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“the ‘green’ chart suggests maths ability in this group of learners are very variable, creating significant challenges for both delivering highly differentiated learning activities and for facilitating more consistent levels of achievement.”


Guide&to&Qualita,ve&and&Quan,ta,ve&Analysis Guide&to&Qualita,ve&and&Quan,ta,ve&Analysis


“the7‘green’7chart7suggests7maths7ability7in7this7group7of7learners7are7very7variable,7crea(ng7 significant7challenges7for7both7delivering7highly7differen(ated7learning7ac(vi(es7and7for7 facilita(ng7more7consistent7levels7of7achievement.”77


Qualitative information is, is many ways, easier to interpret and express as knowledge because the data and resulting information is already expressed in language rather than in abstract mathematical terms. For example (and referring back to our earlier example):


“the7‘mauve’7chart7suggests7that7maths7ability7in7this7group7of7learners7is7fairly7consistently7 skewed7towards7lower7levels7of7prior7achievement7and7that7there7is7a7pronounced7need7for7 support7across7the7en(re7cohort.”77


Qualita,ve%informa,on&is,&is&many&ways,&easier&to&interpret&and&express&as&knowledge&because&the& data&and&resul,ng&informa,on&is&already&expressed&in&language&rather&than&in&abstract&mathema,cal& terms.&&For&example&–&and&referring&back&to&our&earlier&example,&


“the7majority&of7responses7from7the724+7employed7learners&related7to7‘career7progression’7(44%)7 with726%7of7responses,7rela(ng7to7‘knowledge7for7knowledge’s7sake’,7being7the7second7highest.77In7 contrast,7the716O197group7of7learners7more7frequently7iden(fied7‘social7aspects7of7student7life’7as7 being7a7major7expecta(on7(41%)7with7other7reasons7about7equally7cited7(between7117and716%).”7


“the7‘mauve’7chart7suggests7that7maths7ability7in7this7group7of7learners7is7fairly7consistently7 skewed7towards7lower7levels7of7prior7achievement7and7that7there7is7a7pronounced7need7for7 support7across7the7en(re7cohort.”77


“the majority of responses from the 24+ employed learners related to ‘career progression’ (44%) with 26% of responses, relating to ‘knowledge for knowledge’s sake’, being the second highest. In contrast, the 16-19 group of learners more frequently identified ‘social aspects of student life’ as being a major expectation (41%) with other reasons about equally cited (between 11 and 16%).” Quan,sing%qualita,ve%data%


Quantising qualitative data Quan,sing%qualita,ve%data%


The&example&above&illustrates&how&grouping&or&catego ising&qualita,ve&data&can&then&be&‘quan,sed’& by&simply&coun,ng&the&number&of&responses&that& fit&within&each&category.&&&The&results&of&this& analysis&can&then&be&displayed&as&barHcharts& howing&the&number&(frequency)&of&responses&in& each&category.&&An&alterna,ve&and&perfectly& acceptable&approach&would&be&to&convert&simple& counts&of&responses&(withi


a&category)&into&


percentages&which&can&then&displayed&effec,vely& as&a&pieHcehart.&&&


Different%measures%of%average:%%%


convert simple counts of responses (within a category) into percentages which can then displayed effectively as a pie-chart.


Different measures of average


When&we&use&the&term&‘average’&in&general& speech,&we&tend&to&think&about&the&formula&that& we&most&likely&learnt&at&school&H&this&is&correctly& known&as&the&Arithme,c&Mean&(or&just&‘Mean).&&


Average&=&Total&(of&a&set&of&scores)& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&n&&&&&(number&of&scores&in&the&set)&&&&&&


Different%measures%of%average:%%%


When we use the term ‘average’ in general speech, we tend to think about the formula that we most likely learnt at school - this is correctly known as the Arithmetic Mean (or just ‘Mean’).


When&we&use&the&term&‘average’&in&general& speech,&we&tend&to&think&about&the&formula&that& we&most&likely&learnt&at&school&H&this&is&correctly& known&as&the&Arithme,c&Mean&(or&just&‘Mean).&&


Average&=&Total&(of&a&set&of&scores)& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&n&&&&&(number&of&scores&in&the&set)&&&&&&


The&example&above&illustrates&how&groupinsg&or&categorising&qualita,ve&data&can&then&be&‘quan,sed’& by&simply&coun,ng&the&number&of&responses&that& fit&within&each&category.&&&The&results&of&this& analysis&can&then&be&displayed&as&barHcharts& sho ing&the&number&(frequency)&of&responses&in& ach&category.&&An&alterna,ve&and&perfectly& acceptable&approach&would&be&to&convert&simple& counts&of&responses&(within&a&category)&into& percentages&which&can&then&displayed&effec,vely& as&a&pieHchart.&&&


The example above illustrates how grouping or categorising qualitative data can then be ‘quantised’ by simply counting the number of responses that fit within each category.


The


results of this analysis can then be displayed as bar-charts showing the number (frequency) of responses in each category. An alternative and perfectly acceptable approach would be to


Qualita,ve%informa,on&is,&is&many&ways,&easier&to&interpret&and&express&as&knowledge&because&the& data&and&resul,ng&informa,on&is&already&expressed&in&language&rather&than&in&abstract&mathema,cal& terms.&&For&example&–&and&referring&back&to&our&earlier&example,&


“the7majority&of7responses7from7the724+7employed7learners&related7to7‘career7progression’7(44%)7 with726%7of7responses,7rela(ng7to7‘knowledge7for7knowledge’s7sake’,7being7the7second7highest.77In7 contrast,7the716O197group7of7learners7more7frequently7iden(fied7‘social7aspects7of7student7life’7as7 being7a7major7expecta(on7(41%)7with7other7reasons7about7equally7cited7(between7117and716%).”7


“the ‘mauve’ chart suggests that maths ability in this group of learners is fairly consistently skewed towards lower levels of prior achievement and that there is a pronounced need for support across the entire cohort.”


“the7‘ reen’ chart7suggests maths7ability7in this7group7of7learners7are7very7variable,7crea(ng7 significant7challenges7for7both7delivering7highly7differen(ated7learning7ac(vi(es7and7for7 facilita(ng7more7consistent7levels7of7achievement.”77


37


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