Practical Research II

Presentation of Data
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Descriptive Statistics
- One of the most frequently used procedures in SPSS is descriptive statistics.
- Use this procedure to get an idea of what your data would look like,
because it intends to describe the main feature or the summary of the
information you have collected.
- Some features that are used to describe the data: Central tendency (mean,
median, mode) and measures of variability or dispersion (standard
deviation, minimum and maximum values, kurtosis and skewness).
- It provides summaries that may be sufficient by themselves for a particular
study or may form the basis of a more extensive statistical analysis as in
inferential statistics.
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Measures of Central Tendency
The mode is the value that occurs most often in the given data set. The
median is the middle value in a set of numbers or data arranged in
order of magnitude. The mean is basically the average value of all
numbers.
Each of the measures of central tendency shall be used with an appropriate measure.

Level of Measurement
Mode The only appropriate measure for nominal data.
Median Appropriate for ordinal ones.
Mean Used for interval/ratio variables
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Measures of Variability/Dispersion
- You want to know how much variability there is when you want to
know how wide is the range in the values that you have.

Ex. The supposed average monthly income is PhP 18,000.00. Most

people have possible incomes ranging from PhP 17,000.00 to PhP
19,000.00, or that the range could be from PhP 1,000.00 to PhP
100,000.00. In this case, you would like to see how dispersed or spread
the income is.
 Presentation of Data
Creating Descriptive and Summary Statistics in Excel.
1. From your excel window, click on the Data tab.
2. On the Data tab, click Data Analysis.
3. Select Descriptive Statistics and click OK.
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4. Select the variable of interest and check Summary statistics.
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Interpreting Results from Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Variance
Efficacy in 12 6 14 10.17 2.791 7.778
Affecting the
Activities of a
Political Party

Valid N (listwise) 12

Because descriptives provide a general summary of what your data looks like, it is good to look at the number
of cases (N) and the minimum and maximum values. The mean is also provided and can be interpreted
depending on your predetermined interpretation of values. To see how the data values deviate from the
mean, check the standard deviation. For variability, variance is provided.

The average (mean) political efficacy of the respondents is 10.17, with a standard deviation of 2.791. The
lowest (minimum) level of efficacy is 6, and the highest (maximum) being 14.
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Interpreting Charts and Graphical Illustrations
In interpreting the chart, the researcher
must focus on important observations:
(1) values (lowest and highest) and (2)
general trends (direction).

Interpretation:
This figure presents the graphical illustration
of the relationship between the individual’s
longevity in a political party and knowledge of
their party’s affairs. Of the respondents, one
has been involved for 23 years, the highest.
Most of the respondents have been engaged
in the party from 10-20 years. In general, as
the respondents, stay longer in the party , the
more knowledgeable they become on the
X- axis is the measure of knowledge about the affairs of a political party party’s affairs.
Y-axis is the measure of the number of years of involvement in the affairs of the said party.