UNDERSTANDING STATISTICS: Preliminaries

CORE IDEA
Statistical tools derived from Mathematics are useful in processing and managing numerical data in
order to describe a phenomenon and predict values

Why You Need to Understand Statistics

Statistics transform numbers into something that makes sense which can be used every day to describe
or analyze the world we live in. Our knowledge of statistics enhances our ability to make good decisions.
By learning the data that we have collected as well as the basic properties of probability, we can
improve interpretation of data in which our decisions are based

The world is becoming a progressively data-driven place, and to draw trustworthy conclusions, you must
analyze your data properly. If we wish to take full advantage of available information, then there is a
necessity for us to understand the very nature of statistics.

You can read uses of statistics in our daily life on the following sites.

https://www.slideshare.net/Statswork/7-excellent-reasons-why-statistics-are-important-statswork

https://www.javaassignmenthelp.com/blog/uses-of-statistics/

STATISTICS

A discipline that includes procedures and techniques used to collect, process, and analyze the numerical
data to make inferences and to reach appropriate decisions in situations of uncertainty

- science of basing decisions on numerical data.

- are numerical quantities calculated from sample observation.
Example
A pharmaceutical company wants to know the top leading brand prescripted by doctors in treating tuberculosis
in the Philippines. The company telephones 100 doctors in Metro Manila and asks a series of questions. Which
of these is the sample in the survey?
A. All doctors in Metro Manila C. 100 doctors in the Philippines
B. 100 doctors in Metro Manila D. All doctors in the Philippines

A 2013 poll by HuffPost/YouGov found that 48% of adults in the United States are open to the
idea that our planet is being observed by alien spacecraft. Does the statement refer to a sample
or a population? Answer: Sample, since the usual poll is conducted from a portion of a
population

Random Variable
Variables whose values are determined by chance
Qualitative Variable
Variables that can be placed into distinct categories, according to same characteristic or attribute. Also
known as Categorical Variables
Quantitative Variable
Variables that can be ordered or ranked. Also known as Numerical Variables
Has two types: Discrete and Continuous
It is important to remember that the appropriateness of the type statistical tests to be used depends on
the measurement scale of the data to be analyzed.

ACTIVITY

A. Recall that a variable is a characteristic or attribute of the elements in a collection that can
assume the different values for the different elements while an observation is a realized
value of a variable. Below are some variables under study, determine possible observation
values in each of the following.
Variable Possible Observations
1.Sex
2.Employment Status of an
employee
3.Monthly Income
4.Program of study
5.Learning modality
6. Civil Status
7. IQ scores
8. Blood Type
9. weights of newborn infants
10. Faculty rank

B. Identify the population under study, define your sample and variable/s of interest.
1. The Department of Health is interested in determining the percentage of vulnerable members
of society who are over 59 years old infected by the CORONA Virus in NCR.
Population

Sample
Variable of interest
2. The Office of the Student Admissions is studying the relationship between the score in the
entrance exam during application and the General Weighted Average (GWA) upon graduation
among graduates of the university from 2017-2020
Population

Sample
Variable of interest