Chapter 19—Editing and Coding: Transforming Raw Data into Information TRUE/FALSE Raw data are the facts that are in a form suitable for a decision ANS: F Raw data are the unedited response from a respondent exactly as indicated by that respondent and may not be in a form that lends itself well to data analysis PTS: REF: p 462 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking Mistakes that are made by the respondent in a phone survey are called nonrespondent errors ANS: F Nonrespondent error is a mistake made by an interviewer or by a person responsible for creating an electronic data file representing the responses PTS: REF: p 462 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking An important part of the editing, coding,and filing stages of data analysis is checking for errors ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 462 Editing is the same thing as coding ANS: F Editing is the process of checking the completeness, consistency, and legibility of data and making the data ready for coding and transfer for storage PTS: REF: p 463 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking The purpose of editing is to ensure that the data are complete, consistent, and readable ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 463 A data editor may have to reconstruct data ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 463 A field supervisor checks for technical omissions such as blank pages on an interviewer form ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 464 In-house editing rigorously investigates the results of data collection ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 464 © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 9 Technology has reduced errors by checking for inconsistencies automatically ANS: T PTS: REF: p 466 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 10 Missing value is the technical term for items left blank ANS: F The term is item nonresponse PTS: REF: p 466 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 11 One way to deal with missing values is to randomly select an answer ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 466 12 With respect to deletions for missing data, list-wise deletion means the data that the respondent did provide can still be used in statistical analyses ANS: F This is pair-wise deletion PTS: REF: p 467 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 13 A questionnaire with 5% or more of the responses is suspect and should be deleted from further analyses ANS: F A questionnaire with a quarter of the responses or more missing is suspect PTS: REF: p 467 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 14 Coding is the process of assigning a numerical score or other character symbol to previously edited data ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 468 15 In qualitative research, numbers are usually used for codes ANS: F In qualitative research, numbers are seldom used for codes PTS: REF: p 468 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 16 Dummy coding can be used for dichotomous responses like “yes “or “no.” ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 469 17 A string file is a collection of characters that represent a single type of data © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part ANS: F This is a field PTS: REF: p 470 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 18 A record is a collection of related fields in a data file ANS: T PTS: REF: p 470 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 19 The idea that the coding categories used should allow for all possible responses to the question is another way of saying that the data should be mutually exclusive ANS: F This means the coding categories should be exhaustive Mutually exclusive means that there should be no overlap among the categories and that a subject or response can be placed in only one category PTS: REF: p 472 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 20 When a survey is highly unstructured, it is possible to precode the response categories before the data are collected ANS: F Questionnaires need to be highly structured for precoding before the data are collected to be possible PTS: REF: p 472 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 21 The purpose of coding open-ended questions is to reduce the large number of individual responses to a few general categories of answers that can be assigned numerical codes ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 475 22 Precoding is the tallying of a small sample of the total number of replies to a particular question, ANS: F This is called test tabulation PTS: REF: p 475 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 23 When a coding method produces more categories than are deemed important during a later stage of the research, the categories can be reduced to a smaller number of categories by combining categories ANS: T PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 476 24 A data sheet documents the location of each variable in a data matrix ANS: F This is called a code book PTS: REF: p 477 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part MULTIPLE CHOICE The unedited responses from a respondent exactly as indicated by that respondent are referred to as: a codes b files c raw data d strings ANS: C PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 462 Kelsea is an interviewer and incorrectly entered respondents’ choices on ten surveys This type of error is called: a nonrespondent error b respondent error c random error d editing error ANS: A PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 462 Which of the following refers to the notion that the data file actually contains the information that the researcher is trying to obtain to adequately address research questions? a data reliability b data verification c data completeness d data integrity ANS: D PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 463 When a field interviewer records an impossible answer (e.g birthdate: 1861), this means that the data need to be: a edited b transformed using a plug value c coded d deleted ANS: A PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 463 Which of the following need to be corrected as part of the editing process? a omissions b legibility c consistency d all of the above ANS: D PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 463 When Arbitron has its own staff verify the accuracy of radio-station call letters (e.g KMOX) to ensure that they are possible radio call letters in the geographical area of the respondent, this is an example of: a external editing b in-house editing © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part c in-house coding d external coding ANS: B PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 