Week 9

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods
AVIA3710 - Aviation Research Methods
Week 9 - Step VII: Processing Data
Professor Ann Williamson, PhD
Week 9
Week 9
An Eight Step Model

Step I: Formulating a research problem (Wk1&2)
Step II: Conceptualising a research design (Wk 3&4)
Step III: Constructing an instrument for data
collection (Wk5)
Step IV: Selecting a sample (Wk6)
Step V: Writing a research proposal (Wk8)
Step VI: Collecting data (Wk7)
Step VII: Processing data (Wk9)
Step VIII: Writing a research report (Wk10)
Kumar (2014)
Week 9
AVIA3710 Stuff
Remember Assignment is TODAY!!
Hard copy to the Aviation office by 17:00hr
Monday 26 Sept
Electronic copy in Moodle by 23:59hr, 23
September
(today)
AVIA3710 Aviation Research Methods
Review of Concepts from Week 8:

Step VI: Processing and displaying data
Week 9
Week 9
In Week 8 we covered:
Basic aspects of validity and reliability as applied to a
research instrument
Describe the types of validity that affect a research instrument
Describe the types of reliability that affect a research instrument
How to write a research proposal
Week 9
Learning Outcomes - Week 9

After this week you should be able to:
Describe the process of data analysis and how
this might apply to your research
Understand the key features of descriptive
and inferential statistics
Have a broad understanding of which
statistical tests should be used for:
Different types of data and
Different types of research questions
Data Analysis
Week 9
is the process by which we extract meaningful information relating to

the purpose of your study from the data that have been processed
statistics help you to extract meaningful information from the
processed data
Statistics are usually divided into 2 categories
Descriptive statistics and

Inferential statistics
Descriptive statistics summarise data for a sample or population (e.g.
measures of central tendency and dispersion)
Inferential statistics allow you to infer population parameters based
on sample statistics.
Measures of Central Tendency
Descriptive statistics that describe a set of data by identifying the central

position within that data set, eg:
Mean most popular & well known measure

for interval or ratio data
major disadvantage is influence of outliers which can skew the data
eg. 8 workers earn $15 000/year but 2 workers earn $90 000/year
mean = $300 000 divided by 10 = $30 000
mean does not accurately represent the typical or

average wage
Median middle score for a data set arranged in order of magnitude

Ordinal, interval or ratio data
less affected by outliers & skewed data
Mode most frequent score in the data set
Any type of data
Least informative measure of central tendency
Week 9
Comparing
measures of
central
tendency
Week 9
Week 9
Measures of Dispersion
Descriptive statistics used to describe the variability in a population
Range simplest measure of spread
difference between the highest and lowest scores

can also help detect errors (eg. age range = 7 to
156 years)
Variance extent to which a group of scores differs from the mean
large indicates greater spread of scores
Standard deviation
Square root of variance
Also: quartiles, interquartile range.. etc.
Standard error Measures of standard deviation

of the mean score
Week 9
Week 9
Skewness and Kurtosis
* Skewness: <-2 or >+2, report median rather than mean
Time
Convincing
Week 9
35
36
Mean
7.66
7.61
Median
8.00
8.00
1.69
1.59
-.34
-1.52
-.513
3.2
Minimum
Maximum
10
10
Valid
Missing
Std. Deviation
Skewness
Kurtosis
Week 9
Box and whisker plots
Week 9
Inferential Statistics
allow you to infer population parameters based on sample statistics.
eg H1: Do pilots trained on Analogue displays have better visual scanning

abilities than pilots trained on Digital displays (eg., A380 etc).
eg Collect a sample of pilots from each group, measure their visual scanning,
then compare the average scanning of the two groups, using a 2-sample
independent t-test
when we do a t-test, we calculate the probability (p) that there is a difference

in visual scanning between the two groups (which supports our H1) occurred
by chance.
Analogue Vs
Digital cockpits
Week 9
Hawker Siddeley
Trident cockpit
(1970s)
B737 cockpit
A380 cockpit
Week 9
Probability value (p value)

