Assignment 01

Course Code: 8614

Name: Hinna
Roll Number: CE612638
Level: (1.5) Years
Semester: 3rd Spring 2021

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Q.1 Describe 'levels of measurement' by giving real life examples.

The four measurement levels, in order, from the lowest level of information to the highest level of
information are as follows:

1. Nominal scales
Nominal scales contain the least amount of information. In nominal scales, the numbers assigned to each
variable or observation are only used to classify the variable or observation. For example, a fund manager
may choose to assign the number 1 to small-cap stocks, the number 2 to corporate bonds, the number 3
to derivatives, and so on.

2. Ordinal scales
Ordinal scales present more information than nominal scales and are, therefore, a higher level of
measurement. In ordinal scales, there is an ordered relationship between the variable’s observations. For
example, a list of 500 managers of mutual funds may be ranked by assigning the number 1 to the best-
performing manager, the number 2 to the second best-performing manager, and so on.

With this type of measurement, one can conclude that the number 1-ranked mutual fund manager
performed better than the number 2-ranked mutual fund manager.

3. Interval scales
Interval scales present more information than ordinal scales in that they provide assurance that the
differences between values are equal. In other words, interval scales are ordinal scales but with equivalent
scale values from low to high intervals.

For example, temperature measurement is an example of an interval scale: 60°C is colder than 65°C, and
the temperature difference is the same as the difference between 50°C and 55°C. In other words, the
difference of 5°C in both intervals shares the same interpretation and meaning.

Consider why the ordinal scale example is not an interval scale: A fund manager ranked 1 probably did
not outperform the fund manager ranked 2 by the exact same amount that a fund manager ranked 6
outperformed a fund manager ranked 7. Ordinal scales provide a relative ranking, but there is no
assurance that the differences between the scale values are the same.

A drawback in interval scales is that they do not have a true zero point. Zero does not represent an absence
of something in an interval scale. Consider that the temperature -0°C does not represent the absence of
temperature. For this reason, interval-scale-based ratios fail to provide some insights – for example, 50°C
is not twice as hot as 25°C.

4. Ratio scales
Ratio scales are the most informative scales. Ratio scales provide rankings, assure equal differences
between scale values, and have a true zero point. In essence, a ratio scale can be thought of as nominal,
ordinal, and interval scales combined as one.

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For example, the measurement of money is an example of a ratio scale. An individual with $0 has an
absence of money. With a true zero point, it would be correct to say that someone with $100 has twice
as much money as someone with $50.

Q.2 Explain commonly used variables in educational research. Support your

answer by giving examples.

It is a careful or diligent search, studious inquiry or examination especially investigation or

experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws
in the light of new facts or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws, it can also be the
collection of information about a particular subject, Webster (1985). Research cannot be possible without
taking into consideration measurable factors that are subject to change due to circumstances. Anything
that can vary in research due to circumstances is called a variable. However, based on what has been
learnt in the current research course, the principle aim of this paper is to explain in parts, how the types
of variables, the relationship between dependent and independent variables and their importance can be
used in research.

There are two major types of variables-independent and dependent and these will be explained more
later. A variable is something that can change, such as gender, which can be either male or female, age
which can be 15 years old, 16 years old, 20, 38 or 30 years old and variables are typically the focus of a
study. Associated to variables are attributes which are sub-values of a variable, such as ‘male’ and ‘female’
in the example variable given above. In other ways, under the variable gender, male and female are the
attributes of that variable. It is important to note that variables may have the following characteristics:
firstly, they have a period when they starts and stops. Secondly, they may have a pattern such as daily,
weekly, ad-hoc and monthly. Thirdly, they are quiet detailed with an overview of in depth. They may be
latency which is the time between measuring dependent and independent variable because some things
take time to take effect.

Variables are those simplified portions of the complex phenomena that you intend to study. The word
variable is derived from the root word “vary,” meaning, changing in amount, volume, number, form,
nature, or type. These variables should be measurable, i.e., they can be counted or subjected to a scale.

The next section provides examples of variables related to climate change, academic performance, crime,
fish kill, crop growth, and how content goes viral. Note that the variables in these phenomena can be
measured, except the last one, where a bit more work is required.

EXAMPLES OF VARIABLES IN RESEARCH

The following are examples of phenomena from a global to a local perspective. The corresponding list of
variables is given to illustrate how complex phenomena can be broken down into manageable pieces for
better understanding and to subject the phenomena to research.

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INDEPENDENT VARIABLES
The independent variables are those variables that may influence or affect the other variable, i.e., the
dependent variable.

