Research data can be placed into two broad categories: quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data are used when a researcher is trying to quantify a problem, or address the "what" or "how many" aspects of a research question. It is data that can either be counted or compared on a numeric scale. For example, it could be the number of first year students at Macalester, or the ratings on a scale of 1-4 of the quality of food served at Cafe Mac. This data are usually gathered using instruments, such as a questionnaire which includes a ratings scale or a thermometer to collect weather data. Statistical analysis software, such as SPSS, is often used to analyze quantitative data. Qualitative data describes qualities or characteristics. It is collected using questionnaires, interviews, or observation, and frequently appears in narrative form. For example, it could be notes taken during a focus group on the quality of the food at Cafe Mac, or responses from an open-ended questionnaire. Qualitative data may be difficult to precisely measure and analyze. The data may be in the form of descriptive words that can be examined for patterns or meaning, sometimes through the use of coding. Coding allows the researcher to categorize qualitative data to identify themes that correspond with the research questions and to perform quantitative analysis. An abiotic factor is a non-living part of an ecosystem that shapes its environment. In a terrestrial ecosystem, examples might include temperature, light, and water. In a marine ecosystem, abiotic factors would include salinity and ocean currents. Abiotic and biotic factors work together to create a unique ecosystem. Learn more about abiotic factors with this curated resource collection. Subjects Biology, Earth Science, Geography, Geology, Physical Geography This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. / ˈæn sər, ˈɑn- / a spoken or written reply or response to a question, request, letter, etc.: He sent an answer to my letter promptly. a correct response to a question asked to test one's knowledge. an equivalent or approximation: a singing group that tried to be the French answer to the Beatles. an action serving as a reply or response: The answer was a volley of fire. a solution to a problem, especially in mathematics. a reply to a charge or accusation. Law. a pleading in which a party responds to his or her opponent's statement of position, especially the defendant's reply to the plaintiff's complaint. Music. the entrance of a fugue subject, usually on the dominant, either slightly altered or transposed exactly after each presentation in the tonic. verb (used without object) to speak or write in response; make answer; reply. to respond by an act or motion: He answered with a nod. The champion answered with a right to the jaw. to act or suffer in consequence of (usually followed by for). to be or declare oneself responsible or accountable (usually followed by for): I will answer for his safety. to be satisfactory or serve (usually followed by for): His cane answered for a baseball bat. to conform; correspond (usually followed by to): The prisoner answered to the description issued by the police. to speak or write in response to; reply to: to answer a person; to answer a question. to act or move in response to: Answer the doorbell. We answered their goal with two quick goals of our own. to solve or present a solution of. to serve or fulfill: This will answer the purpose. to discharge (a responsibility, claim, debt, etc.). to conform or correspond to; be similar or equivalent to: This dog answers your description. to atone for; make amends for. to reply or respond favorably to: I would like to answer your request but am unable to do so. See synonyms for answer on Thesaurus.com THIS QUIZ ON BLUE OPPOSITES WILL SURELY "BLUE" YOU AWAY What do you think the opposite of blue is? See how much you know about the many ways we can describe the opposite of blue. What does SAFFRON symbolize in Hindu traditions? TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT answer the helm, Nautical. (of a vessel) to maneuver or remain steady according to the position of the rudder. First recorded before 900; Middle English andswerien, Old English andswerian, andswarian, derivative of andswaru “an answer,” equivalent to and- “opposite, facing” (cf. and, along) + unattested Germanic swarō, derivative of swear 1. Answer, rejoinder, reply, response, retort all mean words used to meet a question, remark, charge, etc. An answer is a return remark: an answer giving the desired information. A rejoinder is a quick, usually clever answer or remark made in reply to another's comment, not to a question. Reply usually refers to a direct or point-by-point response to a suggestion, proposal, question, or the like: a reply to a letter. A response often suggests an answer to an appeal, exhortation, etc., or an expected or fixed reply: a response to inquiry; a response in a church service. A retort implies a keen, prompt answer, especially one that turns a remark upon the person who made it: a sharp retort. In English, the verb answer derives from the noun, though both are equally old and occur in Old English translations of the Gospels. The Old English noun is andswaru “response to a question,” composed of the Old English prefix and- “against, contra-” and -swer with two meanings: the legal sense of “a swearing on oath, as in giving testimony” and the neutral, nonlegal sense of “a reply, a response to a question.” In both its legal and general senses, Old English andswaru parallels the Latin verb respondēre, originally a legal term meaning “to make a formal response,” and then used in the general sense “to answer, reply.” an·swer·er, nounan·swer·less, adjectiveun·an·swered, adjectiveun·an·swer·ing, adjective ANSI, ansiform, Anson, Ansonia, anstoss, answer, answerable, answerback, answer for, answering machine, answering pennant Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022 comment, explanation, feedback, interpretation, justification, key, observation, rebuttal, remark, report, resolution, response, result, return, sign, solution, statement, acknowledge, argue, claim
a reply, either spoken or written, as to a question, request, letter, or article a reaction or response in the form of an actiondrunkenness was his answer to disappointment a solution, esp of a mathematical problem law a musical phrase that follows the subject of a fugue, reproducing it a fifth higher or a fourth lower (when tr, may take a clause as object) to reply or respond (to) by word or actto answer a question; he answered; to answer the door; he answered that he would come (tr) to reply correctly to; solve or attempt to solveI could answer only three questions (intr usually foll by to) to respond or react (to a stimulus, command, etc)the steering answers to the slightest touch (tr) to pay off (a debt, obligation, etc); discharge (when intr, often foll by for) to meet the requirements (of); be satisfactory (for); serve the purpose (of)this will answer his needs; this will answer for a chisel (when intr, often foll by to) to match or correspond (esp in the phrase answer (or answer to) the description) (tr) to give a defence or refutation of (a charge) or in (an argument) Old English andswaru an answer; related to Old Frisian ondser, Old Norse andsvar; see swear Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 In addition to the idioms beginning with answer also see:
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