Introduction to Statistics

Cheryl R. Peralta, MSPT, MHPEd, PTRP Faculty Member-Researcher University of Santo Tomas

University of Santo Tomas College of Rehabilitation Sciences

Objectives
At the end of this session, you should be able to: Define the two branches of statistics Classify a set of data according to type and measurement scale used Construct a frequency distribution table Draw a histogram Discuss the characteristics of a positively skewed and a negatively skewed curve Differentiate between a leptokurtic and a platykurtic curve
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What is Statistics?
Statistics
A science that deals with the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of information that can be stated numerically

Biostatistics
Statistics applied to the biological sciences

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Why do we need STATISTICS?

To understand professional literature To understand the rationale underlying research in the health sciences To carry out research in the health sciences To understand scientific developments in related fields
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Branches of Statistics
Descriptive statistics
Procedures which summarize and describe the characteristics of a set of data in a clear and convenient way.

Inferential or inductive statistics

Procedures which make it possible to draw inferences about a population on the basis of observations from a sample.
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Definitions
Population
Is the universe about which an investigator wishes to draw conclusions Need not consist of people but may be a population of measurements

Sample
Subset of population or the part that is actually being observed or studied.
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Definitions
Elementary unit or element
Object or person on which a measurement is actually taken or an observation is made

Sampling unit
Units which are chosen in selecting the sample, and may be made-up of nonoverlapping collection of elements or elementary units
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Definitions
Parameter
Descriptive measure based on a population

Statistics
Descriptive measure based on a sample

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Definitions
Variables
Observable characteristic or phenomena of a person or object whereby the members of the group or set vary or differ from one another.

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Definitions
Categories of Variables
Independent variable Presumed to cause, effect, influence or stimulate the outcome Dependent variable The output, the outcome or the response variable

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Definitions
Categories of Variables
Confounders A variable that distorts the true relationship between the independent and the dependent variables Effect modifiers A variable that modifies the relationship between the independent and the dependent variables

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Types of Data
Quantitative data
In number form, also known as measurement data May be continuous or discrete Continuous
Arise from measurement and can assume any value in some interval of real numbers Has no gaps Examples: Age (years), number of children, shoe size

Discrete
Variable that can be obtained through counting Has gaps Examples: height, weight University of Santo Tomas
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Types of Data
Qualitative data
Categorical or attribute data Can be separated into different categories and dont use numbers Examples: Grade (A, B, C, D, E) Gender (male, female) Economic class (lower, middle, upper)
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Measurement Scales
Nominal data Ordinal data Interval Data Ratio

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Measurement Scales
Nominal data
Are used as measures of identity where data values fit into categories Can be measured only in terms of whether the individual items belong to some distinctively different categories, but we cannot quantify or even rank order those categories Includes dichotomous data Examples: gender, race, color, city

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Measurement Scales
Ordinal data
Reflects the rank order of individuals No information about the size of the interval Intervals between scale points may be uneven Allow us to rank order the items we measure in terms of which has less and which has more of the quality represented by the variable, but still they do not allow us to say "how much more. Examples: Likert scales

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Measurement Scales
Interval data
Provides numbers that reflects differences among items Does not have absolute zero The exact distance between two categories can be determined by the zero point is arbitrary Allow us not only to rank order the items that are measured, but also to quantify and compare the sizes of differences between them Examples: Height, weight, temperature in degrees celsius
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Measurement Scales
Ratio data
Highest type of scale Has an absolute zero Zero point is fixed Example: Kelvin scale

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Lets Practice!

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Identify the independent and dependent variables in the following problems. Determine what type of data is/are the dependent variable/s.

A group of college students were given a short course in speed-reading. The instructor was curious if a monetary incentive would influence performance on a reading test taken at the end of the course. Half the students were offered $5 for obtaining a certain level of performance on the test, the other half were not offered money.

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Identify the independent and dependent variables in the following problems. Determine what type of data is/are the dependent variable/s.

A social psychologist thinks that people are more likely to conform to a large crowd than to a single person. To test this hypothesis, the social psychologist had either one person or five persons stand on a busy walking path on campus and look up. The psychologist stood nearby and counted the number of people passing by who also looked up.
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Identify the independent and dependent variables in the following problems. Determine what type of data is/are the dependent variable/s. To test a new voice feature in a cockpit design a flight simulator was used. The simulator was programmed to give visual readings of flight information, or to give visual and auditory (voice) readings of flight information. All test pilots were put through a simulated emergency landing procedure, but were randomly assigned to the visual, or visual and auditory conditions. Flight experts rated each pilots performance in the simulator on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 10 (excellent).
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Identify the independent and dependent variables in the following problems. Determine what type of data is/are the dependent variable/s. A study indicates that antioxidants found in blueberries may slow down the process of aging. In this study, 19-month old rats (equivalent to 60-year old humans) were fed either their standard diet or a diet supplemented by either blueberry, strawberry, or spinach powder. After eight weeks, the rats were given memory and motor tests. Although all supplemented rats showed improvement, those supplemented with blueberry powder showed the most notable improvement.

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Identify the independent and dependent variables in the following problems. Determine what type of data is/are the dependent variable/s. Beta-carotene supplements have been thought to protect against cancer. However, a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests this is false. The study was conducted with 39,000 women aged 45 and up. These women were randomly assigned to receive a beta-carotene supplement or a placebo, and their health was studied over their lifetime. Cancer rates for women taking the beta-carotene supplement did not differ systematically from the cancer rates of those women taking the placebo.
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Identify the independent and dependent variables in the following problems. Determine what type of data is/are the dependent variable/s. An automobile manufacturer wants to know how bright brake lights should be in order to minimize the time required for the driver of a following car to realize that the car in front is stopping and to hit the brakes.

