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Choice of analytical technique(s). Own experience of using quantitative methods & analytical techniques Background : Organisational Psychology Strongly influenced by positivist philosophical approaches; also pragmatism - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Choice of analytical technique(s)
• Own experience of using quantitative methods & analytical techniques
• Background: Organisational Psychology• Strongly influenced by positivist philosophical approaches; also
pragmatism• Analytical techniques I use frequently: descriptives, correlations,
different types of regressions, factor analyses (exploratory), reliability analyses
• Analytical techniques I have used previously: (psychometric) meta-analysis, systematic review, statistical power analyses, pair comparison techniques
• Analytical techniques I would like to use (more): structural equation modelling incl. confirmatory factor analysis and multi-level modelling, longitudinal methods, cluster analysis…
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Choice of analytical technique(s) (ctd.)
• Considerations when choosing analytical techniques:• ‘What works?’ i.e. what techniques can help me in answering my
research question(s)? a) data collection (e.g. questionnaire); b) subsequent data analysis (e.g. regression)
• On the one hand: Don’t use fancy methods if they won’t help you in your research!
• But on the other hand: Be prepared to try new things and/or to adapt a technique used in a different subject area (e.g. medicine).
• Do you know how to do it? Important to get things right. Go on training courses if necessary & speak to experts.
• Recognise the limitations.
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Choice of analytical technique(s) (ctd.)
• Where can you get help & advice from? • Your supervisor(s).• The academic literature – textbooks (basic & advanced) & journal
articles discussing specific techniques.• Your peers – ‘anonymous analysts’??• Quantitative analysis experts in your department or university.• Training courses provided by your department/university, other
universities, the ESRC etc.• Other scholars – don’t be shy.• The internet has some useful information, too, e.g.
http://www.statisticalassociates.com/ (be careful to stick to trustworthy sources).