MODULE 1: DEFINITION OF STATISTICS

INTRODUCTION TO THE
Statistics plays a major role in many aspects of our
lives. It is used in sports, for example, to help a
general manager decide which player might be the
STATISTICAL best fit for a team. It is used in politics to help
candidates understand how the public feels about

CONCEPTS various policies. And statistics is used in medicine to

help determine the effectiveness of new drugs. Used
a p p r o p r i a t e l y, s t a t i s t i c s c a n e n h a n c e o u r
understanding of the world around us. Used
Objectives: inappropriately, it can lend support to inaccurate
After successful completion of this beliefs. Understanding statistical methods will
provide you with the ability to analyze and critique
module, you should be able to:
studies and the opportunity to become an informed
consumer of information. Understanding statistical
• Define statistics
methods will also enable you to distinguish solid
analysis from bogus “facts.”
• Explain the process of statistics
Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing,
• Know the difference between summarizing, and analyzing information to draw
descriptive and inferential conclusions or answer questions. In addition,
statistics. statistics is about providing a measure of confidence
in any conclusions.
• Distinguish between qualitative
What information is referred to in the definition?
and quantitative variables.
The information referred to the definition is the data.
• Distinguish between discrete and According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, data
continuous variables. are “factual information used as a basis for
reasoning, discussion, or calculation”.
• Determine the level of
measurement of a variable. Definitions:

• Universe is the set of all entities under study.

Population is the set of all possible values of the
variable. An individual is a person or object that
is a member of the population being studied.

• A statistic is a numerical summary of a sample.

• Sample is the subset of the population.
• Descriptive statistics consist of organizing and
summarizing data. Descriptive statistics describe
data through numerical summaries, tables, and
graphs. numerical summary based on a sample.
Descriptive statistics make it easier to get an
• Inferential statistics uses methods that overview of what the data are telling us.
take a result from a sample, extend it to the
population, and measure the reliability of the If we extend the results of our sample to the
result. population, we are performing inferential
statistics. The generalization contains
• A parameter is a numerical summary of a uncertainty because a sample cannot tell us
population. everything about a population. Therefore,
inferential statistics includes a level of
Example: Consider the Scenario.
confidence in the results. So rather than saying
You are walking down the street and notice that 78% of all students would return the
that a person walking in front of you drops money, we might say that we are 95%
PHP100. Nobody seems to notice the PHP100 confident that between 74% and 82% of all
except you. Since you could keep the money students would return the money. Notice how
without anyone knowing, would you keep the this inferential statement includes a level of
money or return it to the owner? confidence (measure of reliability) in our
results. It also includes a range of values to
Suppose you wanted to use this scenario as a account for the variability in our results. One
gauge of the morality of students at your goal of inferential statistics is to use statistics
school by determining the percent of students to estimate parameters.
who would return the money. How might you
do this? You could attempt to present the PROCESS OF STATISTICS
scenario to every student at the school, but
1. Identify the research objective.
this would be difficult or impossible if the
student body is large. A second possibility is to A researcher must determine the question(s)
present the scenario to 50 students and use he or she wants answered. The question(s)
the results to make a statement about all the must clearly identify the population that is to be
students at the school. studied. Identify the research objective.
In the PHP100 study presented, the population 2. Collect the information needed to answer
is all the students at the school. Each student the questions.
is an individual. The sample is the 50 students
selected to participate in the study. Conducting research on an entire population is
often difficult and expensive, so we typically
Suppose 39 of the 50 students stated that they look at a sample. This step is vital to the
would return the money to the owner. We could statistical process, because if the data are not
present this result by saying that the percent of collected correctly, the conclusions drawn are
students in the survey who would return the meaningless. Do not overlook the importance
money to the owner is 78%. This is an of appropriate data collection.
example of a descriptive statistic because it
describes the results of the sample without Example:
making any general conclusions about the
population. So 78% is a statistic because it is a A research objective is presented. For each
research objective, identify the population and information that we need regarding the
sample in the study. population.

