Introduction to Statistics Chapter 1: Introduction

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
When you have completed this chapter, you will be able to:
➢ Understand why we study statistics
➢ Explain what mean by descriptive (deductive) and inferential (inductive) statistics
➢ Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative variable
➢ Distinguish between discrete and continuous variable
➢ Distinguish the different level of measurement by nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio

Definition and classifications of Statistics

Definition of Statistics
Statistics is defined as the science of collecting, organizing, presenting, analyzing
and interpreting numerical data for the purpose of assisting in making a more
effective decision.
It is an aggregate or collection of numerical facts.
Statistics is a science of or set of techniques for description & analysis of statistical data.
Classification
Depending on how data can be used statistics is divided in to two.
1. Descriptive Statistics: describe the data we collect/gather form sample which is
concerned with summary calculations, graphs, charts and tables.
2. Inferential Statistics: is a method used to generalize from a sample to a
population. For example, the average income of all families (the population) in
Ethiopia can be estimated from figures obtained from a few hundred (the sample)
families.
• It is important because statistical data usually arises from sample.
• Statistical techniques based on probability theory are essential.

Stages in statistical investigation

There are five stages or steps in any statistical investigation.
1. Collection of data:
✓ The process of measuring, gathering, assembling the raw data up on which the
statistical investigation is to be based.

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2. Organization of data:
o Summarization of data in some meaningful way, e.g table form
3. Presentation of the data:
o The process of re-organization, classification, compilation, and summarization of
data to present it in a meaningful form.
4. Analysis of data:
o The process of extracting relevant information from the summarized data,
mainly through the use of elementary mathematical operation.
5. Inference of data:
o The interpretation and further observation of the various statistical measures
through the analysis of the data by implementing those methods by which
conclusions are formed and inferences made.
o Statistical techniques based on probability theory are required.

Definitions of some terms

Population: It is the collection of all possible observations of a specified
characteristic of interest (possessing certain common property) and being under
study.
Population is totality of all objects (individuals) or items under consideration possess the
same characteristics.
Sample: It is a subset or part or portion of the population under study, selected using
some sampling technique in such a way that they represent the population.
Sampling: The process or method of sample selection from the population.
Sample size: The number of elements or observation to be included in the sample.
Census: Complete enumeration or observation of the elements of the population. Or
it is the collection of data from every element in a population
Parameter: Characteristic or measure obtained from a population.
❖ descriptive measure of a population
❖ Summary value collected from a population
❖ Results obtained from a population
Statistic: Characteristic or measure obtained from a sample.
▪ Descriptive measure of a sample

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▪ Results obtained from a sample study
▪ Statistical (calculated) value referring to a sample
Variable: It is an item of interest that can take on many different numerical values.
A variable is a condition that can differ from one case to another or one object to the
other. It is a quantity which shows variability & takes on different values.
Example: - weight, height, age, production, blood pressure, heart beat, number of
patients on a given hospital, sex etc

Type of Variables
Qualitative Variables are non-numeric variables and can't be measured.
Example: gender, religious affiliation, departments in ASU, state of birth …
Quantitative Variables are numerical variables and can be measured.
Example: age, height, number of students in a class, balance in your bank account,
number of children in family, monthly salary of teachers, number of bedrooms in
your house, air pressure …
Note that quantitative variables are either discrete (which can assume only certain
values, and there are usually "gaps" between the values) or continuous (which can
assume any value within a specific range)

Applications, Use and Limitation of Statistics

Applications of statistics:
• In almost all fields of human endeavor.
• Almost all human beings in their daily life are subjected to obtaining numerical
facts e.g. abut price.
• Applicable in some process e.g. invention of certain drugs, extent of
environmental pollution.
• In industries especially in quality control area.
Uses of statistics:
The following are some uses of statistics:
1. It presents facts in a definite and precise form.
2. Data reduction.
3. simplifies a wide & complex mass of data

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4. Studying the relationship between two or more variable.
5. Measuring the magnitude of variations in data.
6. Furnishes a technique of comparison
7. Estimating unknown population characteristics.
8. Testing and formulating of hypothesis.
9. Forecasting future events.
Limitations of statistics
As a science statistics has its own limitations. The following are some of the
limitations:
• Deals with only quantitative information.
• Deals with only aggregate of facts and not with individual data items.
• Statistical data are only approximately and not mathematical correct.
• Statistics can be easily misused and therefore should be used be experts.