For example, in the second phenomenon, i.e., crime and violence in the streets, the independent variables
are the number of law enforcers. If there are more law enforcers, it is expected that it will reduce the
following:

 number of robberies,
 number of attempted murders,
 number of prisoners,
 number of crime victims, and
 the number of carnapping incidents.

DEPENDENT VARIABLES

The dependent variable, as previously mentioned, is the variable affected or influenced by the
independent variable.

For example, in the first phenomenon on climate change, temperature as the independent variable
influences sea level rise, the dependent variable. Increased temperature will cause the expansion of water
in the sea. Thus, sea-level rise on a global scale will occur.

I will leave the classification of the other variables to you. Find out whether those are independent or
dependent variables. Note, however, that some variables can be both independent and dependent
variables, as the context of the study dictates.

Q.3 Discuss non-probability sampling techniques with special emphasis on

educational research.
Defined as a sampling technique in which the researcher selects samples based on the subjective
judgment of the researcher rather than random selection. It is a less stringent method. This sampling
method depends heavily on the expertise of the researchers. It is carried out by observation, and
researchers use it widely for qualitative research.

Non-probability sampling is a sampling method in which not all members of the population have an equal
chance of participating in the study, unlike probability sampling. Each member of the population has a
known chance of being selected. Non-probability sampling is most useful for exploratory studies like a
pilot survey (deploying a survey to a smaller sample compared to pre-determined sample size).
Researchers use this method in studies where it is impossible to draw random probability sampling due
to time or cost considerations.

•Convenience sampling:

Convenience sampling is a non-probability sampling technique where samples are selected from the
population only because they are conveniently available to the researcher. Researchers choose these

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samples just because they are easy to recruit, and the researcher did not consider selecting a sample that
represents the entire population.

Ideally, in research, it is good to test a sample that represents the population. But, in some research, the
population is too large to examine and consider the entire population. It is one of the reasons why
researchers rely on convenience sampling, which is the most common non-probability sampling method,
because of its speed, cost-effectiveness, and ease of availability of the sample.

Consecutive sampling:

This non-probability sampling method is very similar to convenience sampling, with a slight variation.
Here, the researcher picks a single person or a group of a sample, conducts research over a period,
analyzes the results, and then moves on to another subject or group if needed. Consecutive sampling
technique gives the researcher a chance to work with many topics and fine-tune his/her research by
collecting results that have vital insights.

Quota sampling:
Hypothetically consider, a researcher wants to study the career goals of male and female employees in an
organization. There are 500 employees in the organization, also known as the population. To understand
better about a population, the researcher will need only a sample, not the entire population. Further, the
researcher is interested in particular strata within the population. Here is where quota sampling helps in
dividing the population into strata or groups.

Judgmental or Purposive sampling:

In the judgmental sampling method, researchers select the samples based purely on the researcher’s
knowledge and credibility. In other words, researchers choose only those people who they deem fit to
participate in the research study. Judgmental or purposive sampling is not a scientific method of sampling,
and the downside to this sampling technique is that the preconceived notions of a researcher can
influence the results. Thus, this research technique involves a high amount of ambiguity.

Snowball sampling:
Snowball sampling helps researchers find a sample when they are difficult to locate. Researchers use this
technique when the sample size is small and not easily available. This sampling system works like the
referral program. Once the researchers find suitable subjects, he asks them for assistance to seek similar
subjects to form a considerably good size sample.

Non-probability sampling examples

Here are three simple examples of non-probability sampling to understand the subject better.

1. An example of convenience sampling would be using student volunteers known to the researcher.
Researchers can send the survey to students belonging to a particular school, college, or university, and
act as a sample.

2. In an organization, for studying the career goals of 500 employees, technically, the sample
selected should have proportionate numbers of males and females. Which means there should be 250

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males and 250 females. Since this is unlikely, the researcher selects the groups or strata using quota
sampling.

3. Researchers also use this type of sampling to conduct research involving a particular illness in
patients or a rare disease. Researchers can seek help from subjects to refer to other subjects suffering
from the same ailment to form a subjective sample to carry out the study.

When to use non-probability sampling?

• Use this type of sampling to indicate if a particular trait or characteristic exists in a population.

• Researchers widely use the non-probability sampling method when they aim at conducting
qualitative research, pilot studies, or exploratory research.

• Researchers use it when they have limited time to conduct research or have budget constraints.

• When the researcher needs to observe whether a particular issue needs in-depth analysis, he
applies this method.

• Use it when you do not intend to generate results that will generalize the entire population.

