BASIC

CONCEPTS OF
STATISTICS
Chapter 1 Learning Outcomes
What is Statistics?
• Statistics is the science of collecting,
organizing, presenting, analyzing, and
interpreting quantitative or numerical
data.
• It is the theory and method of
collecting, organizing, presenting,
analyzing, and interpreting data.

3
General Purposes
• Statistics are used to organise and
summarise the information so that the
researcher can see what happened in
theresearchstudyandcan
communicate the results to others.

• Statistics help the researcher to answer

the questions that initiated the research
by determining exactly what general
conclusions are justified based on the
specific results that were obtained
4
Example
» To determine whether violence on TV
has any effect on children’s behaviour?

Psy 427 - Cal State Northridge

Note
» Statistics help the researcher in ensuring
that the information or observations are
presented and interpreted in an accurate
and informative way

6
Why Do We Need Statistics in
Psychology?
» Statistics help the researcher to answer the
general questions that initiated the research
by determining exactly what conclusions are
justified based on the results that were
obtained.
Why Do We Need Statistics in
Psychology?
» Statistics are used to organize and summarize
the information so that the researcher can see
what happened in the research study and can
communicate the results to others.
Why Do We Need Statistics in
Psychology?
» Statistics can be used in test development
Why Do We Need Statistics in
Psychology?
» C - ollection
» O - rganization
» P - resentation
» A - nalysis
» I - nterpretation
» G - eneralization of data
Populations and Samples
» A researcher may want to know what
factors are associated with academic
dishonesty among college students?

» The effect of watching kdrama to

students’ grades.

» A researcher may want to examine the

amount of time spent in the bathroom for
men compared to women.
Population vs. Sample
❍A Population is the entire set of
the individuals of interest for a
particular research question

❍A Sample is a set of individuals

selected from a population,
usually intended to represent the
population in a research study.

14
15
Parameters and Statistics
• Parameter • Statistic
– A value, usually a – A value, usually a
numerical value, that numerical value, that
describes a population describes a sample
– Derived from – Derived from
measurements of measurements of
the individuals in the individuals in
the population the sample
17
Variables and Data
• A datum (singular) is a single
measurement or observation and is
commonly called a score or raw score

• A data/data set is a collection of

measurements or observations; the
complete set of scores

18
Variables and Data
• Ex. A researcher may be interested in the
influence of the weather on people’s mood. As
the weather changes, do people’s moods also
change?

A variable is a characteristic or condition that

•
can change or take on different values.
• A variable that is different from one individual
to another (height, gender, personality)
A• variable that affects environmental
conditions (size of the room, temperature,
time of day)
20
Variables and Data
• Ex. Suppose a researcher asks if a
new learning tool can improve grades?

• A variable that is different from one

individual to another

• A variable that affects environmental

conditions

21
Descriptive & Inferential Statistics
• Descriptive statistics • Inferential statistics
– Summarize data – Study samples to make
– Organize data generalizations about
– Simplify data the population
– Interpret experimental
• Familiar examples
data
– Tables
• Common terminology
– Graphs
– “Margin of error”
– Averages
– “Statistically significant”
 Descriptive Statistics
• Descriptive statistics are methods for
organizing and summarizing data.
• For example, tables or graphs are used
to organize data, and descriptive values
such as the average score are used to
summarize data.
• A descriptive value for a population is
called a parameter and a descriptive
value for a sample is called a statistic.

23
 Inferential Statistics
• Inferential statistics are methods for using
sample data to make general conclusions
(inferences) about populations.
• Because a sample is typically only a part of
the whole population, sample data provide
only limited information about the
population. As a result, sample statistics
are generally imperfect representatives of
the corresponding population parameters.

24
Figure 1.
Role of statistics in experimental research.
 Sampling Error
• The discrepancy between a sample
statistic and its population parameter is
called sampling error.
• Defining and measuring sampling error is
a large part of inferential statistics.

26
Independent and Dependent Variables

• Independent Variable is the variable manipulated

by the researcher
– Independent because no other variable in the study
influences its value.
– They make some changes in dependent variables
• Dependent Variable is the one observed to assess the
effect of treatment.
- It cannot be manipulated.
– Dependent because its value is thought to depend on
the value of the independent variable. It changes as
a result of change in IV.
A soap manufacturer wants to prove that
their detergent works better to remove
tough stain
A group of student-researchers
wants to know how does phone use
before bedtime affects sleep
For Valentines Day, Nikki is bringing
cards to class. The number of
students in Nikki’s class dictates the
number of cards she brings in.
Correlational Method

• Is there a relationship between the amount of violence that

children see on television and the amount of aggressive behavior
they display?

