Intracoder Reliability
- Member Check
- Negative Case Analysis
- Neutrality in Qualitative Research
- Objectivity
- Observer Bias
- Over-Rapport
- Peer Review
- Reactivity
- Reliability
- Replication
- Resonance
- Rigor in Qualitative Research
- Subjectivity
- Transferability
- Translatability
- Transparency
- Triangulation
- Trustworthiness
- Validity
- Value-Free Inquiry
- Verification
- Textual Analysis, Ties to
- Artifact Analysis
- Artifacts
- Autobiography
- Biography
- Content Analysis
- Conversation Analysis
- Creative Writing
- Critical Discourse Analysis
- Diaries and Journals
- Discourse
- Discourse Analysis
- Discursive Practice
- Discursive Psychology
- Document Analysis
- Documents
- Film and Video in Qualitative Research
- Historical Discourse Analysis
- Historical Research
- Historiography
- Internet in Qualitative Research
- Intertextuality
- Literature in Qualitative Research
- Multimedia in Qualitative Research
- Narrative Analysis
- Narrative Inquiry
- Narrative Interview
- Narrative Texts
- Poetry in Qualitative Research
- Rhetoric
- Text
- Textual Analysis
- Theoretical and Philosophical Frameworks
- Axiology
- Chaos and Complexity Theories
- Constructivism
- Critical Humanism
- Critical Pragmatism
- Critical Race Theory
- Critical Realism
- Critical Theory
- Deconstruction
- Discursive Psychology
- Empiricism
- Epistemology
- Essentialism
- Existentialism
- Feminist Epistemology
- Grand Narrative
- Grand Theory
- Hegemony
- Idealism
- Ideology
- Knowledge
- Nonessentialism
- Objectivism
- Ontology
- Paradigm
- Pluralism
- Positivism
- Postcolonialism
- Postmodernism
- Postpositivism
- Postrepresentation
- Poststructuralism
- Pragmatism
- Praxis
- Queer Theory
- Realism
- Reality and Multiple Realities
- Relativism
- Representation
- Semiotics
- Social Constructionism
- Structuralism
- Subjectivism
- Symbolic Interactionism
- Theoretical Frameworks
- Theory
- Truth
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