2 Some Important Concepts

Some Important Concepts
Population: The totality or collection of all experimental units which we want to study.
Example:
 All registered voters in our Country.

 All daily maximum temperatures in July for different cities in Bangladesh.
 All students in a university.
Types of population:
Finite population: A population is said to be finite if it consists of a finite or fixed number of

elements.
For example: The number of vehicles crossing a bridge every day, the number of births per years
and the number of words in a book are finite populations.
Infinite population: A population is said to be infinite if there is no limit to the number of

elements it can contain.
For example: 1- Stars in sky, 2- Dots in a line, 3- Hair on head, 4- The number of germs in
the body of a sick patient is perhaps something which is uncountable.
Experimental unit: Each individual or object of a population is called an experimental unit.
Example: An employee of a firm, a student of a class, a patient of a hospital etc.
Sample: A sample is a representative part of the population. When a survey is being carried out,
a sample is taken from the population one wants to study.
Example:
 Some registered voters in our Country.

 Some daily maximum temperatures in July for different cities in Bangladesh.
 Some students in a university.
Parameter
A parameter is any summary number, like an average or percentage that describes the entire
population.
The population mean μ (the greek letter "mu") and the population proportion p are two different
population parameters.
Statistic
A statistic is any summary number, like an average or percentage that describes the sample.
The sample mean, x¯, and the sample proportion p^ are two different sample statistics.
Variable: Variable is a characteristics which vary from experimental unit to experimental unit.
Example: Age of a worker, religion of a student, income of household, gross profits of a

company, gender of garment worker etc.
Types of variable:
Size of the shoes: 3, Variable

3.5, 4, 4.
Qualitative Variable Quantitative variable
Discrete Variable Continuous variable
Qualitative Variable:
A variable that cannot assume a numerical value but can be classified into two or more non
numerical categories is called a qualitative variable.
Example- Religion of a student, gender of a patient, economic status of a person, teaching
performance of a professor, efficiency of a worker, quality of a finished product etc.
Quantitative Variable:
A variable that can be measure numerically is called a quantitative variable.
Example- Price of shirt produced by a garments factory, daily rainfall in Chattogram, income
of workers of a factory, age of workers, height of the students etc.
Discrete variable:
A variable, which can take only isolated or countable finite or infinite numbe of values is called
discrete variable.
Example- Number of defective items in a lot, number of accidents per day, number ofprinting
mistakes per page of a book etc.
Continuous variable: a variable that can take infinitely many values over a certain interval or
intervals is called a continuous variable.
Example- Age of worker, weight of employee, height of a salesman, monthly salary of a worker
etc.
Data: A set of observations obtained from a particular study.
Example: Daily production of a factory, age of workers, IQ scores of students etc.
Data Collection
Depending on the source, it can classify as primary data or secondary data. Let us take a look at
them both.
Primary Data
These are the data that are collected for the first time by an investigator for a specific purpose.
Primary data are ‘pure’ in the sense that no statistical operations have been performed on them and
they are original.
An example of primary data is the Census of Bangladesh.
Secondary Data
They are the data that are sourced from some place that has originally collected it. This means that
this kind of data has already been collected by some researchers or investigators in the past and is
available either in published or unpublished form. This information is impure as statistical
operations may have been performed on them already.
An example is information available on the Government of Bangladesh, the Department of
Finance’s website or in other repositories, books, journals, etc.
Measurements: It is a process of assigning numbers to some characteristics or variables

according to some scientific rules.
Levels of Definition Example
scales
Nominal The scale of measurement by  Gender(1=Male, 2= Female)
scale which we can identify and  Political preferences
classify a qualitative variable  Place of residence(Rural, Urban)
according to different categories  a customer survey asking “Which brand of
is called nominal scale. smartphones do you prefer?” Options :
“Apple”- 1 , “Samsung”-2, “OnePlus”-3.
(No mathematical analysis)  Religion
Ordinal The scale of measurement by  Status at workplace,
scale which we can identify, classify  Tournament team rankings,
and rank a qualitative variable  order of product quality,
according to different categories  order of agreement or satisfaction
is called ordinal scale. How satisfied are you with our services?
1- Very Unsatisfied
2- Unsatisfied
(<,>) 3- Neutral
4- Satisfied
5- Very Satisfied
 Grade of the students
 Socio economic Status(Poor, middle, rich)
Interval The scale of measurement by  Temperature
scale which we can measure a  Marks obtained by students in an examination
quantitative variable numerically
on experimental unit with
arbitrary zero as origin is called  Calendar year
interval scale.
(<,>,+,-)
Ratio The level of measurement is  Age
scale called ratio scale when a  Height
quantitative variable is measured  Weight
numerically on experimental unit  Number of printing mistakes per page in book
with absolute zero as origin.  Number of defects of a product
(<,>,+,-,×,÷)
Summary – Levels of Measurement

The four data measurement scales – nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio – are quite often
discussed in academic teaching. Below easy-to-remember chart might help you in your statistics
test.
Offers: Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

The sequence of variables is established – Yes Yes Yes
Mode Yes Yes Yes Yes
Median – Yes Yes Yes
Mean – – Yes Yes
Difference between variables can be evaluated – – Yes Yes
Addition and Subtraction of variables – – Yes Yes
Multiplication and Division of variables – – – Yes
Absolute zero – – – Yes

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Some Important Concepts

 All registered voters in our Country.

Finite population: A population is said to be finite if it consists of a finite or fixed number of

Infinite population: A population is said to be infinite if there is no limit to the number of

Experimental unit: Each individual or object of a population is called an experimental unit.

Example: An employee of a firm, a student of a class, a patient of a hospital etc.

 Some registered voters in our Country.

Example: Age of a worker, religion of a student, income of household, gross profits of a

Size of the shoes: 3, Variable

Qualitative Variable Quantitative variable

Discrete Variable Continuous variable

Measurements: It is a process of assigning numbers to some characteristics or variables

Summary – Levels of Measurement

Offers: Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

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