What is data?
Data is a collective name for information recorded for statistical purposes. Data could be numbers, measurements, names, opinions or descriptions of things.
To use data you have to do the following:
- Collect the data you want
- Present the data in a way that makes it understandable
- Analyse the data to come up with a result or conclusion
Questionnaires
Data is often collected using surveys or questionnaires.
Questionnaires need to be easy to understand and unbiased. Bias is when one answer is favoured over another and can lead to unreliable results.
The way questions are worded is very important. All questions must:
- be easy to understand
- be unbiased
- be non-offensive
- allow every person to answer
Response boxes are the boxes on questionnaires that allow people to indicate their answer to a question. These boxes make it easier to collect data from the questionnaire once it's finished.