DRAL 2 ILA 2014 UNDERSTANDING CENTRAL TENDENCY Wannapa

WHY STATISTICS? RESEARCH Qualitative VS Quantitative Mixed-method

MEASUREMENT SCALES Nominal scales: e. g. 1 = teacher 2 = engineer 3 =

CENTRAL TENDENCY Mean : interval, ratio scales Median : ordinal, interval, ratio scales Mode

MEAN Data (test scores): 99, 54, 50, 42, 38 Mean = 99 + 54

MEDIAN Data (test scores): 99, 54, 50, 42, 38 Median = 99, 54, 50,

MODE Data: Rating Frequency 1 2 3 4 5 (very disagree) (neutral) (agree) (very

CENTRAL TENDENCY Mean More complex calculation, More powerful (? ), More familiar (? )

RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. What do teacher-researchers in Applied Linguistics think about using statistics in

METHOD Subjects: 7 Thai teachers of English at KMUTT with experience in doing research

FINDING I: GENERAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF STATISTICS IN RESEARCH STUDIES STATISTICS =

FINDING II: KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF ‘CENTRAL TENDENCY’ KNOWLEDGE: Mean = most familiar method

CONCLUSION As central tendency is commonly used/found in Applied Linguistics research, researchers in the

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DRAL 2/ ILA 2014 UNDERSTANDING CENTRAL TENDENCY Wannapa Trakulkasemsuk King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi

WHY STATISTICS? RESEARCH Qualitative VS Quantitative Mixed-method

MEASUREMENT SCALES Nominal scales: e. g. 1 = teacher 2 = engineer 3 = doctor 2 = neutral 3 = disagree no/less quantitative value Ordinal scales: e. g. 1 = agree Interval scales: e. g. time, numbers of things Ratio scales: e. g. weight, height, distance quantitative value

CENTRAL TENDENCY

CENTRAL TENDENCY Mean : interval, ratio scales Median : ordinal, interval, ratio scales Mode : all types of scales

MEAN Data (test scores): 99, 54, 50, 42, 38 Mean = 99 + 54 + 50 + 42+ 38 = 56. 6 5 Centre? How would you interpret this mean score (56. 6)?

MEDIAN Data (test scores): 99, 54, 50, 42, 38 Median = 99, 54, 50, 42, 38 = 50 Weakness Data 1: 70, 50, 35 Data 2: 52, 51, 50, 49, 48

MODE Data: Rating Frequency 1 2 3 4 5 (very disagree) (neutral) (agree) (very agree) 30 14 14 13 30 Mode = 1 and 5 (bi-modal) Mean = 3. 02 Median = 3 distribution = skew/not normal mode = better than mean and median

CENTRAL TENDENCY Mean More complex calculation, More powerful (? ), More familiar (? ) Median Mode less complex calculation, less powerful (? ), less familiar (? ) what method to use = type of scales, data distribution, purpose, appropriateness

RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. What do teacher-researchers in Applied Linguistics think about using statistics in their research studies? 2. How do they understand use ‘central tendency’?

METHOD Subjects: 7 Thai teachers of English at KMUTT with experience in doing research in Applied Linguistics Instrument: (informal) semi-structure interview

FINDING I: GENERAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF STATISTICS IN RESEARCH STUDIES STATISTICS = DIFFICULT but USEFUL

FINDING II: KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF ‘CENTRAL TENDENCY’ KNOWLEDGE: Mean = most familiar method Median/Mode = unfamiliar methods USE: Mean = most frequently used method Median/Mode = never used methods

CONCLUSION As central tendency is commonly used/found in Applied Linguistics research, researchers in the field should be aware of the methods and choose the most appropriate one to interpret data.