Importance of Statistics

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 SESSION OBJECTIVES

 To discuss the development and meaning of statistics

 To justify the importance of reliable and timely

statistics

 To introduce some key statistical concepts and their

definitions

 To highlight the role of the Uganda Bureau of

Statistics

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WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY THE TERM
STATISTICS?

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MEANING OF STATISTICS
1. The word statistics is used in either two senses.
Commonly used to refer to data.
Principles
and methods which have been
developed for handling numerical data.

2. Statistics is defined as a branch of mathematics or

science that deals with the collection, analysis
and interpretation of numerical information.

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 MEANING OF STATISTICS –CONT…
3. Statistics changes numbers into information..
4. Statistics is the art and science of deciding:
 what are the appropriate data to collect,

 deciding how to collect them efficiently

 and then using them to give information (answer

questions and make decisions).
5. Statistics” are data obtained by collecting, processing,
compiling, analyzing, publishing and disseminating results,
gathered from respondents through statistical collections
or from administrative data
6. Statistics is making decisions when there is
uncertainty.
 We have to make decisions all the time -in everyday
life or as part of our work. 5
 MEANING OF STATISTICS CONT…

7. Statistics is a mathematical science pertaining to

the
collection,

analysis,

interpretation or explanation
and presentation of data.
8. Statistics is the science of learning from data.

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 DEVELOPMENT OF STATISTICS

 The word statistics is believed to have been derived from the

word “states”. The administration of states required the
collection and analysis of data of population and wealth for
the purpose of war and finance.

 Mankind has used statistics for thousands of years. In the Old

Testament of the Holy Bible, statistics were gathered for
purposes such as; taxation, military services, distribution of
resources, and priestly duties. (Numbers 1: 2-3, 3:15, 31:25-
41).

 The Romans gathered statistics by conducting censuses. In

Luke 2:3, all people were to be registered in their own cities.
Mary and Joseph travelled also, and that is when Jesus was
born.
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DEVELOPMENT OF STATISTICS -CONT..
 Some concepts of statistics were developed by
students of games of chance, such games lean on
probability.

 The fertile grounds for application and development

of statistical methods included; insurance, biology
and other natural sciences.

 To date there is hardly any discipline which does not

find statistics useful. Economics, sociology,
business, agriculture, health and education; all lean
heavily upon statistics. 8
 MAJOR SOURCES OF STATISTICS
 Primary sources. Data may be collected for the
purpose required. Such data are known as primary
data. The collection of facts and figures relating to
the population in the censuses and surveys provide
primary data. The great advantage of such data is
that the exact information wanted is obtained.

 Secondary Sources. Often data is picked from

reports of other institutions and organizations, such
data is referred to as secondary. For example,
details of industrial production data is picked from
reports of the industries.
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REASONS FOR PREFERRING A PRIMARY SOURCE

 The secondary source may contain mistakes due to

errors which may not be easy to detect.

 The primary source usually include definitions of

terms and units used.

 The primary source often includes a copy of the

schedule/ questionnaire and description of the
procedures used in selecting the sample and in
collecting the data.

 The primary source usually shows data in greater

detail. The secondary source may omit some of the
information.
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WHAT ARE THE USES OF STATISTICS?

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 USES OF STATISTICS

 Statistics is a discipline which was developed to extract

relevant facts from a large body of information and to help
people make decisions when uncertainty exists concerning
the information. Statistics form the basis for planning.
Statistics provide information and data (facts and figures) as
input for planning, monitoring and evaluation of programmes.
 In the face of dwindling resource and increased demand for
services, statistics are becoming more crucial to provide the
much needed information to help planning authorities come
up with better informed decisions
 The distribution of public utilities, social services (piped
water, training institutions, road infrastructure, electricity and
others) require existence of clear analysed data.
 What you cannot measure, you cannot manage.
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POPULATION OF UGANDA (1948 - 2011)- MILLION
31.8 32.9
29.6

24.2 PROJECTED

16.7
12.6
9.5
6.5
5

1948 1959 1969 1980 1991 2002 2008 2010 2011

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INFANT MORTALITY RATE – UDHS 2006
106 109
98 102

74 76 76
67 70
54
No. of children that die before the age
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POVERTY LEVELS PO (%)
56
% of the population below the poverty line Poverty Line
US$1 per day
9.8m per adult
44 equivalent

9.1m
39
34
8.9m 31
7.6m
8.4m 25
7.5m

1992/93 1997 1999/00 2002/03 2005/06 2009/1015

NUMBER OF HOSPITALS: 1995 - 2010

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NUMBER OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS: 1995-2010

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PRIMARY ENROLLMENT: 1986 - 2010

