STATISTICS

Definition, Natures and Importance of

Statistics
• The word statistics is derived from the Latin
word status meaning “state”.
• It is a collection of quantitative data, such as
statistics of crimes, statistics on enrolment, and
statistics on unemployment.
• It is also a science, which deals with the
collection, presentation, analysis, and
interpretation of quantitative data.
• Statistics is also a tool that helps us develop
general and meaningful conclusions that go
beyond the original data.
 The following are some examples of the
uses of statistics:
• Surveys are designed to collect early returns on election
day to forecast the outcome of an election.
• Consumers are samples to provide information for
predicting product preference.
• Newly manufactured fuses are sampled before shipping
to decide whether to ship or hold individual lots.
• The research physician conducts experiments to determine
the effect of various drugs and controlled environmental
conditions on humans in order to infer the appropriate
method of treatment of a particular disease.
• The economist observes various indices of economic
health over a period of time and uses the information to
forecast the condition of the economy next year.
 Natures of Statistics
Two areas of interest
• Government (political science)
• Games of chance
 Descriptive Statistics
• Deals with the methods of organizing,
summarizing, and presenting a mass of data so as
to yield meaningful information.
 Inferential Statistics
• Deals with making generalizations about a body where
only a part of it is examined. This comprises those
methods concerned with the analysis of a subset of data
leading to predictions or inferences about the entire set
of data.
Examples: Determine whether the following statements use
the area of descriptive statistics or inferential statistics.

1. A bowler wants to find his bowling average for the past 12

games.
2. A manager would like to predict based on previous years’
sales, the sales performance of a company for the next five
years.
3. A politician would like to estimate, based on an opinion poll,
his chance for winning in the upcoming senatorial election.
4. A teacher wishes to determine the percentage of
students who passed the examination.
5. A student wishes to determine the average monthly
expenditures on school supplies for the past five months.
6. A basketball player wants to estimate his chance of
winning the most valuable player (MVP) award based on
his current season averages and the averages of his
opponents.
 Definition of Some Basic
Statistical Terms
1. Population – the set of all individuals for
entities under consideration or study. It may be a
finite or infinite collection of objects, events, or
individuals, with specified class or characteristics
under consideration.
Examples:
1. The researcher would like to determine the average
age of patients infected with dengue fever for the
month of October at PGH.
2. The researcher would like to determine the number of
female IT students in CvSU – Carmona.
2. Variable – a characteristic of interest measurable on
each and every individual in the universe, denoted by any
capital letter in the English alphabet, is called a variable.
Examples:
1. The researcher would like to determine the average
age of patients infected with dengue fever for the
month of October at PGH.
2. The researcher would like to determine the number of
female IT students in CvSU – Carmona.
Types of Variable
a. Qualitative Variable consists of categories or
attributes, which have non-numerical characteristics.
Examples: classification, year level, sex, and subjects
enrolled this semester.
b. Quantitative Variable consists of numbers
representing counts or measurements.
Examples:
1. The researcher would like to determine the average
age of patients infected with dengue fever for the
month of October at PGH.
2. The researcher would like to determine the number of
female IT students in CvSU – Carmona.
Classification of Quantitative Variable
a. Discrete Quantitative Variable results from either a finite number
of possible values or a countable number of possible values.
Examples: no. of students, no. of books, and no. of patients.
b. Continuous Quantitative Variable results from infinitely many
possible values that can be associated with points on a continuous
scale in such a way that there are no gaps or interruptions.
Examples: height, weight, grade point average, and time.
Examples:
1. The researcher would like to determine the average
age of patients infected with dengue fever for the
month of October at PGH.
2. The researcher would like to determine the number of
female IT students in CvSU – Carmona.
3. Sample is a part of the population or a sub-collection of
elements drawn from a population.
4. Parameter is a numerical measurement describing some
characteristic of a population.
5. Statistics is a numerical measurement describing some
characteristic of a sample.
6. Survey is often conducted to gather opinions or
feedbacks about a variety of topics.
a. Census Survey, most often simply referred to as census,
is conducted by gathering information from the entire
population.
b. Sampling Survey, most often simply referred to as
survey, is conducted by gathering information only from
part of the population.
 Level of Measurement of Data
Can be performed and the statistical tools that can be
applied to the data set.
Level 1: Nominal is characterized by data that consist of names,
labels, or categories only.
The data cannot be arranged in an ordering scheme.
Examples: name, religion, civil status, address, sex, degree
program
Level 2. Ordinal involves data that may be
arranged in some order, but differences
between data values either cannot be
determined or are meaningless.
Examples: military rank, job position, year
level
Level 3. Interval is like the ordinal level, with the
additional property that meaningful amounts of
differences between data can be determined.
However, there is no inherent (natural) zero starting
point.
- the distance between attributes does have meaning
Examples: IQ Score, temperature (in oC)
Level 4. Ratio is the interval level modified to
include the inherent zero starting point. For
values at this level, differences and ratios are
meaningful.
Examples: height, width, area, and weekly
allowance
Levels of Measurement
Examples: Tell the level of measurement given the
following variables:
1. Student course
2. SSS number
3. Satisfied, slightly satisfied, slightly unsatisfied,
unsatisfied.
4. Number of client
5. Sugar level
6. Jersey number