464 _ is the technical term for items left blank a Imputation b Item plug c Item nonresponse d Item inconsistency ANS: C PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 466 A researcher has decided to insert a response for items not answered by respondents This answer the editor inserts is referred to as a(n): a proxy value b simulated value c imputation d plug value ANS: D PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 466 All of the following are choices available when dealing with missing data EXCEPT: a leave the response blank b randomly select an answer c insert the mean value of a variable for the missing response d tabulate the data ANS: D PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 466 10 Many researchers use a statistical process to provide an educated guess for missing responses in data based on the respondent’s choices to other questions Which method of dealing with missing data does this represent? a impute a missing value b plug in a neutral response c plug in alternative choices for missing data d randomly select an answer ANS: A PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 466 11 A method of handling missing data in which only the actual variables for a respondent that not contain information are eliminated from use in statistical analyses is called: a list-wise deletion b pair-wise deletion c selective deletion d partial deletion ANS: B PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 467 12 The assignment of numbers to edited data is known as: © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part a b c d editing adjusting with a plug value coding all of the above ANS: C PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 468 13 Assigning males the value of zero and females the value of one in a database to record the gender of the respondents is an example of: a coding b test tabulation c editing d verification ANS: A PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 468 14 Codes are rules for _ data a interpreting b classifying c recording d all of the above ANS: D PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 468 15 Assigning a “1” or “0” code where each number represents an alternate response such as “yes” or “no,” is an example of: a editing b dummy coding c reverse coding d plugging ANS: B PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 469 16 A survey question asked respondent how much of the Super Bowl they watched by asking them to check one of the four following choices: “all of it,” “most of it,” “some of it,” or “none of it.” How many dummy variables would a researcher need to dummy code this question? a one b two c three d four ANS: C PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: pp 469-470 17 A collection of characters that represents a single type of data, usually a variable, is called a: a field b data file c value label d string file ANS: A PTS: REF: p 470 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 18 A collection of related fields that represents the responses from one sampling unit is known as a: a file b record c code d label ANS: B PTS: REF: p 470 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 19 A collection of related records is known as a: a data file b code c record d field ANS: A PTS: REF: p 470 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 20 Which term represents a computer terminology for a series of alphabetic characters (non-numeric characters) that may form a word and is used to represent text variables? a value label b string character c data matrix d word matrix ANS: B PTS: REF: p 470 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 21 A researcher has assigned “1” to represent freshman, “2” for sophomore, “3” for junior, “4” for senior, and “5” for graduate student These labels (i.e., freshman, sophomore, etc.) assigned to the numeric code are called: a value labels b coding labels c cues d strings ANS: A PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 471 22 The idea that the coding categories applied to a given question should allow all possible answers to the question to receive a code is another way of saying that the coding categories should be: a mutually exclusive b precoded c exhaustive d all of the above ANS: C PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 472 23 Which of the following means that coding categories have no overlap so that a subject or response can be placed in only one category? a exhaustive b mutually exclusive c unique © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part d precoded ANS: B PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 472 24 Which of the rules for coding has been violated by the following responses to a question about annual salary? Under $20,000 $20,000 - $40,000 $40,000 - $60,000 Above $60,000 a b c d Coding categories should be exhaustive Coding categories should be mutually exclusive Coding categories should be test tabulated Coding categories should be alphabetic only ANS: B PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 472 25 Which of the following can be used if the researcher knows what answer categories exist before data collection occurs? a test tabulation b sheet coding c precoding d field editing ANS: C PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 472 26 In test tabulation, what is the typical percentage of responses from completed questionnaires that a researcher will use to create coding categories? a 10 percent b 20 percent c 30 percent d 50 percent ANS: B PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 475 27 In creating coding categories for open-ended questions, the tallying of the replies to a small number of completed questionnaires for a question in order to create coding categories for that question is known as: a recoding the data b test tabulation c data entry d creating a plug value ANS: B PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 475 28 Valarie’s job at a research firm is to transfer data from survey questionnaires to a computer file Her job is: a data entry © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part b data coding c data editing d data scanning ANS: A PTS: REF: p 477 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 29 A data processing input device that reads material directly from mark-sensed questionnaires is called a(n): a direct-entry mode b verified entry system c tabulation scanning system d optical scanning system ANS: D PTS: REF: p 477 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology COMPLETION The process of checking and adjusting data for omissions, legibility, and consistency is known as ANS: editing PTS: REF: p 463 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking When a field supervisor checks data at the end of each day that it is collected to catch