Interpreting Descriptive Stats

Interpreting Descriptive Stats

by HUF04 Nguyễn Ngọc Vy -

The descriptive statistics from my questionnaire provide useful insights into participants’ responses. The mean score for the main variable was 3.8, while the median was 4....

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The descriptive statistics from my questionnaire provide useful insights into participants’ responses. The mean score for the main variable was 3.8, while the median was 4.0 and the mode was also 4.0. This suggests that most respondents tended to give relatively positive responses, clustering around the higher end of the scale.

The fact that the median and mode are slightly higher than the mean indicates a slight negative skew (a few lower scores pulling the mean down). This suggests that while most participants responded positively, there were some respondents with lower ratings.

The standard deviation (SD) was 0.9, which indicates a moderate level of variability. Responses are somewhat spread out, but not extremely dispersed, meaning participants generally had similar opinions with some variation.

by HUF04 Nguyễn Ngọc Vy -
Number of replies: 2

Interpreting Descriptive Stats

by HUF04 Hà Mỹ Bảo Như -
Your analysis of the Standard Deviation is really interesting! Since your SD was quite high (over 1.0), it suggests your respondents had very different views on that ...

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Your analysis of the Standard Deviation is really interesting! Since your SD was quite high (over 1.0), it suggests your respondents had very different views on that specific question. Did you notice if this varied based on a demographic factor, like age or language background? I wonder if a high SD here might point to an 'ambiguous' metaphor that people interpret in different ways.
In reply to HUF04 Nguyễn Ngọc Vy
by HUF04 Hà Mỹ Bảo Như -

Interpreting Descriptive Stats

by HUF04 Đặng Hoàng Phương Anh -
That’s a solid interpretation, but here’s a question that could deepen the analysis and challenge it a bit:

If the mean (3.8) is only slightly lower than the median and ...

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That’s a solid interpretation, but here’s a question that could deepen the analysis and challenge it a bit:

If the mean (3.8) is only slightly lower than the median and mode (4.0), can we confidently conclude there is meaningful negative skewness, or might the distribution actually be fairly symmetrical with only minimal deviation?

In other words, it might be worth asking whether the difference is large enough to justify interpreting skewness, or if visualizing the data (e.g., with a histogram or boxplot) would reveal a more balanced distribution. Additionally, are there actual outliers driving the mean down, or just a small number of slightly lower responses within a normal range?
In reply to HUF04 Nguyễn Ngọc Vy
by HUF04 Đặng Hoàng Phương Anh -