Educ-98

INTRODUCTION
TO STATISTICS
-BRANCHES OF STATISTICS
-TERMINOLOGIES IN STATISTICS
-SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
BRANCHES OF STATISTICS

Descriptive
S tatistics an
d
Inferential
Statistics
 BRANCHES OF STATISTICS
Descriptive Statistics – is a statistical procedure concerned with
describing the characteristics and properties of a group of
persons, places or things.
For example, we may describe a collection of persons by stating how many are poor
and how many are rich, how many are literate and how many are illiterate, how many
fall into various categories of age, height, civil status, IQ, and many more. We may also
describe a particular barangay in terms of the number of families it has, the number of
grade-schoolers, the number of professionals, the number of households with certain
kinds of appliances, the number of siblings in each household, or the rate of
unemployment.
Generally, descriptive statistics involve gathering, organizing, presenting and describing data.
 BRANCHES OF STATISTICS
Inferential Statistics – is a statistical procedure that is used to
draw inferences or information about the properties or
characteristics by a large group of people, places, or things or the
basis of the information obtained from a small portion of a large
group.
Suppose we want to know the most favorite brand of toothpaste of a certain barangay
and we do not have enough time and money to interview all the residents of that
barangay, we may just ask selected residents. With the data obtained from the
interviews, we shall draw or make conclusions as to barangay’s favorite brand of
toothpaste. This example involves the use of inferential statistics.
TERMINOLOGIES IN STATISTICS

Some im
portant
commonly terms ar
used in th e
Statistics. e study o
These term f
understood s should b
fully i n e
facilitate th order to
e study of s
tatistics.
1. Population refers to a large collection of objects, places or things. To illustrate
this, suppose a researcher wants to determine the average income of the
residents of a certain barangay and there are 1500 residents in the barangay.
Then all of these residents comprise the population. A population is usually
denoted or represented by N. Hence, this case, N = 1500.
2. Sample is a small portion or part of a population. It could also be define as a sub-
group, subset, or representative of a population. For instance, suppose the
above-mentioned researcher does not have enough time and money to conduct
the study using the whole population and he wants to use only 200 residents.
These 200 residents comprise the sample. A sample is usually denoted by n, thus
n = 200.
3. Parameter is any numerical or nominal characteristics of a population. It is a value
or measurement obtained from a population. It is usually referred to as the true or
actual value. If in the preceding illustration, the researcher uses the whole population
(N=1500), then the average income obtained is called a parameter.

4.Statistic is an estimate of a parameter. It is a value or measurement obtained from

the sample. If the researcher in the preceding illustration makes use of the sample
(n=200), then the average income obtained is called statistic.
5. Data – (singular form is datum) are facts, or a set of information or observation
under study. More specifically, data are gathered by the researcher from a population
or from a sample. Data may be classified into two categories, qualitative or
quantitative.
Two Type of Data
a. Qualitative Data
b. Quantitative Data
 a. Qualitative data are data which can assume values that manifest the concepts of
attributes. These are sometimes called categorical data. Data falling in this
category cannot be subjected to meaningful arithmetic. They cannot be added,
subtracted or divided. Gender and nationality are qualitative data.
Gender is a qualitative dichotomous variable since an individual may take one of the two values
“male or female”. In an opinion poll, the response of an individual towards an issue whether to
“go” for it, “against” it or “undecided” is an example of qualitative trichotomous variable.
Smoking habits of an individual in different situations may be classified as “Always/Very Often”,
“often”, “Seldom”, “Very Seldom”, or “Never”. This set of qualitative values is called multinomous
variable.
b. Quantitative Data are data which are numerical in nature. These are data
obtained from counting or measuring. In addition, meaningful arithmetic operations
can be done with this type of data. Test scores and height are quantitative data.
6. Variable is a characteristic or property of a population or sample which makes the
members different from each other. If a class consists of boys and girls, then gender is
a variable in this class. Height is also a variable because different people have different
heights. Variables may be classified on the basis of whether they are discrete or
continuous and whether they are dependent or independent.

