Question

Which of the following is not one of the steps that μst happen before data can be analyzed?

a) Cleaning the data
b) Building the data file
c) Coding the data
d) Interpreting the data

Answer 1

The process of 'Interpreting the data' is not a step that occurs before data can be analyzed; it is part of the data analysis process itself, following cleaning, building, and coding the data sets.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer to the student's question is d) Interpreting the data. This step does not occur before data can be analyzed; rather, it is a part of the analysis process itself. Data analysis generally involves several prior steps such as:

• Cleaning the data - Removing inaccuracies and fixing errors.
• Building the data file - Compiling the data into a workable format.
• Coding the data - Assigning codes to data to classify and sort it effectively for analysis.

Interpreting the data is the process of making sense of the analyzed data by drawing conclusions and understanding the implications in relation to the original hypothesis. This step comes after the data has been cleaned, compiled, and coded. Therefore, when discussing preparation for data analysis, data interpretation is not considered a preparatory step but the actual process of analyzing the cleaned and organized data.