Topics

• Views about Statistics

• Basic Concepts:
– Data, Variation & Variables
– Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
– Population, Sample
– Parameter, Statistic
• Data Collection Schemes
• Sources of Errors
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 Views about Statistics

Florence Nightingale on Statistics

• “...the most important science in the whole
world: for upon it depends the practical
application of every other science and of every
art: the one science essential to all political
and social administration, all education, all
organization based on experience, for it only
gives results of our experience.”

• “To understand God's thoughts, we must study

statistics, for these are the measures of His
purpose.”

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 Statistics

plural sense a set of numerical data

singular sense branch of science which
deals with the

* collection
* presentation
* analysis
* interpretation
of a set of numerical data

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 Statistical Concepts
• The foundation of Statistics is
DATA, which can be transformed
into useful facts and information
that an analyst or decision maker
can use.
• Often, a fundamental characteristic
of data is variability.

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 Statistical Concepts
Variation is inevitable…
• Weights of people in this room are not
the same.
• Household Income vary from household
to household.
• Number of employees varies from firm to
firm.
• Peso dollar exchange rate varies from
day to day.
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 Statistics

• is the science and art of uncertainty

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 Aims of Statistics
Statistics aims to uncover structure in data,
and to explain variation in the data.
Descriptive statistics Inferential statistics
• methods concerned w/ • methods concerned
collecting, describing, with the analysis of a
and analyzing a set of subset of data
data without drawing leading to
conclusions (or predictions or
inferences) about a inferences about the
large group entire set of data
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 Descriptive Statistics
Present the Philippine population by constructing a
graph indicating the total number of Filipinos counted
during the last census by age group and sex

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 Descriptive Statistics

• The Department of Social Welfare

and Development (DSWD)
provided statistics showing trends
in the number of child abuse
cases during the last five years.

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 Inferential Statistics

Larger Set Smaller Set

(N units/observations) (n units/observations)

Inferences and
Generalizations

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 Population vs. Sample

Population a collection of all the

elements under consideration in any
statistical study

Sample a part (or subset) of the

population from which information is
collected

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 Example of Population and
Sample
Population – all school districts in the
division of Manila

Sample – a subset of school districts

in the division of Manila

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 Parameter vs. Statistic

Parameter a numerical characteristic

of the population

Statistic a numerical characteristic

of the sample

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 Example of Parameter and Statistic

Suppose our population consists of one

department in a government agency
consisting of 25 employees. There are
20 employees who own a cell phone.
Thus, 80% of the employees in the
department own a cell phone.
The parameter of interest is 80%.

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 Example of Parameter and Statistic

Suppose we take a sample of 10

employees from this department. Among
the 10 employees in the sample, 7 own
cellular phones. Thus, 70% of the
employees in the sample own cell
phones.
The statistic of interest is 70%.

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 Population and Sample

Population Sample

Sampleto
Use statistics
summarize features

Use parameters to
summarize features

Inference on the population from the sample

 Reasons for Drawing a Sample

• Less time consuming than a census

• Less costly to administer than a census

• Less cumbersome and more practical to

administer than a census of the targeted
population

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Two Areas of Inferential Statistics

• Estimation

• Hypothesis Testing

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 Examples of Estimation
• We may want to estimate the average
performance evaluation score of a
certain government agency

• We may want to estimate the average

lifetime of batteries being manufactured

• We may want to estimate the proportion

of voters favoring a certain mayoral
candidate
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 Examples of Hypothesis Testing

• Is the majority supporting Charter change?

• Is the new drug better treatment than the

existing treatment that is known to
stimulate hair growth among 40% of
patients with male pattern baldness?

• The mean body temperature for patients

admitted to elective surgery is not equal to
37.0oC.
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 Inferential Statistics
Is there support for charter change?

Assume that in the

population, the majority
is 50%.
( H 0 :   50% ) Population restricted to
voting popn
Is X  33% likely if   50% ? Take a Sample
Of 1500
No, not likely! respondents

REJECT

Null Hypothesis
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 Statistical Analysis

The world The world

Use DATA to: before after analysis
– Describe analysis

– Explain
– Predict Data Data
collection interpretation
– Make
Decisions
Data organization &
preliminary analysis

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 Variable

• A variable is a characteristic observed

or measured on every unit of the
universe, e.g., weight, sex, income of
individuals.