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SECONDARY SCHOOL ENROLMENT: 1986-2010

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BASIS FOR UNREALIBLE STATISTICS

 Bias - the presence of bias on part of the investigator is obviously

sufficient to discredit the findings.
 Omissions of important factors during data collection.
 Errors during data collection and analysis
 Non comparable data due to failure to use standard definitions of
concepts.
 Insufficient data not providing any meaningful conclusions.
 Unrepresentative data – Conclusions should not be based on data which
is numerically sufficient but not representative.
 Reaching a valid conclusion concerning a population from the sample is
based on two general laws, namely, the law of statistical regularity, and the
law of inertia of large numbers.
 The law of statistical regularity states that a reasonably large number of items
selected at random from a large group of items will on average be representative
of the characteristics of the population.
 The law of inertia of large numbers states that large groups or aggregate of data
show a higher degree of stability than small ones.

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SOME KEY STATISTICAL CONCEPTS

A – Measures of Central Tendency

 The term measure of central tendency is
used to identify the values which may be
computed to in an attempt to characterize
the central part of the frequency
distribution.
 The arithmetic mean, median and mode
are frequently used.

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EXAMPLE 1 -MEAN
Consider five (5) villages in a parish:
Administrative Units Households
Village 1 204
Village 2 300
Village 3 105
Village 4 460
Village 5 82
In this example, the Arithmetic Mean is : (204+300+105+460+82)/5. This gives
the average number of households in this parish as 230.

EXAMPLE 2 -MEDIAN
Consider 10 villages (A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I and J)
Village A B C D E F
G H I J
Households 157 42 475 505 123 952
345 872 173 224
Mean = (157+42+475+505+123+952+345+872+173+224)/10 = 386.8

Computation of the Median

Step 1: Arrange the households in order of magnitude as shown below;

42, 123, 157, 173, 224, 345, 475, 505, 872, 952
Step 2: Pick the middle mark, i.e. (224+345)/2 = 284.5

EXAMPLE 3 –MODE
A – ages of 6 people: 25 30 36 25 18 22 . The mode is 25

B – Packaging for herbicides

Measures in litres
1 2 5 10 20

Sales 500 120 850 80 35

The mode is 5 litres

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KEY STATISTICAL CONCEPTS-CONT..
B. Measures of Dispersion
 Variance - the mean of all squared deviations from the
mean. Deviations are the amount that each score varies
from the mean of the distribution, that is, how far each
score is away from the mean.
 Standard Deviation - a measure of the dispersion or
variation in a distribution, equal to the square root of the
arithmetic mean of the squares of the deviations from the
arithmetic mean. The greater the degree of difference of a
value from the average, the larger the standard deviation.
 Range -difference between the lowest and highest values.
The range tells you something about how spread out the
data are. Data with large ranges tend to be more spread
out.
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EXAMPLE 4: -VARIANCE
In the data set 3, 5, 7, 6, 8, 5, 9, 4, 6, 7, the mean of these ten observations is 6.0, which is
calculated by adding the observations (60) and dividing by the number of observations
(10). Subtracting the mean (6.0) from each of the observations will result in some
negative numbers and some positive numbers, indicating the deviations from the mean (-
3, -1, 1, 0, 2, -1, 3, -2, 0, 1). Adding the deviations will result in zero.
Thus, deviations from the mean is not a very useful measure of variability. To get around
the problem, the deviations need to be squared, making them all positive. The squared
deviations for the data set are 9, 1, 1, 0, 4, 1, 9, 4, 0, 1.
To get the variance, the squared deviations are summed (30) and then divided by the
number of observations (10) to give the mean of all squared deviations from the mean.
The variance is therefore 30 ÷ 10 = 3.

EXAMPLE 5: -STANDARD DEVIATION

Refer to Example 1.4. The standard deviation is the square root of variance, hence
square root of 3. This will equal to 1.73.

EXAMPLE 6: RANGE
Consider the set of numbers 80, 90, 90, 100, 85, 90. These could be marks for 6 students.
In this case 100 - 80 = 20, so the range is 20.

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OTHER KEY CONCEPTS
 Population – All the conceivable members of a group
under investigation constitute a population or
universe. In statistics the words population and
universe do not carry the usual dictionary meanings
but refer simply to the totality of observations
relevant to a given discussion. The groups to make a
population depends on what the researcher is
interested in investigating. Examples – people,
cattle, houses, etc.
 Sample – Sub-collection of items drawn from
population under study.
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OTHER KEY CONCEPTS –CONT…

 Data (raw information) are facts that become

useful information when organized in a meaningful
way or when entered into a computer.

 Data is also defined as information organized for

analysis.

