Descriptive Statistics Part -I

Lesson Overview
This lesson will cover some of the foundational statistical topics needed to use
statistics in practice. You will learn how to:

 Evaluate data types and variable types

 Analyze measures of center
 Implement notation

Lesson Prerequisites
This lesson does not have any hard prerequisites, although having some
knowledge of the following areas may be useful:

 Basic Math (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)

 Basic spreadsheet usage (such as entering data in cells) - although we will
also start at a basic level later in the course

Use Cases
 Descriptive Stats is useful in many differing areas.
Descriptive Statistics is useful in many different jobs, and activities. Having a
good understanding of descriptive statistics will help anyone working in:

 Business Analytics
 Data Analysis
 Data Engineering
 Product Management

and so much more. Once you are finished with this course and its concepts,
you'll be able to apply them in ways you didn't even think about before.

Data is defined as distinct pieces of information and it can come in many

forms. From numbers in a spreadsheet, text to video and databases, to
images and audio recordings, utilizing data in its different forms is the new
way of the world.

Data is used to understand and improve nearly every facet of our lives. So, no
matter what field you are in, you can utilize data to make better decisions and
accomplish your goals.
We will start this lesson with an overview of data types and the most common
statistics used when analyzing data.

We'll discuss :

 Measures of center and spread.

 Common shapes that data takes on and how to handle outliers
 How to use spreadsheets to handle these calculations
 How to build visuals to communicate calculations

Data Types (Quantitative vs.

Categorical)
Data Types
In this video, two data types are introduced: Quantitative and Categorical.

Quantitative data takes on numeric values that allow us to perform

mathematical operations (like the number of dogs).

Categorical is used to label a group or set of items (like dog breeds - Collies,
Labs, Poodles, etc.).
Question 1 of 2

For each variable below, identify each as either quantitative or categorical.

These are the correct matches.

Variable

Data Type

Zip Code
Categorical
Age
Quantitative
Income
Quantitative
Marital Status (Single, Married, Divorced, etc.)
Categorical
Height
Quantitative

Nice! You know your variables! The zip code is tricky. Even though this is a number, it
isn't a number with which we can perform mathematical operations (add, subtract, etc.)
and get another value that makes sense. Therefore, we consider it a categorical
variable, not quantitative.

For each variable below, identify each as either quantitative or categorical.

These are the correct matches.

Variable

Data Types

Letter Grades (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, ...)

Categorical
Travel Distance to Work
Quantitative
Ratings on a Survey (Poor, Ok, Great)
Categorical
Temperature
Quantitative
Average Speed
Quantitative
Data Types (Ordinal vs. Nominal)
Categorical Ordinal vs. Categorical Nominal
We can divide categorical data further into two types: Ordinal and Nominal.

Categorical Ordinal data take on a ranked ordering (like a ranked interaction

on a scale from Very Poor to Very Good with the dogs).

Categorical Nominal data do not have an order or ranking (like the breeds of
the dog).

Data Types (Continuous vs. Discrete)

Continuous vs. Discrete
We can think of quantitative data as being either continuous or discrete.

Continuous data can be split into smaller and smaller units, and still a smaller
unit exists. An example of this is the age of the dog - we can measure the
units of the age in years, months, days, hours, seconds, but there are still
smaller units that could be associated with the age.

Discrete data only takes on countable values. The number of dogs we

interact with is an example of a discrete data type.
Nice! You know your data types! Continuous data types are those that can take on
decimal values, where discrete data types are those that are only whole numbers, and
are countable.

Data Types Summary

Summary of Video
The table below summarizes our data types. To expand on the information in
the table, you can look through the text that follows.
 Data
Types
Quantitative: Continuous Discrete
Pages in a Book, Trees in Yard, Dogs at a Coffee
Height, Age, Income
Shop
Categorical: Ordinal Nominal
Letter Grade, Survey
Gender, Marital Status, Breakfast Items
Rating
Below is a little more detail of the information shared in the above table.

Another Look
To break down our data types, there are two main blocks:

Quantitative and Categorical

Quantitative can be further divided into Continuous or Discrete.

Categorical data can be divided into Ordinal or Nominal.

You should have now mastered what types of data in the world around us falls
into each of these four buckets: Discrete, Continuous, Nominal, and Ordinal.
In the next sections, we will work through the numeric summaries that relate
specifically to quantitative variables.

Quantitative vs. Categorical

Some of these can be a bit tricky - notice even though zip codes are a
number, they aren’t really a quantitative variable. If we add two zip codes
together, we do not obtain any useful information from this new value.
Therefore, this is a categorical variable.