Type of Variable
a. Discrete Variable
b. Continuous Variable
c. Dependent Variable
d. Independent Variable
a. A Discrete Variable variable is one that can assume a finite number of values. In
other words, it can assume specific values only. The values of a discrete variable are
obtained through the process of counting. The number of students in a class is a
discrete variable. If there are 40 students in a class, it cannot reported that there are
40.2 students or 40.5 students, because it is impossible for a fractional part of a
student to be in the class.
True
b. A Continuous Variable is one that can assume infinite values within a specified
interval. The values of a continuous variable are obtained through measuring. Height
is a continuous variable. If one reports that the height of a building is 15 m, it is also
possible that another person reports that the height of the same building is 15.1m or
15.12m, depending on the precision of the measuring device used. In other words,
height of the building can assume several values.
c. A Dependent Variable is a variable which is affected or influenced by another
variable.
d. An Independent Variable is one in which affects or influences the dependent
variable. To illustrate Independent and dependent variables, consider the problem
entitled, The Effect of Computer-Assisted Instruction on the Students’ Achievement in
Mathematics. Here the independent variable is the computer-assisted instruction
while the dependent variable is the achievement of students in mathematics.
7. Constant refers to the fundamental quantities that do not change in value, fixed
costs and acceleration due to gravity are examples of such.
 SCALES OF MEASUREMENT

1. Nominal Scale- This is the most primitive level of measurement. The nominal level
of measurement used when we want to distinguish one object from another for
identification purposes. In this level, we can only say that one object is different from
another, but the amount of difference between them cannot be determined. We
cannot tell that one is better or worse than the other. Gender, nationality and civil
status are of nominal scale.
 SCALES OF MEASUREMENT

2. Ordinal scale – in the ordinal level of measurement, data are arranged in some
specified order or rank. When objects are measured in this level, we can say that one
is better or greater than the other. But we cannot tell how much more or how much
less of the characteristic one objects than the other. The ranking of contestants in a
beauty contest, or siblings in the family, or of honor students in the class are of ordinal
scale.
 SCALES OF MEASUREMENT

3. Interval Scale- If data are measured in the interval level, we can say not only that
one object is greater or less than another, but we can also specify the amount of
difference. The scores in an examination are of interval scale of measurement. To
illustrate, suppose Kensly Kyle got 50 in a Math examination while Kwenn Anne got 40.
We can say the Kensly Kyle got higher score than Kwenn Ann by 10 points.
A 5 Minutes Interval Time Scale
 SCALES OF MEASUREMENT

3. Ratio Scale- The ratio level of measurement is like the interval level. The only
difference is that the ratio level always starts from an absolute or true zero point. In
addition, in the ratio level, there is always the presence of units of measure. If data
are measured in this level, we can say that one object is so many times as large or as
small as the other. For example, suppose Mrs. Reyes weight 50 kg, while her daughter
weighs 25 kg. We can say that Mrs. Reyes is twice heavy as her daughter. Thus, weight
is an example of data measured in the ratio.
Summation notation
-(or sigma notation) allows us to write a long sum in a single expression.
-This appears as the symbol, ∑, which is the Greek upper case letter, S.
 This expression means sum the values of x, starting at x1
and ending with xn.

This expression means sum the values of x, starting at x3

and ending with x10.
 The limits of summation are often understood to mean i = 1
through n. Then the notation below and above the summation sign
is omitted. Therefore this expression means sum the values of x,
starting at x1 and ending with xn.

This expression means sum the squared values of x, starting at x1

and ending with xn.
 Arithmetic operations may be performed on variables within the summation. For example:

This expression means sum the values of x, starting at x 1

and ending with xn and then square the sum.

Arithmetic operations may be performed on expressions containing more than one variable. For
example:
This expression means In this expression c is a
form the product of x constant, i.e. an element
multiplied by y, starting at which does not involve the
x1 and y1 and ending with variable of summation and
xn and yn and then sum the the sum involves n
elements.
products.
“Thank You!”
—End