1. The Philippine Mental Health Associations Example:

contacts 1,028 teenagers who are 13 to 17
years of age and live in Antipolo City and For the following statements, decide whether it
asked whether or not they had been belongs to the field of descriptive statistics or
prescribed medications for any mental inferential statistics.
disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
1. A badminton player wants to know his
Population: Teenagers 13 to 17 years of age average score for the past 10 games.
who live in Antipolo City (Descriptive Statistics)

Sample: 1,028 teenagers 13 to 17 years of 2. A car manufacturer wishes to estimate the

age who live in Antipolo City average lifetime of batteries by testing a
sample of 50 batteries. (Inferential
2. A farmer wanted to learn about the weight Statistics)
of his soybean crop. He randomly sampled
100 plants and weighted the soybeans on 3. Janine wants to determine the variability of
each plant. her six exam scores in Algebra.
(Descriptive Statistics)
Population: Entire soybean crop
4. A shipping company wishes to estimate the
Sample: 100 selected soybean crop number of passengers traveling via their
ships next year using their data on the
3. Organize and summarize the information. number of passengers in the past three
years. (Inferential Statistics)
Descriptive statistics allow the researcher to
obtain an overview of the data and can help 5. A politician wants to determine the total
determine the type of statistical methods the number of votes his rival obtained in the
researcher should use. past election based on his copies of the
tally sheet of electoral returns.
4. Draw conclusion from the information.
(Descriptive Statistics)
In this step the information collected from the
sample is generalized to the population.
Inferential statistics uses methods that takes
results obtained from a sample, extends them
to the population, and measures the reliability
of the result.

Take Note!

If the entire population is studied, then

inferential statistics is not necessary, because
descriptive statistics will provide all the
DISTINCTION BETWEEN QUALITATIVE AND value of a quantitative variable, it is
QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES discrete.

Variables are the characteristics of the 2. A continuous variable is a quantitative

individuals within the population. For example, variable that has an infinite number of
recently my mother and I planted a tomato possible values that are not countable. If
plant in our backyard. We collected information you measure to get the value of a
about the tomatoes harvested from the plant. quantitative variable, it is continuous.
The individuals we studied were the tomatoes.
The variable that interested us was the weight Example:
of a tomato.
Determine whether the following quantitative
Variables can be classified into two groups: variables are discrete or continuous.

1. Qualitative variables is variable that 1. The number of heads obtained after

yields categorical responses. It is a word or flipping a coin five times. (Discrete)
a code that represents a class or category.
2. The number of cars that arrive at a
2. Quantitative variables takes on numerical McDonald’s drive-through between 12:00
values representing an amount or quantity. P.M and 1:00 P.M. (Continuous)

Example: 3. The distance of a 2005 Toyota Prius can

travel in city conditions with a full tank of
Determine whether the following variables are gas. (Continuous)
qualitative or quantitative.
4. Number of words correctly spelled.
1. Haircolor (Qualitative) (Discrete)

2. Temperature (Quantitative) 5. Time of a runner to finish one lap.

(Continuous)
3. Number of hamburger sold (Quantitative)
LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT
4. Number of children (Quantitative)
It is important to know which type of scale is
5. Zip code (Qualitative) represented by your data since different
statistics are appropriate for different scales of
DISTINCTION BETWEEN DISCRETE AND
measurement. A characteristic may be
CONTINUOUS
measured using nominal, ordinal, interval and
Quantitative variables may be further classified ration scales.
into:
1. Nominal Level - This is the first level of
1. A discrete variable is a quantitative measurement and it is characterized by data
variable that either a finite number of that consist of names, labels or categories
possible values or a countable number of only. The data cannot be arranged in ordering
possible values. If you count to get the scheme. Nominal scales have no numerical
value.
 Example:

