BASIC STATISTICAL

CONCEPTS
University of St. La Salle
 Definitions of Statistics

• A branch of science which deals with the

collection, organization, presentation,
analysis, and interpretation of data

• The Science of conducting studies to

collect, organize, summarize, analyze, and
draw conclusions from data
Definitions of Statistics
• Recorded data such as the number of
business permits issued, number of
customers eating at a restaurant, the size of
enrollment at USLS, and so on.

• Numerical characteristics calculated for a

set of data

• The backbone of Research

Applications of Statistics

• Used in almost all fields of human endeavor

Examples:

• Sports –a statistician might keep records of

the scores in a basketball game

• Public health – an administrator might be

concerned with the number of residents
who contracted COVID-19
Applications of Statistics
• Education – a researcher might want to know
if new methods of teaching are better than old
ones

• Business – managers and decision makers

use data to make decisions that will maximize
profit

• Economics – Economists use a variety of

statistical information in making forecasts
about future of the economy
 Why study Statistics
Students and professional people…

• must be able to read and understand the various

statistical studies performed in their fields

• may be called on to conduct research in their

fields and statistical procedures are basic to
research

• can also use knowledge gained from studying

statistics to become better consumers and
citizens
 Two Branches of Statistics
1. Descriptive Statistics

• deals with organizing and summarizing observations so

that they are easier to comprehend

• used to describe the basic features of the data in a study

• provide simple summaries about the sample and the

measures

2. Inferential Statistics

• deals with the formulation of inferences about conditions

that exist in a population from study of a sample drawn
from a population.

• make inferences from the data to more general conditions

The Research Process
Why do research?

Formulate the problem

S – pecific
M - easurable
A – attainable
R – ealistic
T – ime bound
 Terminology:
• Population – all subjects under investigation

- the set of all elements of

interest in a particular study

• Sample –a subset of the population

• Variable –measurable characteristic of the subject

that can take on different values

• Data – values that the variables can assume

• Data Set – a collection of data values

 Example

Problem: What is the average weekly allowance of a USLS Psych

101 student for the first semester of AY 2019 – 2020?

Population of study:
All Psych 101 student for the first semester of AY 2019 – 2020

Variable/s:
weekly allowance of a Psych 101 student
:
:
(Anticipated) Conclusion:
The average weekly allowance of a Psych 101 student for the
first semester of AY 2019-2020 is ________.
 Exercise
Identify the population and variables of the study.

1. What is the mean number of calories do Filipino men

and women consume per day in the month of June 2019?

2. What are the most important factors that influence the

career choices of USLS graduate students in the A.Y.
2019-2020?

3. What proportion of male and female USLS students of

the 1st semester A.Y. 2019-2020 use the top 5 social
networks?
 Types of Variables:

1. Qualitative/Categorical

• Attributes are in terms of categories

• Example: sex - Male / Female

religious affiliation: Roman Catholic /

INC / Baptist / Islam / etc
…
 Types of Variables
2. Quantitative/Numerical

• Attributes are in terms of counts or measurements

Distinctions:

a. Discrete Variable

• uses the process of counting to generate data

• values of attributes are in terms of whole numbers only

Example: Number of t-shirts owned

b. Continuous Variable

• uses the process of measuring to generate data

• values of attributes may have fractional or decimal

parts Example: Age
 Level of Measurement
Measurement – The process of assigning numbers to
observations

Scales of Measurement

1. Nominal Level

• Consists of numbers which indicate categories for

purely classification purposes

• The categories are mutually exclusive and

exhaustive

• Example:

Sex: M = 1

F=2
 Level of Measurement
2. Ordinal Level

• Possesses rank order characteristics

• The categories must still be mutually exclusive and

exhaustive, but they also indicate the order of magnitude
of some variable

• precise differences between ranks do not exist

Example: Likert-type scale

Strongly agree = 1

Agree = 2

Indifferent = 3

Disagree = 4

Strongly disagree = 5
 Level of Measurement
3. Interval Level

• Has all the properties of the ordinal scale

• A given interval (distance) between scores has the same

meaning anywhere on the scale

• Intervals provide information about how much better

one value is compared with another

• Has no absolute zero

Example:

IQ – there is a meaningful difference between

an IQ of 110 and 109 but the test does

not measure people who have no

intelligence
 Level of Measurement
4. Ratio Level

• Possesses all the characteristics of the

interval scale

• Has a true or absolute zero point

• The ratio of two values is meaningful

• Example: distance
 Review Exercises
1. Classify each variable using the appropriate terms from the
following list: qualitative, continuous, discrete.

a) weight (in grams) of tomatoes at a grocery store

b) number of times person checks their e-mail per day.

c) political party, if any, that a person voted for in the last

provincial election.

d) voter participation in past federal elections, as a percentage.

e) daily Temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) for last August.

f) letter grades (A, B, C, D, or F) that an English 100 class received

on their essays.
 Analytic goals
• directed toward finding out from the data one or more of
the following attributes or characteristics of the group
being studied:

1. Central tendency – general characteristic of the group

Examples:

a. To determine the mean weekly allowance of USLS

College Freshmen for the first semester, AY 2020 – 2021.

b. To determine the percentage of USLS College students

who prefer an iPhone over a Samsung cellphone.
 Analytic goals
2. Variance in the group – how individual members
of the group vary from the average characteristic of
the group

• Examples:

a. To determine the age range of the students in

Statistics class.

b. To determine if the Statistics final grades of the

students in a particular class are similar.
 Analytic goals
3. Difference within the group/between groups – whether
or not subgroups of the group/ two separate groups being
studied are different or similar on certain traits investigated

Examples:

a. To compare the mean no. of Coke sakto bottles

consumed in a week between the male and female USLS
students.

b. To determine if there is a significant difference in the

mean number of text messages sent in a day among the
students from the five different colleges of USLS.
 Analytic goals
4. Relationships within the group – if relationship
between certain variables covered in the study exist

Examples:

a. To establish if there is a significant relationship

between choice of cellphone brand and the college a
USLS student belongs to

b. To determine if relationship status and final grades

in Statistics are independent
 Analytic goals
5. Prediction – establishing a mathematical/
statistical model to predict future outcomes

Examples:

a. What factors influence the a graduate’s ability to

land a job within one year after graduation?

b. What is the estimated sales of a particular

restaurant for next week if the present conditions
hold?
 Types of Analysis:
1. Descriptive –

• limited to the description of the particular

group being studied

• a conclusion cannot be applied to cases

outside the study group

2. Inferential –

• application of the findings or conclusions from

a small group to a large group from which the
smaller group was drawn