Advantages of non-probability sampling

Here are the advantages of using the non-probability technique

• Non-probability sampling techniques are a more conducive and practical method for researchers
deploying surveys in the real world. Although statisticians prefer probability sampling because it yields
data in the form of numbers, however, if done correctly, it can produce similar if not the same quality of
results.

• Getting responses using non-probability sampling is faster and more cost-effective than
probability sampling because the sample is known to the researcher. The respondents respond quickly as
compared to people randomly selected as they have a high motivation level to participate.

Q.4 Draw a bar chart and explain it how it works for interpreting data in
educational research?

These are the pictorial representation of data (generally grouped), in the form of vertical or horizontal
rectangular bars, where the length of bars are proportional to the measure of data. They are also known
as bar charts. Bar graphs are one of the means of data handling in statistics.

The collection, presentation, analysis, organization, and interpretation of observations of data are known
as statistics. The statistical data can be represented by various methods such as tables, bar graphs, pie
charts, histograms, frequency polygons, etc. In this article, let us discuss what is a bar chart, different
types of bar graphs, uses, and solved examples.

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The pictorial representation of grouped data, in the form of vertical or horizontal rectangular bars, where
the lengths of the bars are equivalent to the measure of data, are known as bar graphs or bar charts.

The bars drawn are of uniform width, and the variable quantity is represented on one of the axes. Also,
the measure of the variable is depicted on the other axes. The heights or the lengths of the bars denote
the value of the variable, and these graphs are also used to compare certain quantities. The frequency
distribution tables can be easily represented using bar charts which simplify the calculations and
understanding of data.

The three major attributes of bar graphs are:

It Bar graph helps to compare the different sets of data among different groups easily.

Types of Bar Graphs

The bar graphs can be vertical or horizontal. The primary feature of any bar graph is its length or height.
If the length of the bar graph is more, then the values are greater than any given data.

Bar graphs normally show categorical and numeric variables arranged in class intervals. They consist of an
axis and a series of labelled horizontal or vertical bars. The bars represent frequencies of distinctive values
of a variable or commonly the distinct values themselves. The number of values on the x-axis of a bar
graph or the y-axis of a column graph is called the scale.

The types of bar charts are as follows:

 Vertical bar chart

 Horizontal bar chart

Even though the graph can be plotted using horizontally or vertically, the most usual type of bar graph
used is the vertical bar graph. The orientation of the x-axis and y-axis are changed depending on the type
of vertical and horizontal bar chart. Apart from the vertical and horizontal bar graph, the two different
types of bar charts are:

• Grouped Bar Graph

• Stacked Bar Graph

Now, let us discuss the four different types of bar graphs.

Vertical Bar Graphs

When the grouped data are represented vertically in a graph or chart with the help of bars, where the
bars denote the measure of data, such graphs are called vertical bar graphs. The data is represented along
the y-axis of the graph, and the height of the bars shows the values.

Horizontal Bar Graphs

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When the grouped data are represented horizontally in a chart with the help of bars, then such graphs
are called horizontal bar graphs, where the bars show the measure of data. The data is depicted here
along the x-axis of the graph, and the length of the bars denote the values.

Grouped Bar Graph

The grouped bar graph is also called the clustered bar graph, which is used to represent the discrete value
for more than one object that shares the same category. In this type of bar chart, the total number of
instances are combined into a single bar. In other words, a grouped bar graph is a type of bar graph in
which different sets of data items are compared. Here, a single colour is used to represent the specific
series across the set. The grouped bar graph can be represented using both vertical and horizontal bar
charts.

Stacked Bar Graph

The stacked bar graph is also called the composite bar chart, which divides the aggregate into different
parts. In this type of bar graph, each part can be represented using different colours, which helps to easily
identify the different categories. The stacked bar chart requires specific labelling to show the different
parts of the bar. In a stacked bar graph, each bar represents the whole and each segment represents the
different parts of the whole.

Properties of Bar Graph

Some of the important properties of a bar graph are as follows:

• All the bars should have a common base.

• Each column in the bar graph should have equal width.

• The height of the bar should correspond to the data value.

• The distance between each bar should be the same.

Applications of Bar Graphs

Bar graphs are used to match things between different groups or to trace changes over time. Yet, when
trying to estimate change over time, bar graphs are most suitable when the changes are bigger.

Bar charts possess a discrete domain of divisions and are normally scaled so that all the data can fit on the
graph. When there is no regular order of the divisions being matched, bars on the chart may be organized
in any order. Bar charts organized from the highest to the lowest number are called Pareto charts.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bar Chart

Advantages:

• Bar graph summarises the large set of data in simple visual form.

