Business Statistics: Module 1.

Introduction to Statistics Page 1 of 5

Module 1 Introduction and Data Collection

Statistics

 scientific way of collecting, organizing, analyzing, presenting, and interpreting data

 tools used to transform raw data into meaningful information which can aid
managers in their decision-making functions
 quantitative (numerical) and qualitative (categorical) facts

Branches of Statistics

 Descriptive statistics – tools which are used to summarize and present the gathered
data in graphical, tabular, or numerical form so readers can easily understand it. A
conclusion may be drawn based on it, but it cannot be generalized, as it is only
applicable to the group under studied. Descriptive statistics include mean, median,
mode, percentages, range, interquartile range, variance, and standard deviation.

 Inferential statistics – tools which are used to analyze data collected from randomly
select sample; insights, inferences, or conclusions drawn from it can be generalized,
or applied to a larger group. These tools include z-test, t-test, anova, regression, and
chi-square among others. These are usually used to test hypotheses.

Types of Inferential Statistics

 Parametric statistics – these tools are used if the data were: quantitative/numerical,
drawn from randomly select sample, and normally distributed.

 Nonparametric statistics – these tools are used if data were: qualitative/categorical,

drawn from sample chosen through nonprobability sampling, and not normally
distributed.

Parametric Statistics Non-parametric Statistics

 Spearman rho  Pearson r
 Chi-square test  Z-test
 McNemar Test  T-test
 Kruskal Wallis Test  ANOVA
 Linear regression

Important Terms in Statistics

 Population and sample – population pertains to the totality, the whole, or all
members of a group; while a sample is a representation, a part, or a fraction of a
group. For example, all management student represents the population; while one
management class is a sample. A good illustration will be that of a pizza – a whole
pizza is a population and a slice of pizza is a sample.
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 Census and survey – census is gathering necessary data from the population, while
survey is gathering data from a sample. The government is usually doing census of
the households every five years. Private institutions and individuals usually use
survey in collecting data as it is more economical than census.

 Parameter and statistic – parameter pertains the numerical description of a

population, which are population mean (µ), population variance (δ2), population
standard deviation (δ); while statistic refers to numerical description of a sample,
which are sample mean (x bar), sample variance (s2), and sample standard
deviation (s)

Types of Variable

 Variable – a concept to be investigated in research; any characteristics of people,

place, or thing; examples: gender, age, course, daily allowance

 Independent variable – is one under study to determine its effect on the dependent
variable. Its symbol is X; it is known as the predictor, input, stimulus

 Dependent variable – is one under study to determine which independent variables

cause a change on it. Its symbol is Y; it is known as the predicted, output, response,
outcome

In the study about “Academic performances in accounting courses as predictor of

CPALE board performance of HAU Accountancy graduates of 2018-2019”, the
academic performances in accounting courses are the independent variables and
CPALE board performance is the dependent variable.

 Categorical variable – responses you will get are qualitative or non-numerical such
as nominal and ordinal data; example, gender, year level, course, academic
rankings

 Numerical variable – responses you will get are numbers or quantitative data such
as interval or ratio data; for example, age, grades, income

 Discrete variable – numerical characteristics which arise from counting process; for
example, number of globe subscribers, number of students enrolled in a class

 Continuous variable – numerical characteristics which arise from measuring

process; for example, age, height, eight, income

Sources of Data

 Data – are observed values of a variable. For example, for variable gender, the data
are male, female; for year level, the data are 1st year, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year
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 Secondary data – existing records, reports, publications, periodicals, researches,

and the like which are maintained by institutions, agencies and individuals. Example:
academic performance in accounting courses of HAU BSA graduates SY 2015-2019
from HAU Registrar’s Office and CPALE board performance of HAU CPALE takers
2015-2019 from PRC

 Primary data – first-hand information directly gathered from individuals/respondents

or through activities.

