TEM-515: STATISTICAL

ANALYSES WITH COMPUTER

APPLICATION

Lecture Series 1: Introduction to Data Collection

Lecture 1: Introduction to Statistics

Instructor: Dr. Zahara Batool Date: 23 January 2018

The Margin of Error b/w Statistics
and Parameters
Population
of SACP
Class

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3

Course Outline
Series 1 – Introduction to Data Collection
 Introduction to Statistics

 Variables and Levels of Measurement

 Collection of Data and Survey Sampling - I

 Survey Sampling and Sampling Distributions - II

Series 2 – Descriptive Statistics

 Measures of Central Tendency or Average

 Measures of Dispersion, Moments and Skewness

 Presentation of Data -I
 Presentation of Data -II
Course Outline
Series 3 – Correlations and Non Parametric Tests

 Correlation and Regression

 Non Parametric Tests

 From Sample to Population

Resources
 Introduction to statistical theory (part -1) (Chaudhry and
Kamal, 2009)
 Introduction to statistical theory (part -2) (Chaudhry and
Kamal, 2009)
 PASW Statistics 17 Made Simple (Kinner and Gray, 2009)
 SPSS 16.0 Statistical Procedures Companion (Norusis,
2008)
Lecture 1 Content Outline
 Meaning of Statistics
 Population and Statistics

 Descriptive and inferential statistics

 Method and Design of Research Studies

 Use of Statistical information

 Statistical Notation
Meaning of Statistics
 Statistics is the study of how to collect, organize,
analyse, and interpret numerical information from
data.
 The word ‘statistics’ come from the Latin word status,
meaning a political state, originally meant information
useful to the state.
Use of Statistical Information
 To inform general public;
 To explain things that have happened;
 To justify a claim;
 To predict the decision regarding future outcomes;
 To estimate the unknown quantities;
 To establish association/relationship b/w factors
Population and Samples
 A population or a statistical population is the set of all the
individuals of interest in a particular study.
 Population can vary in size from extremely large to very small.
 Size of the population is denoted by N, and numerical quantities
describing a population are called parameters.
 Research questions concern an entire population, thus it seeks
of all possible observations whether finite or infinite, relevant to
some characteristics of interest.......
 Possible???
Population and Samples
 A sample (n) is a set of individuals selected from a population. It
should
 represent the population in a research study.
 always be identified in terms of the population from which it was
selected.
 Size of the sample is denoted by n, and a numerical quantity
computed from a sample, is called statistic.
 like population, sample can also vary in size
Relationship b/w Population and Samples
 The goal of scientific research is to generalise the results back to the
entire population.

THE POPULATION
All of the individuals of interest

The results The sample

From the sample is selected from
are generalized the population
to the population

THE SAMPLE
The individuals selected to
participate in the research study
In-Class Activity
Population or Sample?
 Total number of students in a college during the last month.
 Number of motorcycles owned by all families in Lahore.
 Monthly salaries of all employees of UET Lahore.
 Wheat yield per acre for 5 pieces of a land.
 Number of cars sold during the last month at all the computer stores
in Lahore.
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
 Descriptive statistics involves methods of
organizing, picturing and summarizing information
from data.
 Inferential statistics involves methods of using
information from a sample to draw conclusions
about the population.
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
Descriptive Statistics Inferential Statistics

A cricket player wants to find his score A cricket player wants to estimate his
average for the last 20 games. chance of scoring based on his current
season average

Aamir wants to describe the variation in Based on the first four test scores, Aamir
his four test scores in statistics. would like to predict the variation in his
final statistics test scores.