 Data could be of qualitative or quantitative nature

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 OTHER KEY CONCEPTS-CONT..
 Variable – Characteristic being studied. Examples; ages of
people; heights of children, educational level, etc. There are two
type of variables, namely, qualitative and quantitative.
 Qualitative variable – Identifiable simply by noting its
presence. For example; the color of an object; sex of an
individual; etc.
 Quantitative variable – if it consists numerical values. For
example; weight of coffee, height of individuals, volume of
sales, etc.
 Continuous variable – if there are no breaks in the possible values.
For example; distance; weight, height, etc.
 Discrete variable – Possible values consist of breaks between
successive values. For example; number of cows, number of people,
number of bags of coffee; etc.
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DATA VARIABLE TYPES

Data

Qualitative Quantitative

Continuous

Discrete
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TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION
o Data collection techniques allow us to systematically
collect information about our objects of study, and
about the setting in which they occur.
oData collection techniques generate both qualitative
and quantitative data.
oQualitative techniques of data collection involve the
identification and exploration of a number of related
variables for in-depth understanding of the phenomena.
Qualitative data is often recorded in a narrative form.
oQuantitative techniques of data collection are used to
generate quantifiable data.
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 TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION –CONT…
Quantitative approach uses methods that are
designed to ensure objectivity, generalisation and
reliability. The quantitative data could be generated
through;
•Observation
•Conducting surveys
•Conducting censuses
•Exploring secondary sources
•Administrative sources/ registration exercises
•Administering written questionnaires (interview, mailing,
gathering respondents together, one to one, self
administered, hand delivered and picked later, etc)
•Experimental designs
•Telephone interviews
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TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION –CONT…

Qualitative research methodologies are designed to

provide the researcher with the perspective of target
audience members through immersion in a culture or
situation and direct interaction with the people under
study. The qualitative data collection techniques
include;
• Observation
• Document Review
• Key informant interviews
• Semi-structured interviews
•Time Trend Analysis
• Ranking –preference and pairwise
• Mapping –Community and resource
• Diagramming -Venn 31
 ROLE OF UGANDA BUREAU OF STATISTICS
 The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) is a semi-autonomous body within
the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MFPED). The
Bureau was established by an Act of Parliament in 1998. The mandate of
UBOS is to develop and maintain a National Statistical System (NSS) so as
to ensure collection, analysis and publication of integrated; relevant, reliable
and timely statistical information; to constitute a coordinating, monitoring
and supervisory body for the NSS. The mandate is fulfilled through the
corporate plan.
 The Bureau is responsible for:
 Providing reliable and timely official statistics to support planning at the various
levels of administration
 Providing high quality central statistical information services on social,
environmental, and economic conditions in the country.
 Promoting standardization in the collection, analysis and publication of statistics
to ensure uniformity in quality, adequacy of coverage and reliability of statistical
information.
 Providing guidance, training and other assistance as may be required to other
users and providers of statistics.
 Promoting co-operation, coordination and rationalization among users and
providers of statistics at national and local level so as to avoid duplication of
effort and ensure optimal utilization of scarce resources.
 Promoting and being the focal point of co-operation with statistics users and
providers at regional and international levels.
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 MAJOR SOURCES OF STATISTICS AT NATIONAL LEVEL
Major Sources of Implementing Frequency of Data Obtained
Data Agency Collection
Uganda National Uganda Bureau Of Every 3 years -Socio-demographic
Household Survey Statistics (UBOS) characteristics of household
(UNHS) members
-Household consumption
expenditure including poverty
incidence
-Household and housing
conditions.

National Service UBOS Every 4 year -Performance and impact of

Delivery Survey selected public services
(NSDS) -Changes in service delivery
-Constraints and gaps in
delivery of Government
services

Uganda UBOS Every 5 years _Demographic characteristics

Demographic and -Family planning and
Health Survey reproductive health
(UDHS) -Fertility and mortality
-nutritional status of the
population
-HIV/AIDS
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 MAJOR SOURCES OF STATISTICS AT NATIONAL LEVEL –CONT..
Major Sources of Implementing Frequency of Data Obtained
Data Agency Collection
Population and UBOS Every 10 years -Size, composition and
Housing Census distribution of population
(PHC) -Fertility and Mortality
-Household and housing
conditions
Livestock and UBOS Every 10 years -Land acreage, land
Agricultural Census cultivated, land under fallow
-Crops grown, production,
and sales
-Livestock kept, production
and sales
Annual Educational Ministry of Annual -Enrolment by class
Census Education and -Educational facilities
Sports (MOES) -Teachers and other staff

Labor Force Survey UBOS Every 3 years Levels and trends of

(LFS) employment, unemployment
and underemployment

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THANK YOU

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