Height, Age, the Number of Pages in a Book, and Annual Income all take
on values that we can add, subtract and perform other operations with to gain
useful insight. Hence, these are quantitative.

Gender, Letter Grade, Breakfast Type, Marital Status, and Zip Code can
be thought of as labels for a group of items or individuals. Hence, these
are categorical.
Continuous vs. Discrete
To consider if we have continuous or discrete data, we should see if we can
split our data into smaller and smaller units. Consider time - we could
measure an event in years, months, days, hours, minutes, or seconds, and
even at seconds we know there are smaller units we could measure time in.
Therefore, we know this data type is continuous. Height, age,
and income are all examples of continuous data. Alternatively, the number of
pages in a book, dogs I count outside a coffee shop, or trees in a
yard are discrete data. We would not want to split our dogs in half.

Ordinal vs. Nominal

In looking at categorical variables, we found Gender, Marital Status, Zip
Code, and your Breakfast items are nominal variables where there is no order
ranking associated with this type of data. Whether you ate cereal, toast, eggs,
or only coffee for breakfast; there is no rank-ordering associated with your
breakfast.

Alternatively, the Letter Grade or Survey Ratings have a rank ordering

associated with it, as ordinal data. If you receive an A, this is higher than an A-.
An A- is ranked higher than a B+, and so on... Ordinal variables frequently
occur on rating scales from very poor to very good. In many cases, we turn
these ordinal variables into numbers, as we can more easily analyze them,
but more on this later!

Final Words
In this section, we looked at the different data types we might work with in the
world around us. When we work with data in the real world, it might not be
very clean - sometimes there are typos or missing values. When this is the
case, simply having some expertise regarding the data and knowing the data
type can assist in our ability to ‘clean’ this data. Understanding data types can
also assist in our ability to build visuals to best explain the data. But more on
this very soon!
 That's right! Remember ordinal variables have a rank ordering associated with each.
Nominal variables could be placed in any order.

Introduction to Summary Statistics

In the next lessons, you will learn how to use statistics to describe quantitative
data. You'll gain insight into the process of how data is collected and how to
answer questions using your data. Throughout this lesson, you will learn to be
critical of the analysis that happens "under the hood" and understand what the
numbers actually mean.

As an example of the analysis we do here at Udacity, we look at how long

students take to complete one of our courses or programs. We try to provide
an estimate of the number of hours or months that students will spend. One
way to start is to report the average amount of time it takes to complete a
course. But that doesn't tell the whole story because there will be differences
in time spent depending on what students knew before beginning the course.

The shortest time might be just a few weeks and the longest might be a
couple of years. What proportion of students finishes within two months and
what proportion takes longer than eight months?

Using a variety of measures, like measures of center, give you an idea of the
average student. Measures of spread, give you an idea of how students
differ. Visuals provide a more complete picture of how long it takes any
student to complete a course or program.
Measures of Center (Mean)
Analyzing Quantitative Data
Four Aspects for Quantitative Data

There are four main aspects to analyzing Quantitative data.

1. Measures of Center
2. Measures of Spread
3. The Shape of the data.
4. Outliers
 Analyzing Categorical Data

Though not discussed in the video, analyzing categorical data has fewer parts
to consider. Categorical data is analyzed usually by looking at the counts or
proportion of individuals that fall into each group. For example, if we were
looking at the breeds of the dogs, we would care about how many dogs are of
each breed, or what proportion of dogs are of each breed type.

Measures of Center
There are three measures of center:

1. Mean
2. Median
3. Mode

The Mean
In this video, we focused on the calculation of the mean. The mean is often
called the average or the expected value in mathematics. We calculate the
mean by adding all of our values together and dividing by the number of
values in our dataset.

The remaining measures of the median and mode will be discussed in detail
in the upcoming quizzes and videos.

That's right! There are 3 M's to our measures of center - means, medians, and modes.

Question 2 of 2

If we have the data:

5, 8, 15, 7, 10, 22, 3, 1, 15

What is the mean? 9.56

Measures of Center (Median)

The Median
The median splits our data so that 50% of our values are lower and 50% are
higher. We found in this video that how we calculate the median depends on if
we have an even number of observations or an odd number of observations.

Median for Odd Values

If we have an odd number of observations, the median is simply the number

in the direct middle. For example, if we have 7 observations, the median is
the fourth value when our numbers are ordered from smallest to largest. If we
have 9 observations, the median is the fifth value.

Median for Even Values

If we have an even number of observations, the median is the average of

the two values in the middle. For example, if we have 8 observations, we
average the fourth and fifth values together when our numbers are ordered
from smallest to largest.

