Category: Statistics
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Dependent and independent variables, using SPSS, and minding one’s manners
This post will teach you three things: how to tell dependent and independent variables apart; how to calculate correlations; and how not to piss me off.
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Doing survey research: A collection of resources
Over time, I have written a number of posts on doing survey research, and I had been thinking of bringing them together in a single ‘index’ post for ease of reference, but somehow never managed to get round to it. Since I am currently not creating any new content, this is as good an opportunity as any, so here goes: An…
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Revisiting Likert scales, levels of measurement: a nuanced understanding
This post revisits the debate about Likert scales: are they ordinal or interval data, and what does this mean for analysis? While individual items only yield ordinal data, some argue composite scales may be treated as interval. The discussion weighs these perspectives, highlights common pitfalls (like calculating means), and points readers to further resources on…
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How to interpret Ordinal Data: Median and Interquartile Range for Likert Scales
Let’s assume that you have prepared a questionnaire, where respondents had to select among responses ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. For convenience, you have probably followed the established practice of replacing these responses with numbers: “1” for “strongly disagree”, “2” for “agree” and so on. How do you go about analysing these data?
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How to use Likert scales effectively
Many questionnaires use Likert items & scales to elicit information about language teaching and learning. In this post, I discuss how to use these instruments effectively, by looking into the difference between items and scales, and explaining how to analyse the data that they produce.
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Doing research without a control group
This article discusses control groups in second language teaching research, and whether these might be omitted from a research design.
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How to Interpret Likert Scales: Midpoints, Means, Medians and Statistical Significance
Learn how to interpret Likert scale data: understand true midpoints, why medians are better than means, and how to test significance.
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Research methodology resources (Doing survey research)
Research methodology can be easily abused. This list of resources provides guidance on how to conduct interview and questionnaire-based research.