Scale of measurement
Measurement means both observational as well as physical act of measuring by using
some scaled measurement. Measurement scale refers to the property of value
assigned to the data based on the properties of order, distance and fixed zero. The
level of measurement strongly influence which statistical analysis are appropriate.
Example: when we measure education: -
• As public and private, the variable is nominal
• By degree attend none, BSc. MSc. PhD … it is ordinal variable
• By number of years using integers as 1 year 2 year 3 year … it is interval variable
Scales of measurement, however, do not provide the same amount of information about
variables they try to measure. In fact, we generally talk about measurement scales having
one of four distinct levels of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. We
speak of levels of measurement because the higher the level of measurement the more
information we have about a variable. These levels of measurement are a fundamental
distinction in statistics, since they determine much of what we can do with the data we
gather. In fact, when considering which kind of statistical techniques we can use to
analyze data, usually the first question to ask is the level at which a variable has been
measured.

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Scale Types
Measurement is the assignment of numbers to objects or events in a systematic
fashion. Four levels of measurement scales are commonly distinguished: nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio and each possessed different properties of measurement
systems.
Nominal Scales
Nominal scales are measurement systems that possess none of the three properties
stated above.
• The nominal scale applies to data that are used for category identification.
• Which classifies cases into categories that have no quantitative ordering
• Level of measurement which classifies data into mutually exclusive, all-
inclusive categories in which no order or ranking can be imposed on the data.
• No arithmetic and relational operation can be applied.
• It is a system of assigning number symbols to events in order to label them.
Example: Id number of students, colors (red, brown, black, white etc), Regional
differentiation of Ethiopia, gender (sex), marital status, blood types, eye colors, hair
colors, Country code etc…
Ordinal Scales
Ordinal Scales are measurement systems that possess the property of order, but not
the property of distance and fixed zero.
• Level of measurement which classifies data into categories that can be
ranked (ordered)
• Differences between the ranks do not exist
• Arithmetic operations are not applicable
• Relational operations are applicable
• Ordering is the sole property of ordinal scale
• Ordinal scales of measurements are not interchangeable.
Example:
➢ Economic status (poor, medium, rich)

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➢ The degrees of change in patients after some treatment (vast improvement,
moderate improvement, no change, moderate degradation, vast
degradation/death/sever).
➢ Opinion (strongly agree, agree, no opinion, disagree, strongly disagree)
➢ Rank in the military
➢ Rank of students by their educational achievement (A+, A, B+, B, C+, C)
➢ Position of athletes at the end of the race, type of disease (1st , 2nd , 3rd etc)
Interval Scales
Interval scales are measurement systems that possess the properties of order and
distance, but not the property of fixed zero.
• Level of measurement which classifies data that can be ranked and
differences are meaningful. However, there is no meaningful zero, so ratios are
meaningless.
• An interval scale has units measuring intervals of equal distance between
values on the scale. That means constant size interval between adjacent units.
• The value zero is arbitrarily chosen for interval data and does not imply an
absence of the characteristic being measured.
• Limitation of the interval scale is lack of the zero point
• There is no physical significant to the zero point
• All arithmetic operations except division are applicable.
• Relational operations are also possible.
Example: temperature (0℃ does not mean absence of temperature), IQ, dates,
years, most personality measure, sea level…
Ratio Scales
Ratio scales are measurement systems that possess all three properties: order,
distance, and fixed zero. The added power of a fixed zero allows ratios of numbers
to be meaningfully interpreted; i.e. the ratio of Bekele's height to Martha's height is
1.32, whereas this is not possible with interval scales.
• Level of measurement which classifies data that can be ranked
• differences are meaningful
• There is a true zero

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• There is a physical significant to this zero point, this means the zero point of this
scale indicate an absence of the measured scale
• True ratios exist between the different units of measure
• Can be continuous or discrete
• All arithmetic and relational operations are applicable.
Example:
Weight, length (height), volume, age, blood pressure, heartbeat, area, rainfall,
count variables such as amount of money you have in your pocket right now
(0.25cents, 0.55cents etc.), number eggs, number of red blood cells, monthly

consumption, number of students in a class, monthly salary…

Try to classify the different measurement systems into one of the four types of
scales. (Exercise)
1. Your checking account number as a name for your account.
2. Your checking account balance as a measure of the amount of money you have in
that account.
3. The order in which you were eliminated in a spelling bee as a measure of your
spelling ability.
4. Your score on the first statistics test as a measure of your knowledge of
statistics.
5. Your score on an individual intelligence test as a measure of your intelligence.
6. A response to the statement "Abortion is a woman's right" where "Strongly
Disagree" = 1, "Disagree" = 2, "No Opinion" = 3, "Agree" = 4, and "Strongly Agree"
= 5, as a measure of attitude toward abortion.
7. Times for swimmers to complete a 50-meter race
8. Months of the year Meskerm, Tikimit…
9. Socioeconomic status of a family when classified as low, middle and upper
10. Blood type of individuals, A, B, AB and O
11. The height of the men in the Assosa town
12. Number of complaint letters received by a firm’s administrator
13. Number of tomato’s on each plant in a field
14. Miles driven by city -bus drivers each day
15. Weights of newborn children at Assosa hospital
16. The pages of a book are numbered from 1 through 150

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