In order to compute the median, we MUST sort our values first.

Whether we use the mean or median to describe a dataset is largely

dependent on the shape of our dataset and if there are any outliers. We will
talk about this in just a bit!

Question 1 of 2

If we have the data:

5, 8, 15, 7, 10, 22, 3, 1, 15

What is the median? 8

Nice! That's right, the median is the middle number when our data are ordered.

Measures of Center (Mode)

The Mode
The mode is the most frequently observed value in our dataset.
There might be multiple modes for a particular dataset or no mode at all.

No Mode

If all observations in our dataset are observed with the same frequency, there
is no mode. If we have the dataset:

1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4

There is no mode because all observations occur the same number of times.

Many Modes

If two (or more) numbers share the maximum value, then there is more than
one mode. If we have the dataset:

1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9

There are two modes 3 and 6, because these values share the maximum
frequencies at 3 times, while all other values only appear once.
Question 1 of 5

We want to summarize the number of dogs our friends have into a single
number. We will use the measures of center for this problem. Ashley has 1
dog, Steve has 1 dog, Jeff has 2 dogs, Kylie has 3 dogs, and Lisa has 8 dogs.

There is no measure of center that is always best, so we need to try all three
to see what makes sense in this situation.

What is the mean, median, and mode for the number of dogs our friends
have?
Mean=3, median=2, and mode=1

Nice! You know your measures of center! The mode is the most frequent value in our
dataset.
Question 4 of 5

For the dataset below match the correct measure to the value:

8, 12, 32, 10, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 12, 20

 Mean=9.83,
median=5=8/2=6.5,
and mode=4

Nice! That's right there are two modes in this dataset. If all the values appear the same
number of times, we usually say there is no mode. However, if more than one value
appears the most number of times, we count all of these values as modes.

What is Notation?
Notation
Notation is a common language used to communicate mathematical
ideas. Think of notation as a universal language used by academic and
industry professionals to convey mathematical ideas. In the next videos,
you might see things that seem confusing. Use the quizzes to assist with your
understanding of the concepts.

You likely already know some notation. Plus, minus, multiply, division, and
equal signs all have mathematical symbols that you are likely familiar with.
Each of these symbols replaces an idea for how numbers interact with one
another. In the coming concepts, you will be introduced to some additional
ideas related to notation. Though you will not need to use notation to complete
the project, it does have the following properties:

1. Understanding how to correctly use notation makes you seem really

smart. Knowing how to read and write in notation is like learning a new
language. A language that is used to convey ideas associated with
mathematics.
2. It allows you to read documentation, and implement an idea to your own
problem. Notation is used to convey how problems are solved all the time.
One really popular mathematical algorithm that is used to solve some of the
world's most difficult problems is known as Gradient Boosting. The way that it
solves problems is explained here(opens in a new tab). If you really want to
understand how this algorithm works, you need to be able to read and
understand notation.
3. It makes ideas that are hard to say in words easier to convey. Sometimes
we just don't have the right words to say. For those situations, I prefer to use
notation to convey the message. Similar to the way an emoji or meme might
convey a feeling better than words, the notation can convey an idea better
than words. Usually, those ideas are related to mathematics, but I am not here
to stifle your creativity.
Random Variables

Example to Introduce Notation

There is a lot going on in this video - here is a recap of the big ideas.

Rows and Columns

If you aren't familiar with spreadsheets, this will be covered in detail in future
lessons. Spreadsheets are a common way to hold data. They are composed
of rows and columns. Rows run horizontally, while columns run vertically.
Each column in a spreadsheet commonly holds a specific variable, while
each row is commonly called an instance or individual.

The example used in the video is shown below.

Day of Time Spent On Buy (

Date
Week Site (X) Y)
June
Thursday 5 No
15
June
Thursday 10 Yes
15
June
Friday 20 Yes
16
This is a row:

Day of Time Spent On Buy (

Date
Week Site (X) Y)
June
Thursday 5 No
15
This is a column:

Time Spent On
Site (X)
5
10
 Time Spent On
Site (X)
20

Before Collecting Data

Before collecting data, we usually start with a question, or multiple

questions, that we would like to answer. The purpose of data is to help
us in answering these questions.

Random Variables

A random variable is a placeholder for the possible values of some process

(mostly... the term 'some process' is a bit ambiguous). As was stated before,
notation is useful in that it helps us take complex ideas and simplify (often to a
single letter or single symbol). We see random variables represented by
capital letters (X, Y, or Z are common ways to represent a random variable).

We might have the random variable X, which is a holder for the possible
values of the amount of time someone spends on our site. Or the random
variable Y, which is a holder for the possible values of whether or not an
individual purchases a product.

