Uses of

Statistics
B I O S TAT I S T I C S
Note: Murder Case/Domestic Violence
 refer to any recorded data

denote some characteristics of a group or set

Statistics of objects such as mean, median, standard
deviation and coefficient of correlation

a science that deals with collection,

presentation, analysis, and interpretation of
data.
 Statistics refers to the collection and analysis of
data that helps us make decisions

Allows to determine if the treatment is

responsible for the change in the population
Why do we and not due to chance
use statistics? •For example, a small change in a small portion of the
population is not going to be significant.

Statistics can also show if a treatment caused

change that is significantly different compared
to before the treatment.
•What if the change after the treatment has a similar
pattern compared to the change prior to the treatment?
What can 01 02 03
we address describe or
characterized person,
make statement and
comparison in an
make evidence-based
decisions.

with objects, situation and

phenomena with
some reliability
objective manner

statistics?
Difference between biostatistics and statistics
∙ Statistics and biostatistics both involve data collection and interpretation
∙ Biostatistics focus on answering questions related to biology and biological research
 Is the data noteworthy
(clinically or otherwise)?
Issues •Practical significance
addressed by
data analysis Is the data change
explained by chance?
•Statistical significance
 Explains how much of your data can
be explained by chance

P-value is very useful in illustrating

statistical significance
Statistical
• Ranges from 0 – 1.0
Significance • The standard of the value of significance
differs per study. It is a matter of judgement of
the researcher, although the usual standard is
0.05
• If we see the value p < a specific value, it
means that the event or data can only occur
less than the specified number of times.
 If we want to conclude that a
treatment is not effective, we
can use the more conservative
Choosing standard of 0.10
the
standards Medicine trials and other
similar medical studies often
use the stricter 0.01 or 0.001
standards.
 What determines the level of statistical
significance?

Sample size Magnitude Variance

The number of people in the The amount of difference or the The extent that data fluctuates
study. The larger the sample size, strength of the relationships. from one score to another is
the better the statistical This include the difference in known as variance. Lower
significance number, the extent of change, variance has the tendency to be
and the strength of relationship more statistically significant than
between the variables. those with higher variance.
 Noteworthy data in the opinion of the
researcher

Focuses on the magnitude of the data and

the issues related to the research (like the
Practical budget spent for the research)

significance Based on the opinion of the researcher and

not essentially concrete.

Another consideration: Amount of the gain

measured for your
effect size clients
 Describing Clients, Evaluating
Services, Explaining Client
Behavior

∙ Three categories based on the purpose of

inquiry
Descriptive purpose is to simply describe the social
phenomena
Explanation purpose focuses on relationship between
variables
Evaluation purposes focuses on whether the applied
treatment was successful.
 Variable vs Constant

Variable is a value that varies in Constant is a value in the study

the study that does not change
Usually, a case wherein all the participants
are all alike in the way
 Parameter - refers to specific characteristic of the
population subject of interest or subject of investigation
that is measurable

IQ, talents, vital statistics and weights of

all the contestants in a beauty pageant.
Parameter vs
Statistic
Statistic - refers to specific characteristic of the sample
subject of interest or subject of investigation that is
measurable

IQ, talents, vital statistics and weights of

some contestants in a beauty pageant
 Population vs Sample

Population – complete Sample – subset or

Universe – all entities
collection of all values subcollection of the
under study of the variables group
• Total number of • 1500 newly graduate
enrollees nurses
• Collection of all • 10 dengue victims
books in the library, • Last two year record
• The whole number of mortality
of registered nurses.
 Example of Types of Research

Descriptive research Explanatory research Evaluative research

• Knowing the mean • Explaining • Evaluate the success of

age, proportion of phenomenon by a treatment, including
families, number of establishing and level of gain.
clients examining • Similar to explanatory
relationships between research but placed at
variable. Inferential a different category
statistics are due to the special role
commonly used in assessing projects
 Division of statistics:
Descriptive vs Inferential Statistics

Descriptive statistics Inferential statistics

Summarizes data from a sample of people Tests a hypothesis in evaluative research and
Portrays a sample in its entirety determines if the prediction for the results actually
holds true.
Relates a sample to a larger population.
 The average body temperature of 100
people is 36.78 0C.

Examples of The deviation of scores of all

Descriptive examinees from the recent board
examination for nurses is 5.
Statistics
The average monthly income of a
nurse in the Phil. is P15,000.00.
Examples of Inferential Statistics

From the above example, treating those 100 people as a sample

drawn from a larger population, we might conclude that the
average body temperature of all people is 36.78 0C.

To determine if 1000 units of cell phone is of good quality, the

quality control department considered 100 units of it. If this
particular number of cell phones has good quality then the
entire 1000 units are also of good quality
 Steps of Data Analysis

RESEARCH DATA STATISTIC DATA ANALYSIS DRAW

QUESTION STRUCTURE CONCLUSIONS
 What does the data look like in
the purpose of selecting a test?

Things to consider
Data
Structure •What level are the variables? (nominal,
ordinal, interval, ratio)
•Do we have related or matched data?
(matched data refers to before and after
data points for example)
•What is the research design?
 Identify the characteristics or types of variables

•Number of categories
•Level of the values/data
•Independent and dependent variables
Statistics After identifying the characteristics of variables
and the research design, the appropriate
statistical test can now be selected and ran.

