In the first part of this week, you will work on data organization. Data organization is a very important skill to learn. There is no right or wrong way to do this- however, the way that I am teaching you here is a good one and will benefit you in the future. There is no room for error in research and this is especially true in data handling. This week you will give it a try.
Do the following:
- Download the Datasheet.
- Watch these tutorials on the assignment and data spreadsheet here: https://youtu.be/5vOuwVBztog and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4Dnf5pO5Vw
- This is important to watch along with the spreadsheet so you can follow along. You will be provided with important details. The tutorial is on a different set of data and reports that the names would be false as well as some data. Your dataset may or may not be real – If you notice names of individuals not in your class, simply ‘pretend’ they are students in the class. I often add additional participants to make. the analysis work. Please DO follow along.
- Notice when you open the Excel spreadsheet you see 3 tabs. Write clear column headers. Use colors and borders for clarity.
- The first two tabs include the Raw Data (the data as it was saved from the experiment). This is not organized for analysis. Check for errors in participation, order (typically you organize data alphabetically or by participant number) etc. Make sure to note any errors/ exclusions on the Code Key information sheet.
- On the third tab, DATA, organize the spreadsheet so that the extra information is deleted and the spreadsheet has clear columns.
- The fourth tab Code Key is where you will define all of the abbreviations, titles, and information on calculations. You also can include notes here. The purpose is so that if you revisit this data in a year you will still be clear on exactly what the numbers mean and what you did.
- Dummy Code when needed. For example, Gender so that 1 = male and 2 = female; Dummy Code Phase (Phase 1 = 1 and Phase 2 = 2) etc.
- Clean and separate each task on the Raw Data sheets before moving them to the DATA sheet.
- Be careful to note which task was with which phase and if it had music (for example Task A, Phase 1, no music, and Task B, Phase 2, music).
- Highlight the data you want to move, then paste the data in the right space for that task. Do this for each participant, each phase/task.
- Make sure to note ID and gender.
- Note that the response times are in milliseconds. When you present these in results you will likely want to change these to seconds or minutes.
- Calculate the Total Response Time for Phase A and Phase B for each task by the participant. The formula to sum response time is =sum(highlight cells for that phase and task).
- Calculate the Total Response Time the tasks with Music tasks without music. The formula for tasks with no music is = SUM (Total Phase 1 TASK A, Total Phase 2 Task B). The formula for tasks with music is =SUM(Total Phase 1 Task B, Total Phase 2 Task A).
- Calculate the Response Time difference for each participant for the tasks with Music and without Music by subtracting the Total Response Time No Music from the Total Response Time Music (Note- You can do this in either direction as long as you understand what the difference means- is there an increase or decrease in response time?) .
- Calculate the Response Time Difference between Classical and Rock music. The formula is SUM(Total Phase 1 Task B – Total Phase 2 Task A).
- On the third tab, Code Key, write a coding key that should include all definitions of variables, calculation information, and coding information. Be clear enough that if you look back in two years, you know exactly what you did and can understand the data page.
