CONCEPTS

AND
NATURE OF
STATISTICS

Dishelle Anne T. Hufana, LPT, MSTM

 Descriptive Statistics
 Consists of collection, organization, presentation and analysis of
data.
 The origin of descriptive statistics can be traced in the early days of
Babylonia between 4500 BC and 3000 BC. (collected data on male
citizens, arms, and farm and wheat products for war purposes.)

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Inferential Statistics
 Consists of a higher degree of analysis, interpretation, and inferences.
 Hypothesis testing- decision-making procedure to determine whether there
is a significant difference between a claim about a population and other
information obtained.
 Example: A researcher wishes to find out whether exposure to pollution may
reduce life span. For this study, two groups of population of senior citizens 75
years old and above were selected and exposed to 2 kinds of air- one group was
exposed to the air in the polluted center of the Metropolis and the other group to
the air in the remote area of Palawan. Five years later, the number of deaths per
group was counted and a decision was made on the effect of pollution on man’s
life span.
PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS
 Inferential Statistics
 It was first traced in the 1600s.
 John Graunt in his book on population made some tests of
significance on the differences in mortality among groups of people.
At the same time, another popular mathematician, Edmund Halley,
published the mortality table to determine life insurance rates.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Variables and Types of Data
 Variable- a characteristic of a population or sample which makes it
different from the other.
 Population- a large collection of objects, persons, or things. Data
are gathered by the researcher from a population or sample.
 Example: If a researcher wants to find out the average age of 3, 100
students of a certain school, then all the students comprise the
population (N). In this case, N= 3100.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Variables and Types of Data
 Sample- a part of a population that has the same characteristics as
the given population.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Variables and Types of Data
Data can be classified as Qualitative or Quantitative.
 Qualitative data- data that can be placed into categories according
to their characteristics or attributes. Qualitative data cannot be
added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided.
 Example: Gender, civil status, nationality
 Quantitative data- data that are numerical in nature. Can be ordered
or ranked.
 Example: Age, height, test scores, and weights
PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS
 Variables and Types of Data
Variables can be classified as discrete, continuous, dependent, or
independent.
 Discrete variables- assumes values that can be counted and their values are
represented by counting numbers only
 Example: number of days in a week, number of children in a family
 Continuous variables- can be assume all values between two specific
values or intervals. Values are obtained through measurement.
 Example: if the data are the average number of hours of sleep of an infant is 12 hours
a day, then this means that 1 nor 2 minutes less than 12 hours.
PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS
 Variables and Types of Data
Variables can be classified as discrete, continuous, dependent, or
independent.
 Dependent variables- affected or influenced by another variable.
 Independent variables- not affected or influenced by another
variable.
 Example: In the study on “The effects of Staggered Food Supply to a Sick
Secluded Patient,” the independent variable is the staggered food supply and
the dependent variable is the sick secluded patient.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Parameter and Statistic
 Parameter- is a value or measure obtained from a population. If one
uses mean, median, and standard deviation to differentiate the
achievement of a class from another class, then these measures are
parameters.
 Statistic- any value or measurement obtained from a sample. It is an
estimate of the parameter. In a given popularity survey of a certain
program, if 10% of it are senior citizens with an average age of 65,
then this average is a statistic.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Measurement Levels
Variables are counted or measured using four types of scales namely,
nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
 Nominal level of measurement- classifies data in non-overlapping
scale. This scale distinguishes one object from another object for
identifying purposes only. There is no ranking or meaningful order
among the categories.
 Example: Subjects taught such as English, Filipino, Science, or
Mathematics

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Measurement Levels
Variables are counted or measured using four types of scales namely,
nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
 Ordinal level of measurement- classifies data into some specified
order or rank. However, we cannot tell how much less or how much
more one rank has over the other.
 Example: Ranking of honor students in a class, ranking of candidates in a
beauty contest

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Measurement Levels
Variables are counted or measured using four types of scales namely,
nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
 Interval level of measurement- specifies the precise difference
among the values or ranks.
 Example: Sale of tickets on the first day of showing of a film is 2 million, on the
second day, 1.75 million; and on the third day, 1 million. The difference in the sale
of tickets for 3 days can be determined.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Measurement Levels
Variables are counted or measured using four types of scales namely, nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio.
 Ratio level of measurement- has the same characteristics as the interval
level; the only difference is that the ratio level always starts from zero. In
addition, the ratio level has always the presence of units of measure. Hence,
we can say that one objects is so many times larger or smaller than the other.
 Example: If car A starts from Luneta and travels 90 km. in 1 hour and car B also starts from
Luneta and travels 120 km. in 1 hour, we can conclude that car B is 1 and 1/3 times faster than
car A.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Activity 1
I. Determine whether the following situation is descriptive statistics or Inferential Statistics.
1. The property custodian makes an inventory of the cabinets, chairs, tables, blackboards, and electric
fans in each classroom.
2. The sales supervisor makes a comparison between morning and afternoon sales, factory sales, and
outlet sales.
3. The chairman of the board of judges summarizes the points of all judges to determine the top three
winners.
4. The sports newscaster gets the percentage of ball conversations in 3-point shooting and inside
perimeter shooting.
5. A planning officer forecasting the future sales of the product
6. A teacher arranges the scores obtained by his students in a test to determine the median.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Activity 1
I. Determine whether the following situation is descriptive statistics or Inferential Statistics.
7. A researcher analyzes the survey results the best that correlates the job satisfaction, high salary, work
environment, or future advancement.
8. A guidance counselor getting a survey of the parents’ perception of the sexual harassment laws.
9. A store owner finds out from his daily sales that 80% of sales are from soft drinks.
10. A medical researcher studies the effectiveness of a new medicine in patients with heart disease.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Activity 2
II. Classify each as continuous or discrete data.
1. Height of players
2. Number of students in a class
3. Speed of sound
4. Number of vehicles in Metro Manila
5. All counting numbers
6. Amount of experiences of the President
7. Length of a skirt
8. Area in the Philippines in square kilometers
9. Number of hours of sleep
10. Total number of kilometers travelled

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Activity 2
III. Give the scale of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) of each of the
following:
1. Nationality
2. Scores obtained in an entrance test
3. Size of a classroom
4. Rank of honor students
5. Game scores
6. Weight
7. Number of hours spent in playing
8. Area of a stadium
9. Number of musical instruments
10. Employment status

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Summation Notation
The most commonly used notation in statistics is the summation
notation () which reads “the sum of” or “the summation of”. This is
simply the shorter way of writing for in summation notation. This
notation is read: the summation of x sub , as ranges from 1 to 20.

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Summation Notation

Examples:

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Summation Notation
Pair No. Boys (X) Girls (y)
Examples:
1 12 11

2 12 13

3 14 12

4 13 14

1. Average age of Boys 5 11 10

2. Average age of Girls

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS

 Summation Notation
Use the ff. values for and :
Examples:

PRELIM LESSON 2: CONCEPTS AND NATURE OF STATISTICS