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 Variables
NAME OF VARIABLE POSSIBLE VALUES

a) X (Number of beneficiaries) X = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .
b) S (Sex) Male, Female
c) Y (Educational Attainment) Elementary, Secondary, College
d) S (Household Income) P15,000 to P75,000
e) A (Age as of Last Birthday) a = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .
f) R (Number of rooms in R = 1, 2, 3, . . .
dwelling)
g) C (Civil Status) Single, Married,
Widowed,Separated
h) N (Number of Children in n = 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .
household)

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 Types of Variables

• In a survey, we may have

data on two types of VARIABLES

variables: Categorical Numerical

– Categorical/Qualitative
e.g. dwelling characteristics
(type of toilet), marital Discrete Continuous

status
– Numerical/Quantitative
e.g. number of rooms in a dwelling, amount of land
owned, income of members of household
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 Types of Variables

• Henceforth we call outcomes of categorical

variables as categories, and that of
numerical variables as values.
• By convention, categorical variables are
coded:
Example 1: Sex: 1=Male, 2=Female
Example 2: Region: 1=North, 2=Central 3=East
4=South 5=West
• Codes for “categories” are (arbitrary)
conventions

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 Types of Variables

• For analysis purposes, it is better to recode “binary”

categorical variables as zeros and ones.
Example 1: Sex: 1=Male, 2=Female
Male 1
Male 1
Female 2 0
Male 1
Female 2 0
• Recoding females as zeros, note that the mean of the
ones and zeros (0.60) is the percentage of males.

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 Levels of Measurement

1. Nominal (e.g. sex)

 Numbers or symbols used to classify
2. Ordinal scale (e.g. income decile)
 Accounts for order; no indication of
distance between positions
3. Interval scale
 Equal intervals; no absolute zero
4. Ratio scale (e.g. temperature)
 Has absolute zero

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 Data Classification by Grouping
• Raw or ungrouped Data
– Not processed
– May have been edited but not summarized
• Grouped Data

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 Types of Data

• By Availability
1. Internal data: by-products of the agency's administrative
and management functions
2. External data: supplied from outside or those that are not
produced by the agency's own operation.
• By Source
1. Primary data
2. Secondary data
• By Series
1. Cross-sectional data
2. Time-series data
3. Panel data

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 Methods of Collecting Data
 Surveys

Observation

Use of Existing
Records
Experimentation

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 Survey Method
1. Survey Method : asking people, firms,
etc., questions either by personal
interviews or by mailed questionnaires.
a) Census
 Entire population
 Stock Information
 Basis for samples
 Usually the most expensive

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 Survey Method
b) Sample Surveys
 Representative segment
 For making estimates
 More often, more detailed, less
expensive than census
 Types of data collection
– Personal Interview, self-administered
questionnaire, telephone interview, mailed
questionnaire, internet surveys

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 Observation Method
2. Observation Method : recording of behavior
of persons, etc., but only at the time of
occurrence
a) Unstructured - complete flexibility
1) Participant Observation - observer joins the group as a
participating member, whether actively or passively.
2) Non-participant Observation - observer is outside the
group, whether his presence is known or unknown
b) Structured - use of formal instruments; a
specific plan/protocol is made before data is
collected (field or laboratory).

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 Use of Existing Records
3. Other Existing Records/Sources

 Documentary Sources such as published

or written reports, periodicals,
unpublished documents, etc.
 Field Sources : experts whom we can
ask, personal or direct

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 Experimentation
4. Experimentation

 there is direct human intervention on the

conditions that may affect the values of
the variable of interest.

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 Sources of Errors in Data
for Formal Data Collection
1. Sampling errors Chance
differences
2. Non-sampling errors from sample
a. Non-response to sample.
Follow up on
non responses.
b. Coverage
Excluded from
frame.

c. Measurement
Bad Question!
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Exercises: Specify if the data is quantitative or
qualitative. Indicate too the level of
measurement.

1. Amount of expenditure of employees (actual amount in

pesos)
2. Membership in an organization for employees
(member or non-member)
3. Number of years working (in actual number of years)
4. Satisfaction with the implementation of the program
(Very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied, very dissatisfied)
5. Awareness of a project (aware, not aware)
6. Number of employees given bonuses (exact count)
7. Proportion of employees who benefit from the program

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 8. Addresses of employees
9. Causes of employees’ absences (monetary,
illness, no interest, others)
10. Sources of income (income from employment,
relatives, informal sources, others)
11. Actual amount of scholarship granted
12. Interest rate of last loan granted
13. Terms of payment of last loan granted
14. Zip code of the government agency
15. GSIS ID no.
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