• Is there a relationship between the quality of breakfast and level of

academic performance for elementary school children

• Is there a relationship between the number of hour of sleep and

grade point average of college students?
 Correlational Method

• Correlational method
– Two variables for each subject in one group
– Each variable considered separately
– Purpose is to determine whether there is a relationship
between the variables

– Research has demonstrated a relationship between sleep

habits, especially wake-up time, and academic performance for
college students. The researchers used a survey to measure
wake-up time and school records to measure academic
performance of each student.
– As wake-up time changes from one student to another, is there
also a tendency for academic performance to change?
Figure 1.4
Data structures for studies evaluating the relationship
between variables
Correlational Method

• Limitations of Correlational method

– the results from a correlational study can
demonstrate the existence for the relationship
between two variables, but they do not provide
an explanation for the relationship.
 Experimental Method
• Goal of Experimental Method
– To demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between
two variables
• Manipulation
– the researcher manipulates one variable by changing its
value from one level to another. A second variable is
observed (measured) to determine whether the
manipulation changes to occur
• Control the researcher must exercise control over the
research situation to ensure that other, extraneous
variables do not influence the relationship being examined.
- Participant variables
- Environmental variables (extraneous variables)
• Randomization
Experimental Method

• Control conditions
– Individuals do not receive the experimental
treatment.
– They either receive no treatment or they receive
a neutral, placebo treatment.
– Purpose: to provide a baseline for comparison
with the experimental condition
– It consists of the trials where you leave the IV in
its natural state.
• Experimental conditions
– Individuals do receive the experimental
treatment.
– It consists of the trials where you
change the IV.
Experimental Method

• Participant Variables
– these are characteristics such as age, gender,
and intelligence that vary from one individual
to another

• Environmental Variables
– these are characteristics of the environment
such as lighting, time of day, and weather
conditions.
Scales of Measurement
• Measurement assigns individuals or events to
categories
– The categories can simply be names such as
male/female or employed/unemployed
– They can be numerical values such as 68 inches
or 175 pounds
• The complete set of categories makes up a scale
of measurement
• Relationships between the categories determine
different types of scales
Levels/Scales of Measurement
◉ Measurement – application of rules for
assigning numbers to objects. The rules are
the specific procedures to transform qualities
of attributes into numbers.

◉ Types of scales/levels:
● Nominal
● Ordinal
● Interval
● Ratio
Levels/Scales of Measurement
A. Nominal Scale
● It simply represents the qualitative or categorical
differences of the variables measured. It is just for
labelling purposes, nothing more.
● Examples:

Nominal Scale Categories

Gender Male or Female
Responses Yes or No / Agree or Disagree
Race Asian, American, African, etc.
Course Art or Science
Colleges College of Sciences, College of
Engineering, etc.
Nominal data
•. Data that is Gender : 0 – Male
classified into 1- Female
categories and
cannot be arranged Religion: 1 – Catholic
in any particular 2 – Islam
order
3- Protestant
4 – Baptist
5 - Others

52
Levels/Scales of Measurement
B. Ordinal Scale
● The categories have different names and are
organized sequentially. As the name implies, it
give order or rank to subjects or items.

● In this scale, we can determine the difference

between categories and the direction of the
difference but not the magnitude of the difference.

● Examples:
○ Socioeconomic status – upper, middle and lower
○ Contest winners – 1st place, 2nd place, etc.
○ T-shirt sizes – small, medium, large, extra large
Ordinal data
data arranged in
some order, but Position within an
the differences academic organization
between data 1 for President
values cannot 2 for Vice President
3 for Dean
be determined 4 for Department Chair
or are 5 for Faculty member
meaningless.

54
Levels/Scales of Measurement
C. Interval Scale
● The categories have different names, are organized
sequentially and show the degree of difference.

● It has no absolute zero value, meaning it only uses

zero as a reference point but it does not indicate the
absence of the variable being measured.

● Examples:
○ IQ (There is no such thing as zero IQ.)
○ Test scores (A zero score does not mean zero knowledge
or the student did not learn anything.)
○ ºC and ºF scales (They have zero value but it does not
mean that there is no temperature at all.)
Levels/Scales of Measurement
D. Ratio Scale
● The categories have different names, are organized
sequentially, show the degree of difference and can
hold an absolute zero value.

● The existence of an absolute zero point means that we

can measure the absolute amount of the variable.

● Examples:
○ Weight
○ Height
○ Income
○ Age
Ratio Scale
– Highest level of
measurement Examples:
– Relative •Height, Weight,
magnitude of and Volume
numbers is •Monetary
meaningful Variables, such as
– Differences Profit and Loss,
between Revenues, and
numbers are Expenses
comparable •Financial ratios
– Location of
origin, zero, is
absolute (natural)
58
1.5 Statistical Notation

• Statistics uses operations and notation you have already

learned
• Statistics also uses some specific notation
– Scores are referred to as X (and Y)
– N is the number of scores in a population
– n is the number of scores in a sample
Summation Notation

• Many statistical procedures sum (add up) a

set of scores
• The summation sign Σ(Greek letter sigma)
stands for summation
– The Σ is followed by a symbol or equation that
defines what is to be summed
– ΣX = to add all the scores for variable X

– 10 6 7 4
– ΣX = 27 and N = 4
Summation Notation

• Σ(X - 1)2 the first task is to calculate all of

the (X - 1)2 values and then add the results
 Summation Notation

• For this example, each individual has two

scores. The first score is identified as X,
and the second score is Y. With the help of
the following computational table, compute
ΣX, ΣY, and ΣXY.
•
Summation Notation

• ΣX2 (squared scores)

• ΣX2 = 75

• (ΣX)2
• ΣX=15
• (ΣX)2 (15)2 = 225
Order of Mathematical Operations

• Any calculation contained within parentheses is

done first.
• Squaring (raising to other exponents) is done
second.
• Multiplying and/or dividing is done third. A
series of multiplication and/or division
operations should be done in order from left to
right.
• Summation using the Σis done next.
• Finally, any other addition and/or subtraction is
done