The passage below has gaps numbered 6 to 15. Immediately following each gap are provided. Choose the most appropriate option for each gap.
Before any detailed analysis begins, the first thing to do with the data is to check through the field record book and questionnaires for any……..6……[A. records B. events C. odds D. mistakes], inconsistencies and incompleteness. In some cases, it may be possible to correct any discovered shortcomings when it is possible to carry out these……..7……[A. plans B. possibilities C. corrections D. expectations].
In most scientific……8…..[A. experiment B. data C. conclusion D. questionnaires], such revisits are clearly impossible. This is true of many surveys too. A road traffic survey…….9……[A. conducted B. experimented C. classified D. precoded] to find out the amount and frequency of daily traffic between two towns cannot be expected to be……..10…..[A. reproducible B. undertaken C. observed D. produced]. There is no way of going back to check whether the number of vehicles reported for any particular hour is correct or not. With open-ended questions the……11…..[A. methods B. responses C. errors D. conclusion] have to be classified into relatively small number of groups. The process of classifying answers and of sometimes identifying them by number and letter is called…….12…….[A. recording B. recoding C. encoding D. coding]. When closed-ended questions are used, it is possible to code all the possible answers before they are actually received. This is called……..13…..[A. precoding B. coding C. encoding D. recoding]. What is done, a check through the answers for proper classification, numbering and lettering is still called for at this stage. This whole process of checking through questionnaires and notebooks is called……14…..[A. editing B. posting C. listing D. auditing]. Collected data will eventually have to be used in drawing……15…..[A. references B. examples C. conclusions D. analogies] and writing a report about the population from which it came.
In question number 6 above, choose the best option from the letters A-D that best completes the gap.
- records
- events
- odds
-
mistakes
The correct answer is: D
Explanation
The first step when analysing data is to check the field record book and questionnaires for any issues that might affect the quality or reliability of the data. "Mistakes" fits best here because it refers to errors or inaccuracies that can occur during data collection or recording which need to be identified and corrected before analysis.