Statistics

MODULE 1: Introduction to Statistics

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the module, you are expected to exhibit the following competencies:
1. Recognise the concepts of statistics.
2. Describe the activities involved in a statistical process.
3. Identify questions that could be answered using statistical process.

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS

Statistics as a Tool in Decision-Making

Statistics is defined as a science that studies data to be able to make a decision. Hence, it is a tool in decision-
making process. Mention that Statistics as a science involves the methods of collecting, processing, summarizing
and analyzing data in order to provide answers or solutions to an inquiry. One also needs to interpret and
communicate the results of the methods identified above to support a decision that one makes when faced with
a problem or an inquiry.

Trivia: The word “statistics” actually comes from the word “state”— because governments have been involved in
the statistical activities, especially the conduct of censuses either for military or taxation purposes. The need for
and conduct of censuses are recorded in the pages of holy texts. In the Christian Bible, particularly the Book of
Numbers, God is reported to have instructed Moses to carry out a census. Another census mentioned in the Bible
is the census ordered by Caesar Augustus throughout the entire Roman Empire before the birth of Christ.

Statistics enable us to
• characterize persons, objects, situations, and phenomena;
• explain relationships among variables;
• formulate objective assessments and comparisons; and, more importantly
• make evidence-based decisions and predictions.

And to use Statistics in decision-making there is a statistical process to follow which is to be discussed in the next
section.

Statistical Process in Solving a Problem

For illustration on how to do it, let us discuss how we could answer the question “Do dogs eat more than cats?”
This question requires you to gather data to generate statistics which will serve as basis in answering the query.
There should be plan or a design on how to collect the data so that the information we get from it is enough or
sufficient for us to minimize any bias in responding to the query. In relation to the query, we said earlier that we
cannot gather the data from all dogs and cats. Hence, the plan is to get representative group of dogs and another
representative group of cats. These representative groups were observed for some characteristics like the animal
weight, amount of food in grams eaten per day and breed of the animal. Included in the plan are factors like how
many dogs and cats are included in the group, how to select those included in the representative groups and
when to observe these animals for their characteristics. After the data were gathered, we must verify the quality
of the data to make a good decision. Data quality check could be done as we process the data to summarize the

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 Introduction to Statistics
information extracted from the data. Then using this information, one can then make a decision or provide
answers to the problem or question at hand.

To summarize, a statistical process in making a decision or providing solutions to a problem include the following:

• Planning or designing the collection of data to answer statistical questions in a way that maximizes information
content and minimizes bias;
• Collecting the data as required in the plan;
• Verifying the quality of the data after they were collected;
• Summarizing the information extracted from the data; and
• Examining the summary statistics so that insight and meaningful information can be produced to support
decision-making or solutions to the question or problem at hand.

Hence, several activities make up a statistical process which for some the process is simple but for others it might
be a little bit complicated to implement. Also, not all questions or problems could be answered by a simple
statistical process. There are indeed problems that need complex statistical process. However, one can be
assured that logical decisions or solutions could be formulated using a statistical process.

PRACTICE SKILLS

1. Identify which of the following questions are answerable using a statistical process.

a. What is a typical size of a Filipino family?

b. How many hours in a day?
c. How old is the oldest man residing in the Philippines?
d. Is planet Mars bigger than planet Earth?
e. What is the average wage rate in the country?
f. Would Filipinos prefer eating bananas rather than apple?
g. How long did you sleep last night?
h. How much a newly-hired public school teacher in NCR earns in a month?
i. How tall is a typical Filipino?
j. Did you eat your breakfast today?

2. For each of the identified questions in Number 1 that are answerable using a statistical process, describe
the activities involved in the process.

REFERENCES

Albert, J. R. G. (2008).Basic Statistics for the Tertiary Level (ed. Roberto Padua, Welfredo Patungan, Nelia
Marquez), published by Rex Bookstore.
Handbook of Statistics 1 (1st and 2nd Edition), Authored by the Faculty of the Institute of Statistics, UP Los Baños,
College Laguna 4031
Workbooks in Statistics 1 (From 1st to 13th Edition), Authored by the Faculty of the Institute of Statistics, UP Los
Baños, College Laguna 4031

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