L1: INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL CONCEPTS
STATISTICS
- Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, summarizing,
and analyzing information to draw conclusions or answer
questions. In addition, statistics is about providing a measure
of confidence in any conclusions.
- Universe is the set of all entities under study.
- Population is the set of all possible values of the variable.
- An individual is a person or object that is a member of the
population being studied.
- Sample is the subset of the population.
- Descriptive statistics consist of organizing and summarizing
data. Descriptive statistics describe data through numerical
summaries, tables, and graphs.
- Inferential statistics uses methods that take a result from a
sample, extend it to the population, and measure the reliability
of the result.
PROCESS OF STATISTICS
1. Identify the research objective.
A researcher must determine the question(s) he or she wants
answered. The question(s) must clearly identify the population
that is to be studied.
2. Collect the information needed to answer the questions.
Conducting research on an entire population is often difficult
and expensive, so we typically look at a sample. This step is
vital to the statistical process, because if the data are not
collected correctly, the conclusions drawn are meaningless. Do
not overlook the importance of appropriate data collection.
3. Organize and summarize the information.
Descriptive statistics allow the researcher to obtain an overview
of the data and can help determine the type of statistical
methods the researcher should use.
4. Draw conclusion from the information.
In this step the information collected from the sample is
generalized to the population. Inferential statistics uses
methods that takes results obtained from a sample, extends
them to the population, and measures the reliability of the
result.
VARIABLES
- Variables are the characteristics of the individuals within the
population.
- Variables can be classified into two groups:
o Qualitative variables is variable that yields categorical
responses. It is a word or a code that represents a class or
category.
o Quantitative variables takes on numerical values
representing an amount or quantity. May be further classified
into:
 A discrete variable is a quantitative variable that either
a finite number of possible values or a countable number
of possible values. If you count to get the value of a
quantitative variable, it is discrete.
 A continuous variable is a quantitative variable that has
an infinite number of possible values that are not
countable. If you measure to get the value of a
quantitative variable, it is continuous.
LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT
- Nominal Level - This is the first level of measurement and it is
characterized by data that consist of names, labels or
categories only. The data cannot be arranged in ordering
scheme. Nominal scales have no numerical value.
- They are sometimes called categorical scales or categorical
data. Such a scale classifies persons or objects into two or
more categories. Whatever the basis for classification, a
person can only be in one category, and members of a given
category have a common set of characteristics.
- It’s used to label variables in different classifications and does
not imply a quantitative value or order
- Ordinal Level - This involves data that may be arranged in
some order, but differences between data values either cannot
be determined or meaningless. An ordinal scale not only
classifies subjects but also ranks them in terms of the degree
to which they possess a characteristics of interest. In other
words, an ordinal scale puts the subjects in order from highest
to lowest, from most to least. Although ordinal scales indicate
that some subjects are higher, or lower than others, they do
not indicate how much higher or how much better.
- It’s used to represent non-mathematical ideas such as
frequency, satisfaction, happiness, a degree of pain, etc.
- Interval Level - This is a measurement level not only classifies
and orders the measurements, but it also specifies that the
distances between each interval on the scale are equivalent
along the scale from low interval to high interval. A value of
zero does not mean the absence of the quantity.
- It’s defined as a numerical scale where the order of the
variables as well as the difference between these variables is
known.
- Ratio Level - A ratio scale represents the highest, most
precise, level of measurement. It has the properties of the
L1: INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL CONCEPTS
interval level of measurement and the ratios of the values of
the variable have meaning. A value of zero means the absence
of the quantity. Arithmetic operations such as multiplication and
division can be performed on the values of the variable.
- It’s a variable measurement scale that not only produces the
order of the variables, but also makes the difference between
the known variables along with information about the value of
the true zero.

-
-