Project the visual as you lead a discussion about common errors in data collection. Discuss the reverse problems of not gathering enough information and gathering too much (extraneous) data.
Resource slide 23
What factors should be considered in choosing research methods?
Documenting Sources of Information
Show the visual as you lead a discussion of the reasons for accurate, complete documentation.
Resource slide 24
Discuss the need to follow an acceptable referencing style and general suggestions for preparing accurate documentation (shown on right).
Emphasize that charges of plagiarism can diminish your credibility and result in costly law suits by discussing current examples:
DaVinci Code author Dan Brown’s winning a court battle against individuals claiming Brown had lifted theme and ideas from their book. In 2002, Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling won a court battle against an individual claiming Rowling had lifted ideas from her book.
Author of the best-selling series “Conversations With God,” Neale Donald Walsch, posted a personal Christmas essay on a website about his son’s kindergarten winter pageant; except the story never happened to him. It was identical to an essay by another writer published 10 years ago, but Walsch said he mistakenly believed the story had actually come from his own experience. He apologized to his readers and the original author; no law suit was involved, but there was definite damage to his credibility as a writer. Refer students to the article by Motoko Rich in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/books/07book.html?_r=1
Referencing Methods
Discuss the major referencing methods shown in the visual and the current trend toward in-text methods.
Resource slide 25
Refer students to the comprehensive OWL site developed by Purdue University to specific guidelines for using APA style. You can access this site at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01. You might wish to have students purchase a copy of a referencing guide.
Discuss the particular challenges in citing electronic sources. As you display the slide that lists the typical elements in an electronic source, reinforce the importance of selectively choosing online sources. If the required citation elements cannot be found, the source may be suspect in terms of its integrity or reliability.
Learning Objective 5
Explain techniques for the logical analysis and interpretation of data.
Discuss the difference between tabulation and correlation.
Refer students to Figure 9-7 on page 157 in the textbook as you discuss how analyzing the data and arriving at an answer completes the report process.
Web Enrichment Content: Measures of Central Tendency
Assign students to read the information from the companion website titled “Measures of Central Tendency.”
Ask students why measures of central tendency are needed. They may mention that researchers (or other parties) will want to be able to generalize and summarize what the research revealed.
A good way to approach the statistical discussion is to put an array of 35 to 50 numbers on the chalkboard or on a visual. Be sure the numbers are related closely enough to make sense as a statistical distribution when they are tabulated in data classes. For example, make the numbers represent student scores on a test. Have them range between 40 and 99, with a median around 75.
Range
As students review the array, ask them to pick out the high and low scores (values). Subtracting the low from the high value and adding 1 to the result gives the range size; that is, 99 - 40 = 59 + 1 = 60. The range is from 40-99, and the size of the range is 60, which includes both 40 and 99.
Ask students to suggest how many data classes to use in tabulating the values. They will probably arrive at ranges of 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and so on, which would provide 6 classes.
Once tabulation into data classes is completed, ask students to prepare a table showing the number and percent of values in each class. From there, you can talk about central tendency.
Mean, Median, and Mode
Discuss the mean, median, and mode. Lead a discussion as to situations in which each measure is preferred. Give examples of how the three measures can produce very different “averages.” For instance, in an economy with a very few mega-rich citizens and many poor ones, which measure will yield the most accurate idea about the income for that economy?
Assign Activity 9 that requires students to compute the measures of central tendency of a distribution of ungrouped data. Project the answers provided on a solution slide as you review these principles.
Interpreting Data
Discuss the visual as you discuss common errors in data interpretation.
Resource slide 27
To illustrate inaccurate data interpretation, use examples from businesses familiar to students. Coca Cola’s fiasco with its 1985 introduction of New Coke is an excellent example of researchers’ failing to consider important factors. Coca Cola did not realize that many Americans consider Coke to be more than a soft drink; its flavor is an American tradition—something not to be changed on a whim.
An outstanding example of the fallacy of making inferences in the projection of results occurred in the Bush-Gore presidential race in 2000. When major news networks used projections based on preliminary counts in key precincts to declare first one candidate and then the other the winner, newspapers went to press under different assumptions about the outcome of the election. Headlines the morning after communicated conflicting information. Encourage students to discuss other examples of errors in data interpretation.
Have students brainstorm in groups to identify other examples of interpretation errors they have discussed in their business classes. Attempt to identify an example for each of the seven errors listed on the slide and discussed on pp. 156 and 158.
Ask students to define the terms on page 158—findings, conclusions, and recommendations—in their own words. Discuss the differences between conclusions and recommendations, pointing out that not all reports provide recommendations or ask for a specific action.
