Introduction

Week - 1
MKT3802 Statistical and Experimental Methods for
Engineers

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Yildiz Technical University

2024
Outline

1 Introduction

2 Role of probability

3 Main Terms in Statistics

4 Measure of location (central tendency)

5 Measures of variability (dispersion)

6 Discrete and continuous data

Definitions

Statistics is
a science which helps us to collect, analyze and present
data systematically.
the art of learning from data.
Importance

Simplifies mass of data

Helps to get concrete info from data
Helps decision making
Presents facts in a precise & definite form
Facilitates comparison
Facilitates predictions
Limitations

Does not deal with individual items

Deal with quantitatively expressed items
Results from interpretation are not universally true
Application Areas
Branches of Statistics

Descriptive Statistics (1st phase)

methods for collection, organization, presentation and
analysis of the data
without any attempt to infer anything from the known data

Inferential (Inductive) Statistics (2nd phase)

drawing conclusions (inferences)
performing hypothesis testing
determining relationship between variables
making predictions
Examples

Descriptive Statistics
The daily average temperature of Istanbul was 8°C last week
The scores of 50 students in a Process Control exam are
found to range from 30 to 80.

Inferential (Inductive) Statistics

From the analysis of the income of 1000 randomly selected
citizens living in Istanbul suggest that the monthly average
income is estimated to be 5000 TL
Turkish Statistical Institute declares the outcome of its
survey as “The population of Turkey in the year 2025 will
likely to be 88,844,934”
Probability

A measure of the likelihood that a particular event will

occur.
If we are certain that an event will occur, its probability is 1
or 100%.
If it certainly will not occur, its probability is zero or 0%.

Example: 260 bolts are examined as they are produced.

Five of them are found to be defective.
Answer: probability of a defective bolt ?
5
260 = 0.019 or 1.9 %
Statistics vs. Probability

There is a clear distinction

between the probability
and the inferential
statistics
Statistical inference makes
use of the concepts in
probability.
With the aid of statistical
methods and elements of
probability, conclusions are
drawn about some feature
of the population
Main Terms in Statistics

Data: The measurements obtained in a research study are

called the data
Quantitative: data which is expressed numerically, i.e.
heights, ages, weights, etc.
Qualitative: data which is NOT expressed numerically, i.e.
colors, health, languages etc.
Primary (direct observation) or secondary (external data
sources)
Variable: a characteristic or condition that can change or
take on different values.
Quantitative or qualitative, i.e. height, age, gender etc.
Main Terms in Statistics, continued

Population: Complete set of data of the entire group of

individuals. Can be finite or infinite. i.e. the number
students in this class
Sample: A set of data from population that serve a basis
for valid generalization about the population.
Sample size: The number of item in the Sample.
Experiment: Process of obtaining the desired data.
goal of an experiment is to demonstrate a cause-and-effect
relationship between two variables
the manipulated variable is called the independent variable
and the observed variable is the dependent variable
Steps in Statistical Investigation

1st phase: Sampling Procedures; Collection of Data

We have two alternatives:
1 Simple random sampling
any particular sample of a specified sample size has the
same chance of being selected as any other sample of the
same size
simple random sampling is not always appropriate
2 Design of experiment
Systematic selection
Design of Experiment, DoE example

A corrosion study was made in order to determine whether

coating an aluminum metal with a corrosion retardation
substance reduced the amount of corrosion for different
humidity levels.
A corrosion measurement can be expressed in thousands of
cycles to failure.
Two levels of coating: no coating and chemical corrosion
coating
Two relative humidity levels :20% and 80% relative
humidity.
DoE Example continued...

While we might draw conclusions about the role of humidity

and the impact of coating the specimens from the figure, we

cannot truly evaluate the results from an analytical point of

view without taking into account the variability around the
average.
Measure of location (central tendency)

Remark...
Depending on the data, the median and mean can be quite
different from each other
Measures of location

Example: Suppose the data set is the following: 1.7, 2.2, 3.9,
3.11, and 14.7. The sample mean and median are, respectively,

1.7 + 2.2 + 3.9 + 3.11 + 14.7

x̄ = = 5.122
5
1.7 < 2.2 < 3.11 < 3.9 < 14.7
x̃ = x(n+1)/2 = 3.11
The mean

Pros:
1 Most commonly used measure of location
2 Uses all the observations in the data set
3 All observations have equal weight

Cons:
1 Affected by extreme values that may not be representative
of the sample
The median

Pros:
1 Always exists and unique
2 Not effected by extremes

Cons:
1 Sorting is required
2 Uses only one or two observation
Other measures of location

Other measures of location:

1 The mode
2 Percentile/Quantiles
3 Midrange

Other types of mean:

1 Geometric
2 Harmonic
3 Quadratic
4 Trimmed
5 Weighted
6 Combination
Measures of variability (dispersion)

A measure of variability indicates how observations are spread

about the mean value
Range
Variance
Standard deviation
Coefficient of variation
Range

Them simplest one

Pros:
1 Quick estimate of variance
2 Easy calculation

Cons:
1 Only uses extreme values
2 The larger the data size, the more inefficient the range
becomes
Variance and Standard Deviation

Standard Deviation (s):

Variance (s2 ):
Pros:
Pros:
1 It is in the same
1 An efficient estimator
dimensional unit as the
2 Can be added and
observed values
averaged
2 An efficient estimator

Cons:
Cons:
1 Calculation can be
1 Calculation can be
tedious without the aid
tedious without the aid
of calculator or
Coefficient of Variation, CV

Measure of relative dispersion

Magnitude of variation to the size of the quantity
Pros:
1 Can be used to compare variation between two data set
with different engineering units
Cons:
1 Fail if mean is close to zero
2 Often misunderstood and misused
MATLAB example for variability
Discrete and continuous data
Graphical Diagnostics

Scatter Plot
Stem-and-Leaf Plot
Histogram Plot
Box-and-Whisker Plot or Box Plot
Scatter Plot
Histogram Plot
Self Study

Read and try to understand following examples in our textbook

(Walpole)
Example 1.1
Example 1.2
Example 1.3
Example 1.4
End of Lesson

Questions?