Most research uses a probability value (or p value) of 0.05
This means that there is a probability of 1 in 20 that the difference (eg

difference in scanning of Analogue-trained and Digital-trained pilots)
occurred by chance
Anything less than a p value of 0.05 is considered statistically
significant
In this case, you reject the null hypothesis (ie that there is no
difference in visual scanning between pilots trained in different types
of cockpits), and accept the alternate hypothesis
ie., you declare that you have a statistically significant result
Week 9
Testing for differences between means

Distribution of H0: = 90 and H1: = 94
Distribution of H0: = 90 and H1: = 98
Week 9
Week 9
Questions to consider in choosing a statistical test
1. What is the objective of my research and my

research question?
2. What are the independent and dependent
variables?
3. What is the scale of measurement of the
study variables?
4. How many samples/groups are in the
design?
5. Have I met the assumptions of the statistical
test selected?
Week 9
Choosing a statistical test

What is your Objective and Research question
Compare groups?
Measures relationships or associations between
variables?
Variable type for Dependent variable:

Categorical or Continuous
Nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio
Number of Independent groups in the study design

One, two or more groups
Related or not (related, repeated measures, matched
etc)
Whether assumptions of Parametric tests are met
Week 9
Parametric Tests
These are inferential statistics.
Based on assumption that:
data on the dependent variable are normally distributed

dependent variables either interval or ratio (ie. scale)
variability of groups is similar
minimum number of participants
Parametric tests include:
Correlation, regression
t-tests
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA, MANOVA, ANCOVA)
etc
Correlation
Week 9
Used to determine strength of relationship between two or more

variables (eg correlation between pilot experience and pilot performance)
Linear correlation change in value of one variable corresponds to

consistent rate of change in other variable
positive linear correlation increase in one

variable corresponds to increase in other variable
(higher Experience = better pilot performance)
negative linear correlation increase in one
variable corresponds to decrease in other variable
(higher Experience = worse pilot performance)
Correlation coefficients range from -1.0 to +1.0, where 0= no relationship
Week 9
t-tests
Used to compare differences between means
of two groups:
independent t-test compares two unrelated
groups between-subjects differences (eg.,
average visual scanning of pilots trained on
analogue cockpits versus average visual scanning
of pilots trained on digital cockpits)
dependent t-test compares two related groups
within-subjects differences (also called repeated
measures) (eg, performance of A380 pilots before
and after 3 glasses of wine).
Week 9
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Extension of the t-test
One-way ANOVA used to compare the means of
three or more independent levels of a variable
determines if any of the means are different
does not specify which ones are different need to
use post-hoc tests to determine which groups differ
Repeated measures ANOVA compares the means of

three or more related levels
detects overall differences between means need
post-hoc tests to determine specific differences
eg. time 1 vs time 2 vs time 3
same people in each group
Week 9
More complex Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) designs
Two way ANOVA: comparing means for

levels of two different Independent
variables, eg: Gender by training
Training A
Training B
Male pilots
Female pilots
Allows assessment of effects of each IV

(main effect) and interaction of IVs
(interaction effect)
Week 9
Graph showing interaction

100
driver/low demand
control/low demand
90
driver/high demand
control/high demand
80
mean fatigue rating
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
pre-test
post-test
Week 9
More complex Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) designs

Two way ANOVA: comparing means for levels of
two different Independent variables, eg: Gender by
training
Training A
Training B
Male pilots
Female pilots
Allows assessment of effects of each IV (main

effect) and interaction of IVs (interaction effect)
Can compare multiple IVs including related
Multivariate Analysis of Variance analysis
involving more than one dependent variable
Week 9
Nonparametric Tests
Performed when conditions of parametric statistics
are violated:
make few assumptions about data or its distribution

non-normal distribution
small sample size
categorical data
Less powerful than parametric tests

Non-Parametric tests include:
Chi-Square
Kruskal-Wallis analysis of ranks, Mann-Whitney U test,
Wilcoxons matched pairs test, Friedman test (t-test or
ANOVA equivalents)
Week 9
Chi-square test
Analysis of count or frequency data (including %s)
Analysis of relationship between two variables
Data presented in Contingency or frequency tables
Test A
Test B
Test C
Row totals
Males
16 (15.1)
22 (26.2)
30 (26.7)
68
Females
15 (15.9)
32 (27.8)
25 (28.3)
72
Col totals
31
54
55
140
Chi-square assesses probability of obtaining Observed relationship

between variables (Gender and Test performance) by chance by
comparing Observed and Expected values.
(2=2.2, p>0.05)
If any Expected cell sizes are small, better to use Fishers Exact test
Week 9
Types of non-parametric tests

