Although frequency counts are a useful starting point in
quantitative data analysis, you may find that you need to
do more than merely describe your findings. Often you
will need to find out if there is a connection between
one variable and a number of other variables. For example,
a researcher might want to find out whether there is a
connection between watching violent films and aggressive
behaviour. This is called bivariate analysis.
In multivariate analysis the researcher is interested in exploring
the connections among more than two variables.
For example, a researcher might be interested in finding
out whether women aged 40-50, in professional occupations,
are more likely to try complementary therapies
than younger, non-professional women and men from
all categories.