technical omissions (e.g missing responses to questions), this is an example of ANS: field editing PTS: REF: p 464 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking When a research organization does the editing of its data using its own staff, this is known as editing ANS: in-house PTS: REF: p 464 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking A question on a survey that has not been answered by the respondent is called a(n) ANS: item nonresponse PTS: REF: p 466 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking When an editor replaces a missing answer to a question with a random response from among the fixedalternative responses for that question or inserts a neutral response, the number inserted is called a(n) ANS: plug value PTS: REF: p 466 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 6 A method of handling missing data in which only the actual variables for a respondent that not contain information are eliminated from use in statistical analyses is called ANS: pair-wise deletion PTS: REF: p 467 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology Assigning numbers to edited data is known as ANS: coding PTS: REF: p 468 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking A collection of related records that make up a data set is called a(n) ANS: data file PTS: REF: p 470 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology When a word or a short phrase can be associated with a numeric code, this code is called a(n) ANS: value label PTS: REF: p 471 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 10 A coding scheme that has a code for all possible responses is said to be ANS: exhaustive PTS: REF: p 472 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 11 Constructing coding categories by tallying a small number of responses to a particular question is known as ANS: test tabulation PTS: REF: p 475 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 12 A(n) documents the location of each variable in a data matrix ANS: code book PTS: REF: p 477 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking 13 The activity of transferring data from a research project to computers is called ANS: data entry © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part PTS: REF: p 477 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology 14 A data processing device that reads data from mark-sensed surveys into the computer is called a(n) system ANS: optical scanning PTS: REF: p 477 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Technology ESSAY Define field editing and list the three things a field supervisor is looking for when conducting field editing ANS: Field editing is preliminary editing by a field supervisor on the same day as the interview to catch technological omissions, check legibility of handwriting, and clarify response that are logically or conceptually inconsistent PTS: REF: p 464 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Communication Explain how researchers handle missing data ANS: In many situations, the decision rule is to nothing with the missing data and simply leave the item blank However, when the relationship between two questions is important, the editor may be tempted to insert a plug value If so, several choices are available: (1) Leave the response blank (2) Plug in alternate choices for missing data (3) Randomly select an answer (4) Impute a missing value based on the respondent’s choices to other questions PTS: REF: p 466 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Communication Compare and contrast list-wise deletion and pair-wise deletion methods for handling missing data and discuss which one is used most today ANS: List-wise deletion is a method in which the entire record for a respondent that has left a response missing is excluded from use in statistical analyses Pair-wise deletion is a method in which only the actual variables for a respondent that not contain information are eliminated from use in statistical analyses and is used more today than is list-wise deletion The issue of missing data used to be a bigger deal years ago when some statistical software programs required complete data for statistical computations analysis to take place Using pair-wise deletion will only show nonresponse on the particular variable a respondent left blank As a result, this method produces a larger effective sample size than list-wise deletion PTS: REF: p 467 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Communication| AACSB: Technology © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part 4 Discuss the elements of data files, such as field, string characters, record, data file, and value label ANS: Researchers organize coded data into fields, records, and files A field is a collection of characters (a character is a single number, letter, or special symbol such as a question mark) that represents a single piece of data, usually a variable Text variables are represented by string characters, which is computer terminology for a series of alphabetic characters (non-numeric characters) that may form a word A record is a collection of related fields Researchers may use this term to refer to one respondent’s data A data file is a collection of related records that make up a data set Finally, value labels allow a word or short phrase to be associated with a numeric value PTS: REF: pp 470-471 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Communication| AACSB: Technology Discuss the two basic rules for code construction ANS: First, coding categories should be exhaustive, meaning that a coding category should exist for all possible responses If there is a large number of possibilities, an “other” category is used to ensure that the categories are all-inclusive Second, the coding categories should be mutually exclusive and independent, which means that there should be no overlap among the categories to ensure that a subject or response can be placed in only one category PTS: REF: p 472 NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking| AACSB: Communication © 2010 Cengage Learning All Rights Reserved May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part  ... exist before data collection occurs? a test tabulation b sheet coding c precoding d field editing ANS: C PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 472 26 In test tabulation, what is the typical... value of one in a database to record the gender of the respondents is an example of: a coding b test tabulation c editing d verification ANS: A PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking REF: p 468... should be exhaustive Coding categories should be mutually exclusive Coding categories should be test tabulated Coding categories should be alphabetic only ANS: B PTS: NAT: AACSB: Reflective Thinking