ELEMENTARY STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY (BSEM 26)

LESSON 2
Definition of Some Statistical Terms;
Levels of Measurement
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 ELEMENTARY STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY (BSEM 26)

LESSON 2
Definition of Some Statistical Terms; Levels of Measurement

Definition of Some Basic Statistical Terms

1) Population is a collection of all the elements under consideration in a statistical study.
Example: The researcher would like to determine the average age of patients infected with dengue
fever for the month of October at XYZ Hospital.
Population: the set of all patients with dengue fever.

2) Sample is a part or subset of the population from which the information is collected.

3) Variable is a characteristic of interest measurable on each and every individual in the universe,
denoted by any capital letter in English alphabet.

TYPES OF VARIABLES
• Qualitative Variable consists of categories or attributes, which have non-numerical
characteristics.
• Quantitative Variable consists of numbers representing counts or measurements.

CLASSIFICATION OF QUANTITATIVE VARIABLE

• Discrete Quantitative Variable has numerical values that arise from a counting process.
• Continuous Quantitative Variable produces numerical responses that arise from a measuring
process.

4) Data are the different values associated with a variable.

5) Operational Definition is the description of some observable event in terms of the specific process or
manner by which it was observed or measured.

6) Parameter is a numerical measurement describing some characteristic of a population.

7) Statistic is a numerical measurement describing some characteristic of a sample.

8) Survey is often conducted to gather opinions or feedbacks about a variety of topics.
Census Survey, most often simply referred to as census, is conducted by gathering information from
the entire population.
Sampling Survey, most often simply referred to as survey, is conducted by gathering information only
from part of the population.

LESSON 2: Definition of Some Statistical Terms; Levels of Measurement

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 ELEMENTARY STATISTICS AND PROBABILITY (BSEM 26)

Practice Exercise: Identify the population, variable of interest and type of variable in the following:
1) The administrator of a certain college wishes to know the weekly allowances of BS Information
Technology students.
2) From all students enrolled this semester, the Mathematics Department Chairperson would like to know
how many students like mathematics.
3.) A plant breeder wishes to identify what local plants are at its peak of bloom during the first quarter of
the year.
Levels of Measurement

Categorical or Qualitative Variables Numerical or Quantitative Variables

• Nominal - classifies data into distinct categories • Interval - is an ordered scale in which the
in which no ranking is implied. difference between measurements is a
Examples: name, civil status meaningful quantity but does not involve a true
zero point.
Examples: IQ Score, temperature (in °C)

• Ordinal - classifies values into distinct categories • Ratio - an ordered scale in which the difference
in which ranking is implied. between the measurements involves a true zero
Examples: military rank, job position point.
Examples: height, width

Practice Exercise: Determine the level of measurement to which each variable is associated with.
1. Volume (in L) of a can of soda.
2. Number of cellphone units sold by a store.
3. Scientific names of floras native to Philippines
4. Player ranks in Mobile Legends (elite, master, grandmaster, etc.)
5. Temperature of a substance measured in Kelvin scale
6. Colors of the rainbow
7. Sound intensity measured in decibel (dB) scale
8. Happiness of Filipino students measured using the Happiness Scale Index
9. Flavors of ice cream available at a convenience store
10. Typhoon categories set by DOST-PAGASA

LESSON 2: Definition of Some Statistical Terms; Levels of Measurement

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