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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).