Basic Statistical

Concepts
 Some definitions

• A variable is any characteristic of a person or an object

that may vary across persons or across different time
points. Examples are height, weight, civil status, scores
in a quiz, temperature, etc.
• Data are the values associated with a variable. For the
variable civil status, possible data are single, married,
separated, widow/widower.
Classification of Variables According to nature

Variables

Categorical or Numerical or
Qualitative Quantitative
Categorical or Qualitative Variables

• Categorical or Qualitative Variables have values which

can be placed into categories.
• Examples of categorical variables are gender, civil status,
responses (yes or no), academic ranks, nationality,
political party, etc.
Numerical or Quantitative Variables

• Numerical or quantitative variables have values that

represent quantities.
• Examples are height, weight, temperature, age, salaries,
number of children, stock prices, gross domestic product
or GDP, salaries, etc.
Classification of
Variables
According to scale
Classification of Variables According to Scale

Variables

Numerical or
Categorical or Quantitative
Qualitative

Ratio Scale
Nominal Scale Ordinal Scale Interval Scale
Scales of Measurement:
Categorical or Qualitative Variables
A nominal scale is used to classify persons (or
objects) in which no ranking is implied.

Categorical Variables Categories

Yes / No
Car Ownership

Profession Engineer, Architect,

Teacher, others
Day shift/night shift
Work shift
Scales of Measurement:
Categorical Variables
An ordinal scale is used to classify persons (or
objects) into distinct categories in which ranking is
implied.

Categorical Variables Categories

Customer satisfaction Satisfied, Neutral, Not Satisfied

Student’s Year level Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior

AAA, AA, A, BBB, BB, B, CCC, CC, C,

S&P’s bond ratings
…
 Scales of Measurement:
Numerical or Quantitative Variables

An interval scale is an ordered scale in which the

difference between measurements is a meaningful
quantity but the measurements do not have a true zero
point.

A ratio scale is an ordered scale in which the difference

between measurements is a meaningful quantity and the
measurements have a true zero point.
Scales of Measurement:
Numerical or Quantitative Variables
Numerical Variable Scale or Level of
Measurement
Temperature (in oC or oF) Interval
Standardized Exam Score (SAT or NSAT) Interval
Height Ratio
Weight Ratio
Age Ratio
Salary Ratio
Industry Index Ratio
Statistical Techniques
for Describing
Univariate Data
 Statistical Techniques for Describing
Univariate Data
Scale or Level of Measurement
Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio
Tables Frequency and Frequency and Frequency and Frequency and
Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage
(Summary (Summary (FDT) (FDT)
Table) Table)
Charts Pie chart Pie chart Histogram Histogram
bar graph Bar graph Line Graph Line Graph
Central Mode Mode and Mean, Median Mean, Median
Tendency Median and Mode and Mode

Variations Range and Range, standard Range, standard

interquartile deviation, deviation,
range variance and variance and
coeff. of variation coeff. of variation
 Statistical Techniques for
Describing Bivariate Data
Scale or Level of Measurement
Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio
Tables Cross tabulation Cross tabulation None None
table table
Charts Side by side bar Side by side bar Scatter Scatter
graph graph Diagram Diagram
Association Lambda and Gamma and Pearson’s r and Pearson’s r and
Kendall’s Tau Kendall’s Tau-C coefficient of coefficient of
Chi Square Chi Square determination determination
Tables and Charts for
Categorical Data
Organizing Univariate Categorical
Data: Summary Table
A summary table indicates the frequency, amount, or
percentage of items in a set of categories so that
differences in categories can be seen.

Table 1. Gender of Employees

Frequency Percent

Male 258 54.4

Female 216 45.6

Total 474 100.0

Organizing Univariate Categorical
Data: Bar Chart
A bar chart shows each category, the length of which
represents the amount of frequency or percentage of values
falling under each category.
Organizing Univariate Categorical
Data: Bar Chart
Organizing Univariate Categorical
Data: Pie Chart
A pie chart shows a circle broken up into slices
that represent categories. The size of each slice of the
pie varies according to the percentage in each
category.
Organizing Univariate Categorical
Data: Pie Chart
Organizing Bivariate Categorical
Data: Cross tabulations
Cross tabulation between smoking status during pregnancy and race

Race

White Black Other Total

Smoking Status during No 88 32 110 230
Pregnancy
Yes 104 20 24 148

Total 192 52 134 378

Organizing Bivariate Categorical
Data: Side by side bar graph
Graphs Using Excel
Graphs Using JASP
Graphs Using gretl
Tables and Charts for
Numerical Data
Organizing Univariate Numerical
Data: Stem and Leaf Display
A stem and leaf display organizes data into groups
(called stems) so that the values within each group (the
leaves) branch out to the right on each row.
 Organizing Univariate Numerical
Data: Frequency Distribution Table
A frequency distribution table is a summary table in
which the data are arranged into numerically ordered
class groupings.
Organizing Univariate Numerical
Data: Histogram
A histogram is the graph of data in a frequency
distribution where the class boundaries are shown on
the horizontal axis while the vertical axis is either
frequency, relative frequency or percentage.
Bars of the appropriate heights are used to
represent the number of observations within each
class.
Organizing Univariate Numerical
Data: Histogram
 Organizing Univariate Numerical Data:
Histogram (in Excel 2019)
Respondent Sex Current Salary
1 Male 10680
2 Female 11200
3 Female 16080
4 Male 11640
5 Male 41440
6 Male 13180
7 Female 15020
8 Female 25180
9 Female 19640
10 Female 14192
11 Male 36190
12 Male 18650
13 Female 24900
14 Female 15560
15 Female 14280
16 Male 40190
17 Female 43200
18 Female 16850
19 Female 12000
20 Male 40000
Organizing Univariate Numerical
Data: Line Graph
A percentage polygon is formed by having the
midpoint of each class represent the data in that class
and then connecting the sequence of midpoints at their
respective class percentages.
Organizing Univariate Numerical
Data: Line Graph
Organizing Bivariate Numerical
Data: Scatter Plots
A scatter plot is used for numerical data consisting of
paired observations taken from two numerical variables.
One variable is measured on the vertical axis while the
other variable is measured on the horizontal axis.
In case of dependence relationship, the dependent
variable is plotted along the vertical axis.
Organizing Bivariate Numerical
Data: Scatter plot
Thank you very much!
 References
Dimitrov, D. M. (2008). Quantitative Research in Education. NY: Whittier Publications.

Doane, D. P. & Seward, L. E. (2009). Applied Statistics in Business and Economics (2nd
Ed). NY: McGrawHill/Irwin.

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J. & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis
(A Global Perspective). Singapore: Prentice Hall Inc.

Levine, et al (2008). Statistics for Managers. Singapore: Prentice Hall Inc.

IBM SPSS Statistics Base

www.owl.english.purdue.edu