Mrs. Rashid wants to determine the Based on last six months grocery bills,
average weekly amount she spent on Mrs. Rashid would like to predict the
groceries in the past 6 months. average amount she will spend on
groceries for the upcoming year.
Characteristics of Statistics
 Statistics deals with the behaviour of aggregates or large groups of
data. It has nothing to do with what is happening to a particular
individual or object of the aggregate.
 Statistics deals with aggregates of observations of the same kind
rather than isolated figures.
 Statistics deals with variability that obscure underlying patterns. No
two objects in this universe are exactly alike. If they were, there would
have been no statistical problem.
 Statistics deals with uncertainties as every process of getting
observations whether controlled or uncontrolled, involves deficiencies
or chance variation. That is why we have to talk in terms of probability.
Characteristics of Statistics (contd.)
 Statistics deals with those characteristics or aspects of things which can
be described numerically either by counts or measurements.
 Statistics deals with those aggregates which are subject to a number of
random causes, e.g. the height of persons are subject to a number of
causes such as race, age, diet, habits, climate and so forth.
 Statistical laws are valid on the average or in the long run. There is no
guarantee that a certain law will hold in all cases. Statistical inference is
therefore made in the face of uncertainty.
 Statistical results might be misleading and incorrect if sufficient care in
collecting, processing and interpreting the data is not exercised or if the
statistical data are handled by a person who is not well versed in the
subject matter of statistics.
Relationship between variables
 Variable
A variable is a characteristic or condition that changes or has
different values for different individuals.
 Constant
A constant is a characteristic or condition that does not vary but is
the same for every individual.
There are a variety of research methods for obtaining observations
and investigating the relationship between variables.
The Scientific Method and the
Design of Research Studies
 The correlation method

 The experimental method

 The independent and dependent variables

The correlation method
 With the correlation method, two variables are observed to
see whether there is a relationship.
 In a correlation study, it is tempting to conclude that one
variable is causing changes in the other variable.
 The method simply describes the relationship (no cause-
and-effect relationship).
The Experimental Method
 One variable is manipulated while changes are observed in
another variable.
 To establish a cause-and-effect relationship between the two
variables, an experiment attempts to eliminate or minimize
the effect of all other variables by using random assignment
and by controlling or holding constant other variables that
might influence the results.
The Independent and Dependent Variables

 Individuals in a control condition do not receive the

experimental treatment. Instead they either receive no
treatment or they receive a neutral, placebo treatment. The
purpose of a control condition is to provide a baseline for
comparison with the experimental condition.
 Individuals in the experimental condition do receive the
experimental treatment.
Statistical Analyses & Transport Research
Transportation engineers often engage in
 Evaluations of different products; or

 want to know whether a treatment has resulted in an

improvement in their system, such as whether some crack
sealer is better than the one that was used in the past; or
 whether changing signs on a number of horizontal curves
really led to a crash reduction.
Research Situations for Transportation Engineers

Common Research Situations For Example

Is a difference (b/w averages) Whether changing signs on a number

significant? of horizontal curves really lead to a
crash reduction?

How strongly are variables Do young affluent drivers tend to

associated? commit more violations?

Can scores on a target variable Can drivers’ performance on road be

be predicted from data on other predicted by his scores on driving
variables? tests?
Research Question?
The manager of a transit agency would like to present information to
the board of commissioners on changes in revenue that resulted from
a change in the fare. The transit system provides three basic types of
service: local bus routes, express bus routes, and demand-responsive
bus service. There are 15 local bus routes, 10 express routes, and1
demand-responsive system.

 Question/Issue
Use data to describe some change over time.
In this instance, data from 2008 and 2009 are used to describe the
change in revenue on each route/part of a transit system when the fare
structure was changed from variable (per mile) to fixed fares.
 Five Common Research Situations
Research Questions

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5

Population
Difference Variables Prediction of scores parameters from a Latent
Significant? associated? or categories? sample? variables?

e.g. two
e.g. categories
e.g. Regression e.g. Exploratory
Independent t- e.g. Pearson binomial test
analyses Factor Analysis
test correlation
Non-parametric Spearman’s Chi-square test
Discriminant Canonical
Mann-Whitney rank correlation for goodness-
Analysis correlation
test of-fit
Further Reading
 Chapter 1
Statistics for behavioral sciences with study guide (Gravetter
and Wallnau,)

 Chapter 1
Introduction to statistical theory (part -1) (Chaudhry and
Kamal, 2009)
Lecture 1: Introduction to Statistics

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