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Descriptive Statistics

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Frequency Distribution
Frequency distribution
Tabular arrangement of data whereby the data is grouped into different intervals, and then the number of observations that belong to each interval is determined Data presented in this manner are called grouped data

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Variants of Frequency Distribution

Relative frequency distribution
instead of the number of observations belonging to a particular interval, the ratio of the number of observations in the interval to the total number of observations, also known as the relative frequency, is determined

Percentage frequency distribution

Relative frequency multiplied by 100
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Variants of Frequency Distribution

Cumulative frequency distribution
obtained by computing the cumulative frequency, defined as the total frequency of all values less than the upper class limit of a particular interval, for all intervals by simply adding together the frequencies of the interval and all other preceding intervals

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Features of Frequency Distribution

Class interval/Class limit Class boundaries Class marks Class size Class frequency

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Features of Frequency Distribution

Class interval/Class limit
Refers to the grouping defined by a lower limit and an upper limit

Class boundaries
Real or true class limits

Class marks
Midpoint or middle value of a class interval

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Features of Frequency Distribution

Class size
difference between the upper class boundary and the lower class boundary

Class frequency
Number of observations belonging to a class interval

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Example
class interval 0.00- 9.99 10.00-19.99 20.00-29.99 30.00-39.99 40.00-49.99 class mark 5 15 25 35 45 cumulative absolute relative absolute frequency frequency frequency 1 3 8 18 24 0.01 0.03 0.08 0.18 0.24 1 4 12 30 54 relative cumulative frequency 0.01 0.04 0.12 0.3 0.54

50.00-59.99
60.00-69.99 70.00-79.99 80.00-89.99 90.00-99.99

55
65 75 85 95

22
15 8 0 1

0.22
0.15 0.08 0 0.01

76
91 99 99 100

0.76
0.91 0.99 0.99 1

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Steps in organizing a frequency distribution

Arrange data in ascending order Determine the range
Range = highest value lowest value

Determine the number of classes

Arbitrarily set between 5-15 Too few: provides little information Too many: destroys the summary nature of the table
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Steps in organizing a frequency distribution

Determine class size or width
Class size = Range / number of classes Should have the same number of decimal places as the recorded figures but should never be less than the initial estimate

List the classes by specifying the lower and upper limits of the class

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Steps in organizing a frequency distribution

Count the number of subjects falling within each class Determine relative frequency and cumulative frequency

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Lets Practice!

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Problem
Divide the class into 3 groups
Group A: Groups 1-4 Group B: Groups 5-8 Group C: Groups 9-12

Measure and record the resting heart rate of each member of your group (use 15 secs x 4) Cast the values into a frequency distribution table. Post your results on the board
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Types of Graphs Commonly Used in Presenting Research Data

Type Nature of Variable Function

Histogram

Frequency polygon Line diagram

Continuous Quanti Graphic representation of the frequency distribution Quanti Same as histogram Time series Shows trend data or changes with time or age
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Types of Graphs Commonly Used in Presenting Research Data

Type Nature of Variable Function

Bar Graph

Quali/ Discrete Quanti

Comparisons of absolute or relative counts, rates, etc.

Pie Chart
Component Bar Chart Scatterplot

Quali
Quali Quanti

Breakdown of a group or total

Same as pie chart Correlation between two quanti variables
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University of Santo Tomas College of Rehabilitation Sciences

University of Santo Tomas College of Rehabilitation Sciences

First Shifting Grades 1SpS

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Zoo lec

Zoo lab

Math

Eng 101

Fil 1 1SPS

Scl 1

Phil Hist

Lit 102

Thy 1

Fail Pass

37 13

31 16

4 23

43 5

40 8

0 49

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Characteristics of Frequency Distribution

Central tendency or location
Tell us where on our scale of measurement a set of values tends to lie Mean Median Mode

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Characteristics of Frequency Distribution

Variability
Extent to which the scores are spread out on the scale Standard Deviation Variance

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Characteristics of Frequency Distribution

Shape
Skewness Measure of symmetry A symmetric distribution has a coefficient of skewness equal to zero Tail of the distribution determines skewness

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University of Santo Tomas College of Rehabilitation Sciences

University of Santo Tomas College of Rehabilitation Sciences

Characteristics of Frequency Distribution

Shape
Kurtosis Measures the peakedness of a distribution Types according to coefficient of kurtosis
Normal distribution: equal to 3 Leptokurtic (lepto means slender): greater than 3 Platykurtic (platy means flat or broad): less than 3
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University of Santo Tomas College of Rehabilitation Sciences

Additional References
Mendoza OM, Borja MP, Sevilla TL, Ancheta CA, Saniel OP, Sarol JN Jr. (2000). Foundations of Statistical Analysis for the Health Sciences. UP-Manila: Philippines. Kuzma JW and Bohnenblust SE (2001). Basic Statistics for the Health Sciences. Mayfield Publishing Company: California. Elston RC and Johnson WD (1995). Essentials of Biostatistics 2nd Ed. Info Access & Distribution Pte Ltd: Singapore. Elementary Concepts in Statistics. Accessed at http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/esc.html on June 18, 2008 Lane D. Variables. Accessed at http://cnx.org/content/m10802/latest/ on June 18, 2008 Independent and Dependent Variables. Accessed at http://www.lhup.edu/sboland/independent_and_dependent_variab.htm on June 18, 2008
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Thank you!

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