• It displays each category of data in the frequency distribution.

• It clarifies the trend of data better than the table.

• It helps in estimating the key values at a glance.

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Disadvantages:

• Sometimes, the bar graph fails to reveal the patterns, cause, effects, etc.

• It can be easily manipulated to yield fake information.

Difference Between Bar Graph and Histogram

The bar graph and the histogram look similar. But it has an important difference. The major difference
between them is that they plot different types of data. In the bar chart, discrete data is plotted, whereas,
in the histogram, it plots the continuous data. For instance, if we have different categories of data like
types of dog breeds, types of TV programs, the bar chart is best as it compares the things among different
groups. For example, if we have continuous data like the weight of the people, the best choice is the
histogram.

Difference Between Bar Graph and Pie Chart

A pie chart is one of the types of graphical representation. The pie chart is a circular chart and is divided
into parts. Each part represents the fraction of a whole. Whereas, bar graph represents the discrete data
and compares one data with the other data.

Difference Between Bar Graph and Line Graph

The major difference between bar graph and line graph are as follows:

• The bar graph represents the data using the rectangular bars and the height of the bar represents
the value shown in the data. Whereas a line graph helps to show the information when the series of data
are connected using a line.

• Understanding the line graph is a little bit confusing as the line graph plots too many lines over
the graph. Whereas bar graph helps to show the relationship between the data quickly.

Let us consider an example, we have four different types of pets, such as cat, dog, rabbit, and hamster
and the corresponding numbers are 22, 39, 5 and 9 respectively.

In order to visually represent the data using the bar graph, we need to follow the steps given below.

• Step 1: First, decide the title of the bar graph.

• Step 2: Draw the horizontal axis and vertical axis. (For example, Types of Pets)

• Step 3: Now, label the horizontal axis.

• Step 4: Write the names on the horizontal axis, such as Cat, Dog, Rabbit, Hamster.

• Step 5: Now, label the vertical axis. (For example, Number of Pets)

• Step 6: Finalise the scale range for the given data.

• Step 7: Finally, draw the bar graph that should represent each category of the pet with their
respective numbers.

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Q.5 What do you understand by 'Normal Curve'? Explain its measures by giving
an example.

Suppose that the total area under the curve is defined to be You can multiply that number by 100 and say
there is a 100 percent chance that any value you can name will be somewhere in the distribution. The
distribution extends to infinity in both directions.) Similarly, because half the area of the curve is below
the mean and half is above it, you can say that there is a 50 percent chance that a randomly chosen value
will be above the mean and the same chance that it will be below it.

It makes sense that the area under the normal curve is equivalent to the probability of randomly drawing
a value in that range. The area is greatest in the middle, where the “hump” is, and thins out toward the
tails. That is consistent with the fact that there are more values close to the mean in a normal distribution
than far from it.

When the area of the standard normal curve is divided into sections by standard deviations above and
below the mean, the area in each section is a known quantity (see Figure 1). As explained earlier, the area
in each section is the same as the probability of randomly drawing a value in that range.

For example, 0.3413 of the curve falls between the mean and one standard deviation above the mean,
which means that about 34 percent of all the values of a normally distributed variable are between the
mean and one standard deviation above it. It also means that there is a 0.3413 chance that a value drawn
at random from the distribution will lie between these two points.

Sections of the curve above and below the mean may be added together to find the probability of
obtaining a value within (plus or minus) a given number of standard deviations of the mean (see Figure
2). For example, the amount of curve area between one standard deviation above the mean and one
standard deviation below is 0.3413 + 0.3413 = 0.6826, which means that approximately 68.26 percent of
the values lie in that range. Similarly, about 95 percent of the values lie within two standard deviations of
the mean, and 99.7 percent of the values lie within three standard deviations.

In order to use the area of the normal curve to determine the probability of occurrence of a given value,
the value must first be standardized, or converted to a z‐score . To convert a value to a z‐score is to express
it in terms of how many standard deviations it is above or below the mean. After the z‐score is obtained,
you can look up its corresponding probability in a table. The formula to compute a z‐score is

A normal distribution of retail‐store purchases has a mean of $14.31 and a standard deviation of 6.40.
What percentage of purchases were under $10? First, compute the z‐score:

The next step is to look up the z‐score in the table of standard normal probabilities (see Table 2 in
"Statistics Tables"). The standard normal table lists the probabilities (curve areas) associated with given z‐
scores.

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