Designed and written by:

Adi Hakim Talib

FSKM, UiTM Melaka
 By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
 Explain the meaning of statistics
 Identify the role of statistics and statisticians
 Recognize the 2 types of statistics
 Explain the basic statistical terms
o STATISTICS is a group of scientific method used
to Collect, Organize, Analyze, Present &
Interpret data as well as drawing valid Conclusion
and making effective decision based on the
analysis
 Application of statistics:
 a tool for researchers in other fields
 used to draw general conclusions in a large variety
of application
 examples include forecasting and predicting
winners of elections (in politics), average length of
life of a life bulb (in industries) and etc.
 Statistician:

 collects the data

 arrange and organizing the data
 analyses the data
 infers general conclusion based on the analysis
 Descriptive statistics :
consists of methods for organizing, displaying and
describing data by using tables, graphs, charts,
diagrams and summary measures to exhibit the
information obtained from the data
 Inferential statistics (or inductive statistics) :
consists of methods that use sample results to
help make decisions or predictions about a
population (generalizing from samples to
populations)

(Refer Statistics for UiTM, pg 7)

 Population consists of ALL elements (individuals,
items, objects and etc.) whose characteristics are
being studied
 Sample is a portion of the elements selected from
the population. Hence, the sample is a subset of the
population
 Sampling unit (experimental unit or element) is a
specific subject or object (eg: person, item, state
and etc.) about which the information is collected
 Sampling frame is a list of ALL members in a
population and is necessary when samples are
selected randomly
 Variable is a characteristic under study that
assumes different values for different element (eg:
incomes of a households, gender, height, hair color
and etc.)
 Observation (measurement) is the value of a
variable for an element
 Statistics and parameters
 A summary measure such as mean, median, mode or
standard deviation computed from sample data is
called a statistics while those computed from the
entire population is called a parameters
 Cencus is a survey that include every members in a
population
 Sample survey on the other hand involve only a
portion of the population
 Random sample consider every member in a
population has an equal chance or probability of being
selected as sampling unit
 Pilot study is a study done before the actual fieldwork
is carried out
 Datais a measure on variables of interest
obtained from a sample (data set is a
collection of observation on one or more variables)
 Data can be obtained from primary as well as
secondary sources
 Researcherscollect primary data from primary
sources or samples (researchers interview
respondents and records their responses)
 Secondarydata are normally published data
collected by other parties (eg: National Bank,
Departments of Statistics and etc.)
 Advantages of primary and secondary data
Primary Secondary
More accurate and consistent Requires less time, less money
with the obj of the research and manpower
The researcher know how the Data help to decide what
data are collected and the further research needs to be
limitation done
No reproduction error since
data are gathered for the first
time
Up-to-date
 Disadvantages of primary and secondary data
Primary
Requires more time, more
money and manpower
Secondary
Lack of accuracy
Data may be biased because
the original purpose is unknown
Data may not meet the specific
needs and obj of current
research
Leads to reproduction error
since data are gathered for the
second time
Not every secondary data is
readily available and
inexpensive
 Variables may be classified as
 Qualitative variable : variable that cannot
assume a numerical value but can be classified
into two or more non numeric categories (also
called categorical variables)
 Quantitative variable : variable that can be
measured numerically and is divided into two
categories
 Discrete :values are countable which arise from a
counting process
example:
 Continuous : values can assume any numerical value
over a certain interval which arise from a measuring
process
 Basically data can be divided into numerical and
categorical
 Numerical: can be manipulated using ordinary
arithmetical operations
 Categorical : can be sorted into categories
 Usually data is classified as
 Nominal scale
Nominal data is categorical data where it is not
capable of being manipulated arithmetically. Nominal
data is the lowest in the level of data measurement
example: gender, marital status, hair color & etc.
 Ordinal scale
Data of ordinal scale can be arrange in ranking order
and inequality signs can be used when comparing the
values of the variables. However, the difference
between data values are meaningless
example: grade,

 Interval scale
If the difference between data value are meaningful
but cannot be manipulated by multiplication/division
(eg: 30⁰ - 20⁰ = 20⁰ - 10⁰ but 20⁰/10⁰ is not twice as hot) and
zero does not represent the absolute lowest value
example: year, date, & etc.
 Ratio scale
It has all the properties of an interval scale data, and
also has a clear definition of 0.0 and represents the
absent of the phenomenon being measured. This is the
highest level of data measurements scale
example: age, height, weight, & etc.