Clearly written with useful checklists, guidelines, and examples, How to Manage, Analyze, and Interpret Survey Data shows readers how to manage survey data and become better users and consumers of statistical and qualitative survey information. Fink explains the basic vocabulary of data management and statistics, and then demonstrates the principles and logic behind the selection and interpretation of commonly used statistical and qualitative methods to analyze survey data: from cleaning the data to measurement scales through to how to read computer output and judge significance using confidence intervals. Thoroughly reorganized and revised, the book now includes coverage of:

* How to organize and manage data for analysis

* How to draft an analysis plan

* How to define and format a data file

* How to create a complete code book, including how to establish the reliability of the coding

* How to calculate the odds ratio and risk ratio

* How to do the basic steps in a content analysis of qualitative data

* How to recognize and deal with missing data and outliers for recoding

* How to enter data accurately into spreadsheets, database management programs, and statistical programs

How to Manage, Analyze, and Interpret Survey Data: Learning Objectives

1. Data Management

Drafting an Analysis Plan
Creating a Codebook
Establishing Reliable Coding
Measuring Agreement Between Two Coders: The Kappa Statistic
Reviewing Surveys for Missing Data
Entering the Data
Cleaning the Data
Some Surveys Have Not Been Returned
Some Returned Surveys Have Data Missing
Some People Are Outliers
Some Data Need to Be Recoded

2. What Statistics Do for Surveys

Measurement Scales: Nominal, Ordinal, and Numerical
Nominal Scales
Ordinal Scales
Numerical (Interval and Ratio) Scales
Independent and Dependent Variables
Checklist for Choosing a Method to Analyze Survey Data
Descriptive Statistics and Measures of Central Tendency: Numerical and Ordinal Data
Mean
Median
Mode
Distributions: Skewed and Symmetric
Checklist: When to Use the Mean, Median, and Mode
Measures of Spread
Range
Standard Deviation
Percentile
Interquartile Range
Guidelines for Selecting Measures of Dispersion
Guidelines for Selecting Measures of Dispersion 000 Descriptive Statistics and Nominal Data
Proportion and Percentage
Ratio and Rate

3. Relationships and Comparisons

Numerical Data
Calculating the Correlation Coefficient
Size of the Correlation
Ordinal Data and Correlation
Regression
A Note on the Relationship Between Two Nominal Characteristics
The Normal Distribution
Comparisons: Hypothesis Testing, p Values, and Confidence Levels Confidence Levels
Guide to Hypothesis Testing, Statistical Significance, and p Values
Risk and Odds
Odds Ratios and Relative Risk

4. Selecting Commonly Used Statistical Methods for Surveys

Reading Computer Output
Chi-Square
t Test
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Practical Significance: Using Confidence Intervals
Content Analysis of Qualitative Survey Data
Assemble the Data
Learn the Contents of the Data
Create a Codebook
Create a Codebook 000 Enter and Clean the Data
Do the Analysis
Relational Databases
Analysis of Open-Ended Questions: Best and Least Liked

Exercises
Answers
Suggested Readings
Glossary
About the Author