Abstract
This chapter examines some of the issues raised in the previous chapter concerning demographic information about participants. One of the first steps a researcher takes in the analysis of data is to generate descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics simply describe the data provided by the participants. This can be contrasted with inferential statistics where data analysis can lead to conclusions about the population under consideration. Descriptive statistics are generated by computer software, such as SPSS, and help the researcher become familiar with the data. The chapter is about reporting descriptive statistics in a quantitative research text.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Further reading
Field, A., & Hole, G. (2003). How to design and report experiments. London: Sage.
Lowie, W., & Seton, B. (2013). Essential statistics for Applied Linguistics. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan.
Pallant, J. (2010). SPSS survival manual. Maidenhead: Open University.
Sources of examples
Kondo-Brown, K. (2004). Investigating interviewer-candidate interactions during oral interviews for child L2 learners. Foreign Language Annals, 37(4), 602–615. doi: 10.1111/j.1944-9720.2004.tb02426x.
Papi, M., & Teimouri, Y. (2012). Dynamics of selves and motivation: A cross-sectional study in the EFL context of Iran. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 22(3), 287–rpl. doi: 10.1111/j.1473-4192.2012.00312.x.
Uggen, M.S. (2012). Reinvestigating the noticing function of output. Language Learning, 1–35. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00693.x.
Woodrow, L.J. (2006a). Academic success of international postgraduate education students and the role of English proficiency. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 1, 51–70.
Woodrow, L. J. (2006b). Anxiety and speaking English as a second language RELC Journal, 37(3), 308–328. doi: 0.1177/0033688206071315
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Lindy Woodrow
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Woodrow, L. (2014). Presenting Descriptive Statistics. In: Writing about Quantitative Research in Applied Linguistics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230369955_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230369955_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-230-36997-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-36995-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Language & Linguistics CollectionEducation (R0)