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parents and principals as partners in creating a culture of learning

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5.7· THE PROCESSING OF THE DATA<br />

Once data were collected. it w<strong>as</strong> captured <strong>in</strong> a format which would permit analysis<br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>terpretation. This <strong>in</strong>volved the careful cod<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the 200 questionnaires<br />

completed by the <strong>parents</strong> <strong>of</strong> st<strong>and</strong>ard n<strong>in</strong>e children <strong>and</strong> 50 questionnaires<br />

completed by <strong>pr<strong>in</strong>cipals</strong>. The coded data were subsequently transferred onto a<br />

computer spreadsheet us<strong>in</strong>g the Quatro Pro 4.0 data b<strong>as</strong>e statistics computer<br />

programme. The coded data were submitted to the Department <strong>of</strong> Statistics at the<br />

University <strong>of</strong> Natal <strong>and</strong> w<strong>as</strong> computer-analyzed us<strong>in</strong>g the SAS programme <strong>in</strong> order<br />

to <strong>in</strong>terpret the results by means <strong>of</strong> descriptive statistics.<br />

5.7.1 Descriptive statistics<br />

Descriptive statistics serve to describe <strong>and</strong> summarise observations (Van Rensburg,<br />

L<strong>and</strong>man & Bodenste<strong>in</strong>. I994:355). Frequency tables, histograms <strong>and</strong> polygons<br />

are useful <strong>in</strong> form<strong>in</strong>g impressions about the distribution <strong>of</strong> data.<br />

Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Van den Aardweg & Van den Aardweg (l988:65-76) frequency<br />

distribution is a method to organise data obta<strong>in</strong>ed from questionnaires to simplify<br />

statistical analysis. A frequency table provides the follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation:<br />

•<br />

•<br />

It <strong>in</strong>dicates how many times a particular response appears on the completed<br />

questionnaires.<br />

It provides percentages that reflect the number <strong>of</strong> responses to a certa<strong>in</strong><br />

question <strong>in</strong> relation to the total number <strong>of</strong> responses.

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