Making sense of what you gathered.
WHAT TO DO FIRST
Organise and check the data.
WHAT TO CHECK
Completeness Obvious errors Anything implausible
WHAT TO DO WITH NUMERICAL DATA
Describe it before testing anything: totals, averages, spread, distribution.
WHY
The shape of the data determines what analysis is appropriate.
WHAT TO BE CAREFUL WITH
Concluding from small samples Treating a relationship as a cause Selecting the analysis that produced the result you wanted
THAT LAST ONE
A serious and common failing.
WHAT TO DO WITH QUALITATIVE DATA
Identify themes, systematically, and show how you arrived at them.
WHAT TO REPORT
What you found, including what you did not expect and what does not support your position.
WHY
Selective reporting is misconduct, and it is detectable.
WHAT TO STATE
The limitations of your analysis.
WHAT TO DISTINGUISH
What the data shows What you infer from it
WHAT TO AVOID
Claiming more than the evidence supports.
