[IxDA Discuss] analyzing qualitative data

[Katie Albers]

At 9:38 AM +0530 11/15/07, Kunal Kapoor wrote:
>What data do you want to analyze (Qualitative).
>
>There are two schools of thought, one the purists, who do not like doing
>things like t tests with Likert scale ratings, and another school of
>thought, where people do such tests.
>
>What exactly is the data you have and what is it that you want to analyze?
>
>- Kunal.

Just as a point of information, I'll go those purists one better and 
point out that technically there is no such thing as "qualitative 
data". Data refers to the measurable and qualitative information is 
by definition not quantifiable.

This actually may be an important point for you in understanding how 
to go about discussing and assessing qualitative information. The 
minute you start talking about analyzing qualitative data you've 
moved from the qualitative information itself into the realm of 
quantitative elements which have been observed to be associated with 
the qualities themselves.
-- 

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Katie Albers
katie at firstthought.com