For instance, if were are nine opinions on the same case, that specific conduct in question would have been represented nine times in the data, even though those nine entries all pertained to the same provider’s conduct. As a result, it was necessary to have data at both the opinion level and the case level. The coding for every variable was entered into an Excel file, and later converted to SPSS for data manipulation and analysis. In some occasional instances, information that had been coded for certain variables was not used in the final data analysis, because it was not deemed to be particularly informative.

As one example, the date a case was argued before the court had been entered in the data set, but this was ultimately not used in the final data analysis. The coding of the variables discussed above allowed for a variety of different data analyses which addressed the four sub-questions. Below, each of the four sub-questions is re-visited, and a summary of the specific data analysis that was performed for each is given. It again merits mention that this study assessed a population, rather than a sample.