Two sample t-test equivalents:
Mann-Whitney U test non-parametric
equivalent to unpaired two group t-test
Wilcoxons matched pairs signed ranks test
equivalent to paired two group t-test
Three (or more) sample ANOVA equivalents:
Kruskal-Wallis analysis of ranks equivalent to
analysis of variance
Friedman test equivalent to repeated
measures (paired) analysis of variance
Examples of tests by data type and study design

Categorical
Differences
Week 9
Continuous
Relationships
Comparing
Two Groups
Comparing
> Two Groups
http://www.practicallyscience.com/choosing-a-statistical-test/
Week 9
Choosing a statistical test
ALSO:
Regression analysis
Factor analysis,
Discriminant analysis
etc
Week 9
Summary of
decisions in
choosing a
statistical test
StatsMiniBlog: Choosing a
test
30 Jun, 15
> 2 groups
No:
ANOVA
Yes:
Repeated
ANOVA
Qualitative data analysis
Week 9
No formal approach, but should aim to be systematic and

organised. Should describe clearly what you did to gather the
data and how analysed.
Types of qualitative data analysis:
Explanation building from Multiple Case interviews, eg.,

- Convergent interviewing look for patterns of responses and
continue until nothing new emerges
- Negative case analysis start with a hypothesis and revise and
refine based on responses until it accounts for all cases
Time-based eg., narrative chronologies, longitudinal case studies,
time series of changes in patterns over time
Triangulation, eg., testing one source of data against another
Analysis software of narrative information, eg., text mining,
ethnographic software (NUDIST, Leximancer and others)
Display techniques, eg., maps, charts, flow diagrams etc
Week 9
Issues of validity of qualitative data

Credibility: has the research accurately identified and described the
subject of the research question? (internal validity)
Transferability: can the findings be generalised? (external validity)

Dependability: analogous to reliability; If others checked on
procedures used, are they acceptable and met accepted standards?
Confirmability: is the research objective? Are the conclusions

justified by the findings?
Value of qualitative data analysis depends on

being able to demonstrate that findings are
valid, unbiased and can be trusted.
Week 9
Tasks for Week 10

Start preparing your Proposal presentation
well discuss in the tutorial in Week 10
Start revising material for the end of year
examination

Week 9

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AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

AVIA3710 - Aviation Research Methods

Week 9 - Step VII: Processing Data

Professor Ann Williamson, PhD

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

An Eight Step Model

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

AVIA3710 Aviation Research Methods

Review of Concepts from Week 8:

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

How to write a research proposal

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Learning Outcomes - Week 9

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

is the process by which we extract meaningful information relating to

Descriptive statistics and

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Measures of Central Tendency

Descriptive statistics that describe a set of data by identifying the central

Mean most popular & well known measure

mean does not accurately represent the typical or

Median middle score for a data set arranged in order of magnitude

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Descriptive statistics used to describe the variability in a population

Range simplest measure of spread

difference between the highest and lowest scores

Variance extent to which a group of scores differs from the mean

large indicates greater spread of scores

Square root of variance

Also: quartiles, interquartile range.. etc.

Standard error Measures of standard deviation

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Skewness and Kurtosis

* Skewness: <-2 or >+2, report median rather than mean

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Box and whisker plots

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

allow you to infer population parameters based on sample statistics.

eg H1: Do pilots trained on Analogue displays have better visual scanning

when we do a t-test, we calculate the probability (p) that there is a difference

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Probability value (p value)

This means that there is a probability of 1 in 20 that the difference (eg

ie., you declare that you have a statistically significant result

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Testing for differences between means

Distribution of H0: = 90 and H1: = 98

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Questions to consider in choosing a statistical test

1. What is the objective of my research and my

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Choosing a statistical test

Variable type for Dependent variable:

Number of Independent groups in the study design

Whether assumptions of Parametric tests are met

AVIA 3710 Aviation Research Methods

Based on assumption that:

data on the dependent variable are normally distributed