After running through the statistical software,

we can now get the p-values.
Types of Data

∙ Data can be categorized based on:

Source
Functional Relationship
Numerical characteristics
Levels of Measurement
 Primary Data - refer to information which
is gathered directly from the original
source.
• Information that is gathered by an interviewer
Type of from an interviewee, data that is written by an
applicant to his bio data, and news that is reported
Data based by a field reporter.

on Source Secondary Data - refer to information

which is taken from a secondary source.
• Information or data that is taken from newspaper,
published or unpublished book, thesis or
dissertation etc.
 Independent Data - refer to any
controlling data. Data which are
not affected by any other data.
Types of Data •Blood type, age, gender of 10 freshmen,
according to and time.
Functional
Relationships Dependent Data - any data that is
affected by the controlling data
•Blood pressure, score in a test, monthly
phone bills, and monthly income.
 Categories of Data based on Numerical
Characteristics

Qualitative Data - uses Quantitative Data - consist of

categories or attributes that are
distinguished by some non- numbers representing counts
or measurements.
numeric characteristics.
•Sex, religion, race, responses •weights, heights,
such as “Yes” or “No” and temperature, scores, number
color of the skin. of enrollees, and length of
the table
 Discrete Data - quantitative data which can
assume a finite or countable number of values.
Cannot be represented by fractions or decimal
numbers but by any whole number only
Types of •scores, no. of enrollees, number of table, number of body
temperatures recorded, and number of schools.
Quantitative
Continuous Data - quantitative data which can
Data assume infinity of many possible values
corresponding to the points on a line interval.

•temperature, heights, weights, length of the tables, size of

a classroom, and blood pressure.
 Nominal Data

•data that consists of names, labels, or categories

only commonly used number to categorize data.
•Example: Gender (Male/Female), Responses
(Yes/No)

Levels of Ordinal Data

Measurement •measurements which deal with order or rank,

provides information about relative comparison

of Data but the degrees of difference are not available.

•Example: In a sample of 15 computers, 7 were
rated as “good” 5 were rated as “ better” and 3
were rated as “best”.
•From an IT company, three programmers were
ranked as 2nd, 3rd and 4th .
 Interval
• similar with ordinal but this level of measurement
does not only show likeness or differences between
data, likewise it gives meaningful amounts of
differences between data. It does not have a “true-
Levels of zero” starting point, instead it is arbitrarily assigned.
• Example: Age Bracket: 18 – 24 yrs old, Passing score
Measurement in a test.

of Data Ratio
• a modified interval level to include the starting point
“zero”. The quality of ratio or proportion is
meaningful
• Example: Time, rate of change in production, height,
weight, volume, area, density, velocity
When do we use statistics?
∙ Monitoring Public Health
By collecting data about vaccinations, active patients, severe cases, and deaths, public health
officials were able to evaluate the extent of the spread and the severity of the disease. Thus, they
could adjust prevention measures and better allocate medical resources.
∙ Predicting Disease
Medical professionals can use statistics to predict disease and determine possible risk factors.
For instance, when doctors consistently found that more than 80 percent of lung cancer
patients were smokers, they researched and concluded that smoking was a key contributor to
the disease.
When do we use statistics?
∙ Determining Genetic Susceptibility
Although common diseases can have numerous causes, one of the most prevalent risk factors is
family history. Hence, doctors need to use statistics to determine risk. Furthermore, certain
diseases are exclusively hereditary.
∙ Forecasting the Weather
Sources such as satellites, weather stations, and commercial airplanes gather observational
weather data and send it to supercomputers. These supercomputers use mathematical models
based on an extensive database of past weather patterns and other pertinent information such
as local geography to generate predictions of the coming weather.
When do we use statistics?
∙ Maintaining Quality Control
Almost all the products we use and the food we eat has to conform to strict quality guidelines
before they can make it to the shelves. However, laboratories cannot possibly test the millions of
items that are released each day. Therefore, companies use statistical testing to test sample items
from each production batch.
∙ Calculating Insurance Premiums
When insurance companies calculate your premium, they refer to the statistics collected from a
variety of sources to determine the probability that they will have to pay out a policy.
When do we use statistics?
∙ Planning for Sales
Statistics help to give retailers a clear indication of how much stock they should prepare and
can expect to sell. Issues such as delivery congestion can similarly be predicted based on
statistics so that retailers can decide how early to start ordering extra stock and how to estimate
their delivery schedules to meet the expectations of consumers.
∙ Financial Investment
Successful financial institutions and investors dedicate a large number of resources to gathering
and analyzing statistics. Statistics can tell investors how much a company could grow, whether
or not a stock will turn a profit, and what kind of timeline to expect before seeing a return.
When do we use statistics?
∙ Educated Wagering
As we understand statistics, we can make more educated choices when it comes to wagering.
Whether it is playing cards with friends or visiting a casino, you essentially make your stake
based on how likely you think you are to win—even if you do not know that you are employing
statistics to make this decision.
∙ Political Campaigning
Statistics are critical in any political campaign. They help a politician to know how many votes
they can expect to win in a particular area and which voting zones to focus their campaigning
efforts on. Statistics also tell politicians which issues are most important to the public.