The analysis of the collected data is the most exciting and creative stage of sociological research that requires thorough study as well as distinctive imagination, intuition, professional and life experience. However, this step is the most complex of all components of the research process of social reality.
The most common is this definition of data interpretation: “data interpretation is a set of actions committed in the process of studying the empirical data for in order to formulate an idea of the characteristics of the researched object, or simply the primary processing of empirical data” (Macionis et al. 2010).
Hence it becomes clear that the main themes and issues of data interpretation are:
1) reviewing the main sociological paradigms, and also receiving explanation and analysis models;
2) the methodological problems of explanation and interpretation;
3) the nature of qualitative and quantitative value and specific methods of data analysis in each of them;
4) problems measurement in sociology;
5) the main research strategies that include and define the methodology of empiric information analysis.
Any process of sociological research should follow the pattern of the following mandatory steps:
1) awareness of the theoretical or practical lack of existing knowledge;
2) formulation of the problem and formation of hypotheses (hypotheses in qualitative research as a rule are put forward onlater stages of the study);
3) the collection of empirical data on which hypothetical assumption can be confirmed or disproved;
4) analysis of empirical data using a variety of methods, strategies, research programs and models;
5) the interpretation of the processed data and an explanation (when it is required) of the social phenomenon;
6) redefinition and refinement of the problem or hypothesis, leading to a new cycle of research.
Thus, data analysis is composed of a series of steps of the research process: its starting point is the stage of the initial processing of the empirical data and the last stage is interpretation of the newly completed data to provide the required information and explanation of the problem (social phenomenon).
On the interpretation stage of data analysis the sociologist faces the task of transformation of sociological data in the figures. The obtained numerical values (percentages, arithmetic mean etc.) must acquire a certain semantic content. They have to be correlated with the original researcher designs, purpose and objectives of the study, and translated into indicators.
Sociological data are indicators only if the researcher is makin" them in a meaningful sense, which means he relates them to study the problem, the most important aspects of the research subject. Deviation from these requirements leads to the development of indicators, erroneously interprets the results as any data have the property of ambiguity, they can be interpreted in different ways.
Usually, when discussing the results of the study among sociologists there are heated arguments. Some believe that the findings are positive, others believe that the data are negative, while others generally avoided definitive estimates. It should be noted that the interpretation of sociological data affects the validity of the hypotheses put forward by previous studies.
Comparing the information obtained from the literature with the actually observed phenomenon allows research to advance the hypothesis that should be confirmed or refuted by the study; the choice of methods of research should be based on the necessary intellectual and material resources. The necessary prerequisite of research is the development program, which usually includes the purpose and objectives of the study, primary and secondary hypotheses, decision on what specific data collection and what methods of organizing the data collection and processing.
The sociologist can successfully carry out an empirical analysis if he is armed with the methodology and research methods. For many new researchers it seems difficult and overwhelming, but in practice it is much easier.
Thus, the final stage of all sociological research involves the processing, analysis and interpretation of the information obtained. Interpretation is a complex data explaining the operation that requires the researcher deep theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the social, scientific objectivity and creative intuition, civic responsibility and impartiality. Correct interpretation of sociological data allows the researcher to draw objective conclusions and generalizations, propose appropriate recommendations to justify the possibility of their implementation, to build predictions of events. The interpretation corresponds to the actual state of affairs only when eating and at all stages of the investigation complied with the requirements of the necessary scientific and moral standards.
The collected data of this particular study represents the indicators of death of people caused by different infectious diseases in different parts of the world all across the globe. The data is provided for different years and shows the percentage of deaths per 100 000 population. It also represents the sex of the people. The data collected shows that, for example, in the Africa region most cases of death are caused by HIV/AIDS, malaria and neonatal conditions. This tendency has proven over the years, because the data of 2000 is similar to the data gathered in 2012. Such indicators can be explained with the low level of life of the people in Africa, and extremely low level of development of medicine. The African people are not aware of the health issues as much as the people from developed countries. They often refuse vaccination against malaria and do not know about ways of preventing HIV/AIDS. The neonatal medicine is at a low stage of development, too.
For the region of the Americas, the situation is totally different. Most deaths in this region are caused by cardiovascular diseases which are the first and most widespread reason of death in the world (which is especially true in the developed countries). The people in the region have specific consumption culture, and many of them do not follow a healthy lifestyle, consuming a lot of unhealthy fats with cholesterol, and carbohydrates. In the developed countries people have often a sitting job. These factors altogether have a bad influence on the cardiovascular system of the person which starts to show problems in the older age.
The same tendency is also observed in the European region. But the noticeable fact here is that the second most spread reason of death in the European region is the malignant neoplasm. This can be explained by the fact that people are nowadays living in the environment that affects their health negatively. The air and water can be polluted. People spend days near their computers, receiving small but constant doses of radiation. Moreover, they rarely prefer a healthy way of life, and their habits may include smoking and alcohol abuse.
In the Western Pacific Region the first place goes to the abovementioned cardiovascular diseases, but what is noticeable that the HIV/AIDS causes no more than 0,89% of deaths per 100 000 in the region.
In the South-East Asia region the deaths are usually caused by cardiovascular diseases, too. Noticeable is the fact that the second most spread cause of death is the neonatal conditions, which means that many children die after birth. For countries with poorly developed neonatal medicine such as Thailand and Indonesia this is an expected factor. As we can see, much less people here are dying from malignant neoplasm. These countries are still strongly connected with the nature, and have good conditions for health of people. Unhealthy habits in the South-East Asia are far less widespread and popular. The closeness of the ocean and warm weather all year long are positive factors, too.
References
Macionis, John; Gerber, Linda (2010). Sociology (7th Canadian ed.). Toronto: Pearson Canada. p. 19.