 Ways of collecting primary data include survey (in person, through snail mail or
email), interview (individual, tandem, panel, or through telephone), observational
(checklist), and experimental among others

Data Scale Measurement

 Nominal – lowest or weakest data scale measurement; it classifies data into labels
or categories with no ranking or order implied; data are usually in words or non-
numeric; though there are few which have numerical appearance, it merely use to
represent the object or individual. Examples: gender, course, hair color, student
number, employee number

 Ordinal – higher than nominal data but lower than interval and ratio data;
demonstrates the characteristics of nominal data, but has implied ranking or order.
Examples, academic honors, year level, satisfaction ratings

 Interval – higher than nominal and ordinal data but lower than ratio data; displays the
characteristics of nominal and ordinal data; numerical values; has no true zero
value. Examples: temperature, standardized exam score

 Ratio – the highest or strongest data scale measurement; exhibits the attributes of
nominal, ordinal, and interval data; numerical values; has true zero value. Examples:
age, monthly income, annual expenditures

End of Module Questions

1. Discuss statistics in your own words

2. How do you apply statistics in your daily life?
3. How do managers apply statistics in their field?
4. Give two examples of categorical variable (without repeating the given examples in
the module)
5. Give two examples of discrete variable (without repeating the given examples in the
module)
6. Give two examples of continuous variable (without repeating the given examples in
the module)
7. Give two examples of nominal data scale (without repeating the given examples in
the module)
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8. Give two examples of ordinal data scale (without repeating the given examples in
the module)
9. Give two examples of interval data scale (without repeating the given examples in
the module)
10. Give two examples of ratio data scale (without repeating the given examples in the
module)

End of Module Exercises

1. Two researchers conducted a study about “personality, intelligence and approaches

to learning as predictors of academic performance.” They investigated the extent to
which personality, ability and learning approaches predict academic performance.
they gathered data from randomly select 150 out of 500 college students of a
university. These students belonged to varied ages, year levels, and courses.
In the given problem,
a. Which is/are the dependent variable/s?
b. Which is/are independent variable/s?
c. Which is/are the categorical variable/s?
d. Which is/are the numerical variable/s?
e. What is the sample?
f. What is the population?

2. In order to raise funds for the upcoming University Days, the university student
counselors promote and sell tee-shirts to students of the schools of arts and
sciences, business and accountancy, education, engineering and architecture,
hospitality and travel management among others. Tee shirts are in XS, S, M, L, XL,
and XXL; and in colors of white, black, gray, and maroon. White shirts are priced @
Php250 and color shirts @ Php300. Determine the type of variables (categorical,
discrete, or continuous) and data scale (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) of the
following
a. Colors
b. Prices
c. Schools
d. Size

3. A travel agency offers group tour packages to promote domestic tourism among
local nationals. Adventure, diving group, and family packages for four persons in
Cebu, Boracay, or Camiguin are priced @ P18,000, P17,000, and P14,000
respectively, inclusive of accommodation, round trip air fare and transport service to
and from hotel and tour destinations, and inclusive of other fees. Determine the type
of variables (categorical, discrete, or continuous) and data scale (nominal, ordinal,
interval, or ratio) of the following
a. Tour prices
b. Tour destinations
c. Tour packages
Business Statistics: Module 1. Introduction to Statistics Page 5 of 5

References

Albright, S. et al. (2015). Business analytics: data analysis and decision making (5th
ed.). Cengage Learning.
Anderson, D., Sweeney, D.J., et.al., (2018). Modern business statistics. Australia:
Cengage Learning.
Antivola, H. (2015). Business statistics: a modular approach. Books Atbp. Publishing.
Anywhere Math. (2016). Introduction to Statistics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMSyiAJm99g
Bowerman, B. (2017). Business statistics in practice: using modeling, data, and
analytics (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Jaggia, S. (2019). Business statistics: communicating with numbers (3rd ed.). McGraw-
Hill Education.
Lee, N. (2016). Business statistics: using excel & SPSS. Sage.
Sharpe, N. (2015). Business statistics 3rd ed. Pearson Education.
Willoughby, D. (2015). An essential guide to business statistics. John Wiley & Sons.