- Food Preferences
- Rank of a Military officer
- Social Economic Class (First, Middle, Lower)
3. Interval Level - This is a measurement level
not only classifies and orders the
measurements, but it also specifies that the
distances between each interval on the scale
Levels of Measurement are equivalent along the scale from low interval
to high interval. A value of zero does not mean
They are sometimes called categorical scales the absence of the quantity. Arithmetic
or categorical data. Such a scale classifies operations such as addition and subtraction
persons or objects into two or more categories. can be performed on values of the variable.
Whatever the basis for classification, a person
can only be in one category, and members of a Example:
given category have a common set of
characteristics. - Te m p e r a t u r e o n F a h r e n h e i t / C e l s i u s
Thermometer
Example:
- Trait anxiety (e.g., high anxious vs. low
- Method of payment (cash, check, debit card, anxious)
credit card)
- IQ (e.g., high IQ vs. average IQ vs. low IQ)
- Type of school (public vs. private)
4. Ratio Level - A ratio scale represents the
- Eye Color (Blue, Green, Brown) highest, most precise, level of measurement. It
has the properties of the interval level of
2. Ordinal Level - This involves data that may measurement and the ratios of the values of
be arranged in some order, but differences the variable have meaning. A value of zero
between data values either cannot be means the absence of the quantity. Arithmetic
determined or meaningless. An ordinal scale operations such as multiplication and division
not only classifies subjects but also ranks them can be performed on the values of the
in terms of the degree to which they possess a variable.
characteristics of interest. In other words, an
ordinal scale puts the subjects in order from Example:
highest to lowest, from most to least. Although
ordinal scales indicate that some subjects are - Height and weight
higher, or lower than others, they do not - Time
indicate how much higher or how much better.
- Distance and speed
Example: ______________1. A teacher wants to know
the attitudes of all students towards abortion.
Categorize each of the following as nominal,
ordinal, interval or ratio measurement. ______________2. A market analyst of a sales
firm draws a chart showing the sales figures of
1. Ranking of college athletic teams. a given product for the period 2006-2007.
(Ordinal)
______________3. A forecaster predicts the
2. Employee number. (Nominal) results of an election using the number of
votes cast in 15 out of 25 barangays.
3. Number of vehicles registered. (Ratio)
______________4. Men are better in math
4. Brands of soft drinks. (Nominal)
than women.
5. Number of car passers along C5 on a
______________5. Forty percent of the
given day. (Ratio)
employees of an organization were recorded
ACTIVITIES/ASSESSMENTS: tardy for at least 15 working days.

I. A research objective is presented. For _____________6. There are very few gender-
each, identify the (A) population and (B) related occupations.
sample in the study.
______________7. An account predicts
6. A polling organization contacts 2141 male accuracy rate of a client’s financial resources.
university graduates who have a white-
______________8. A quality control manager
collar job and asks whether or not they had
wishes to check production output.
received a raise at work during the past 4
months. ______________9. Records indicated that
75% of the faculty in the graduate school are
A. ______________________________
doctoral degree holders.
B. ______________________________
______________10. There is no relationship
2. Every year the PSA releases the Current between educational qualification of parents
Population Report based on a survey of and academic achievement of their children.
50,000 households. The goal of this report
III. Identify the qualitative and quantitative
is to learn the demographic characteristics,
variables and indicate the highest level of
such as income, of all households within
measurement required in each. If
the Philippines.
quantitative, classify whether discrete or
A. ______________________________ continuous.

B. ______________________________ ______________1. Occupation

II. Indicate whether the following statements ______________2. Number of government

require the use of descriptive or inferential officials
statistics.
______________3. Favorite color

______________4. Temperature in Celsius

degrees

______________5. Type of school

______________6. Volume of mineral water

sold daily

______________7. Employee number

______________8. Civil status

______________9. Zip code numbers

______________10. Brands of soft drinks

______________11. Socioeconomic status

______________12. Status Employment

______________13. Number of vehicles

registered

______________14. Jersey Number

______________15. Number of employees

collecting retirement
benefits from GSIS

REFERENCES:

Statistics. Informed Decision using Data by

Michael Sullivan, III,. Fifth Edition

Sampling: Design and Analysis by Sharon L.

Lhr. Second Edition