Introduction to

Psychological
Statistics and Basic
Concepts
Mary Grace L. Descarga, RPm
Chapter Outline
 Some Basic Concepts
 Two Branches of Statistical Method
 Frequency Tables
 Histograms
 Shapes of Frequency Distributions
Statistics defined…
Statistics comes from Italian word “statista” w/c means a
person dealing with affairs of the state from the word “Stato
or state”
Originally called “state arithmetic” involving tabulation of
information about nations for the purpose of taxation and
feasibility of wars.
A branch of mathematics that focuses on the organization,
analysis, and interpretation of a group of numbers.

A method of pursuing truth.

2 Branches of Statistical Methods
1. Descriptive statistics: Psychologists use
descriptive statistics to summarize and describe a
group of numbers from a research study.
2. 2. Inferential statistics: Psychologists use
inferential statistics to draw conclusions and to
make inferences that are based on the numbers
from a research study but that go beyond the
numbers.
Basic Concepts
 Variable - characteristic that can have
different values.
 Values - possible number or category that a
score can have.
 Score - particular person’s value on a
variable
Kinds of Variable
 numeric variable - variables whose values are numbers
(as opposed to a nominal variable). Also called
quantitative variable.
 equal-interval variable - variables in which the numbers
stand for approximately equal amounts of what is being
 ratio scale equal-interval variable is measured on a
ratio scale if it has an absolute zero point, meaning that
the value of zero on the variable indicates a complete
absence of the variable.
Kinds of Variable
 rank-order variable numeric - variable in which
the values are ranks, such as class standing or
place finished in a race. Also called ordinal
variable.
 Nominal Variable – variable with values that are
categories (that is, they are names rather than
numbers). Also called categorical variable.
Levels of Measurement

 levelsof measurement types of underlying

numerical information provided by a measure,
such as equal-interval, rank-order, and nominal
(categorical).
Discreet Vs. Continuous Variable
 discrete variable - variable that has specific values
and that cannot have values between these specific
values.
 Example: Number of pens

 continuous variable - variable for which, in theory,

there are an infinite number of values between any
two values
 Example: Age
Review
 Frequency

 Frequency – the observed number of occurrence an

entity is observed.

 frequency table ordered listing of number of

individuals having each of the different values for a
particular variable.
 How to Make a
Frequency Table

 There are four steps in making a frequency table.

 ❶ Make a list down the page of each possible value, from
lowest to highest.
 ❷ Go one by one through the scores, making a mark for each
next to its value on your list. T
 ❸ Make a table showing how many times each value on your
list is used.
 ❹ Figure the percentage of scores for each value. To do this,
take the frequency for that value, divide it by the total
number of scores, and multiply by 100.
Sample Frequency Table
 Grouped Frequency Table
 interval - range of values in a grouped frequency table that
are grouped together.
 grouped frequency table frequency table in which the
number of individuals (frequency) is given for each interval
of values
Review
 Histograms
 - Arebarlike graph of a frequency distribution in which the
values are plotted along the horizontal axis and the height of
each bar is the frequency of that value; the bars are usually
placed next to each other without spaces, giving the
appearance of a city skyline.
Example Histograms
How to make a Histogram
❶ Make a frequency table (or grouped frequency
table).
❷ Put the values along the bottom of the page, from
left to right, from lowest to highest.
❸ Make a scale of frequencies along the left edge of
the page that goes from 0 at the bottom to the highest
frequency for any value.
❹ Make a bar above each value with a height for the
frequency of that value.
Bar Graph
For nominal variables, the histogram is called bar
graph.
Review
Shapes of Frequency Distribution