School of Business Department of Economics

BSTA205
Answer Key of Work Sheet 1

1. Why Study Statistics?

 Numerical info is everywhere.

 Statistical techniques are used to make decisions that affect our daily lives.
 Knowledge of statistical methods will help you understand how decisions are made and
give you a better understanding of how they affect you.

2. What is Meant By Statistics?

Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, presenting, analyzing and interpreting data
to assist in making more effective decisions.

3. Types of Statistics:

a) Descriptive statistics: Methods of organizing, summarizing and presenting data in an

informative way.
b) Inferential Statistics: Methods used to estimate a property of a population on the basis
of a sample.

 Population: the entire set of individuals or objects of interest.

 Sample: A portion or part of the population of interest.

Reasons for sampling:

 To study the entire population would be time consuming and costly.
 Physical impossibility of checking all items in the population.
 The destructive nature of some tests.

4. Types of Variables:

a) Qualitative variable: when the characteristic being studied is nonnumeric.

b) Quantitative variable: when the variable studied can be reported numerically.

Quantitative variables are either discrete or continuous:
- Discrete variables can assume only certain values (gap between values).
Discrete variables result from counting. (Example: number of students)
- Continuous variables can assume any value within a specific range.
Continuous variables result from measuring. (Example: weight)

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 School of Business Department of Economics

5. Levels of Measurement:

Data can be classified according to the level of measurement. The level of measurement of the
data dictates the calculations that can be done to summarize and present the data.
There are four levels of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio.

a) Nominal-level data:
Data are sorted into categories with no particular order. (Example: Colors)

b) Ordinal- level data:

The ordinal level of measurement presumes that one classification is ranked higher than another.
(Example: rating a product as poor, good or excellent)

c) Interval-level data:
The interval level of measurement has the ranking characteristic of the ordinal level of
measurement plus the characteristic that the distance between values is a constant size.
(Example: Temperature)

d) Ratio-level data:
The ratio level of measurement has all the characteristic of the interval level plus there is 0 point
and the ratio of two values is meaningful. (Example: Income)

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 School of Business Department of Economics

Problems
Problem 1
Tell whether each variable, in the below statements, is a quantitative variable or a qualitative
variable:
a- Number of employees of an insurance company.
Quantitative
b- Distance student drive to school every day.
Quantitative
c- University major of students.
Qualitative
d- Scores of students on an English exam.
Quantitative
e- Ranking of athletes in a competition.
Qualitative
f- The colour of drafts provided during finals.
Qualitative
g- The number of hours spent studying for BSTA 205 exam.
Quantitative
h- The salary you expect to get when you start your future job.
Quantitative
i- The list of student names registered in your class.
Qualitative

Problem 2
Specify the level of measurement (Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio) for each variable in the
statements below
a- Classification of people by their educational level.
Ordinal
b- Number of hours spent by children watching TV every week.
Ratio
c- Measuring yearly rainfall in Beirut.
Ratio
d- Sizes of dress.(ex: Small, Medium, Large…)
Ordinal
e- Different brands of television in the market.
Nominal
f- The senator’s name is Sam Wilson.
Nominal level, name is a description and it can be categorized but not ordered
g- The company CEO is 58 years old.
The age is Ratio Level.
h- The annual income of a senior employee is $60000.
Ratio level
i- Room temperature (0F) in CEO’s private office
Interval level, at this level it makes sense to compare the differences between data values
j- A Driver is ranked seventh in a cars race.

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 School of Business Department of Economics

Ordinal level, data can be ordered from lowest to highest

Problem 3
Tell whether each statement corresponds to a sample or to a population
a- Respondents to a magazine survey.
Sample.
b- Average height of people randomly selected from a database.
Sample.
c- All Lebanese university students in 2015 academic year.
Population.
d- Total items produced on a machine during one month.
Population.
e- Number of houses sold in Lebanon during 2016.
Population.
f- 50 students in LIU are participating in a questionnaire to study students’ debts.
Sample.
g- Twenty cats were given a special vaccine under a medical experiment at LIU for the
purpose of testing the new vaccine.
Sample (20 cats).
h- Smokers in the United States.
Population .

Problem 4

For each of the following statements, identify the variable; indicate the type and the level of
measurement, then classify the quantitative variables as continuous or discrete .

Statement Variable Type Discrete/ Level of

Continuous measurement
The color of Color of Qualitative nominal
automobiles involved automobile
in several severe
accidents
The length of time Length of Quantitative Continuous Ratio
required for rats to time
move through a maze
The rating given to a Rating pizza Qualitative Ordinal
pizza in a taste test as taste
poor, good, or
excellent
The number of luxury Number of Quantitative Discrete Ratio
rooms in a 5 stars luxury room
hotel
The Temperature Temperature Quantitative Continuous Interval
based on centigrade
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 School of Business Department of Economics

scale was recorded in

Beirut
The number of Number of Quantitative Discrete Ratio
students registered in students
the CFA exam

Problem 5
Determine whether each statement corresponds to a sample or to a population:

a. Average weight of 50 students randomly selected from LIU Beirut campus.

Sample
b. Number of cars sold in Lebanon in 2016.
Population
c. 1500 Lebanese participating in a political survey. Sample
d. The average income of the French labor force.
Population.
e. Patients with diabetes in the United States. Population
f. An insurance company conducted a study on 10% of Lebanese smokers.
Sample