X is 'a holder' of the values that could possibly occur for the amount of time
spent on our website. Any number from 0 to infinity really.

Capital vs. Lower

Capital vs. Lower Case Letters

Random variables are represented by capital letters. Once we observe an
outcome of these random variables, we notate it as a lower case of the same
letter.

Example 1

For example, the amount of time someone spends on our site is a random
variable (we are not sure what the outcome will be for any particular visitor),
and we would notate this with X. Then when the first person visits the website,
if they spend 5 minutes, we have now observed this outcome of our random
variable. We would notate any outcome as a lowercase letter with a subscript
associated with the order that we observed the outcome.

If 5 individuals visit our website, the first spend 10 minutes, the second
spends 20 minutes, the third spend 45 mins, the fourth spends 12 minutes,
and the fifth spends 8 minutes; we can notate this problem in the following
way:

X is the amount of time an individual spends on the website.

x1x1 = 10, x2x2 = 20 x3x3 = 45 x4x4 = 12 x5x5 = 8.

The capital X is associated with this idea of a random variable, while the
observations of the random variable take on lowercase x values.

Example 2

Taking this one step further, we could ask:

What is the probability someone spends more than 20 minutes in our

website?

In notation, we would write:

P(X > 20)?

Here P stands for probability, while the parentheses encompass the

statement for which we would like to find the probability. Since X represents
the amount of time spent on the website, this notation represents the
probability the amount of time on the website is greater than 20.

We could find this in the above example by noticing that only one of the 5
observations exceeds 20. So, we would say there is a 1 (the 45) in 5 or
20% chance that an individual spends more than 20 minutes on our website
(based on this dataset).

Example 3

If we asked: What is the probability of an individual spending 20 or more

minutes on our website? We could notate this as:
P(X ≥≥ 20)?

We could then find this by noticing there are two out of the five individuals that
spent 20 or more minutes on the website. So this probability is 2 out of 5 or
40%.

Quiz: Introduction to Notation

LessonDownloads
Consider we have the following table:

Years Departm Part/Full-

Experience ent Time
5 IT Part-Time
10 Finance Full-Time
8 HR Full-Time
1 Finance Part-Time
Consider we have the following labels:

XX= years of experience

YY= Department

ZZ= Part/Full-Time
Match the following notation to their corresponding:

A. x1x1

B. y2y2

C. z3z3

D. nn
Quiz Question

Use the information above to match the correct notation label to its
corresponding value.
These are the correct matches.
Notation

Value

A. (this refers to the letter with the corresponding notation above)

5
B. (this refers to the letter with the corresponding notation above)
Finance
C. (this refers to the letter with the corresponding notation above)
Full Time
D. (this refers to the letter with the corresponding notation above)
4

A Better Way?
Notation for Calculating the Mean
We know that the mean is calculated as the sum of all our values divided by
the number of values in our dataset.

In our current notation, adding all of our values together can be extremely
tedious. If we want to add 3 values of some random variable together, we
would use the notation:

x1+x2+x3x1+x2+x3
If we want to add 6 values together, we would use the notation:

x1+x2+x3+x4+x5+x6x1+x2+x3+x4+x5+x6
To extend this to add one hundred, one thousand, or one million values would
be ridiculous! How can we make this easier to communicate?!

Summation

Aggregations
An aggregation is a way to turn multiple numbers into fewer numbers
(commonly one number).
Summation is a common aggregation. The notation used to sum our values
is a greek symbol called sigma ΣΣ.

Example 1

Imagine we are looking at the amount of time individuals spend on our

website. We collect data from nine individuals:

x1x1 = 10, x2x2 = 20 x3x3 = 45 x4x4 = 12 x5x5 = 8 x6x6 =

12, x7x7 = 3 x8x8 = 68 x9x9 = 5

If we want to sum the first three values together in our previous notation, we
write:

x1+x2+x3x1+x2+x3
In our new notation, we can write:

∑i=13xii=1∑3xi.

Notice, our notation starts at the first observation (i=1i=1) and ends at 3
(the number at the top of our summation).

So all of the following are equal to one another:

∑i=13xii=1∑3xi = x1+x2+x3x1+x2+x3 = 10 + 20 + 45 = 75
Example 2

Now, imagine we want to sum the last three values together.

x7+x8+x9x7+x8+x9
In our new notation, we can write:

∑i=79xii=7∑9xi.

Notice, our notation starts at the seventh observation (i=7i=7) and ends at
9 (the number at the top of our summation).
Other Aggregations

The ΣΣ sign is used for aggregating using summation, but we might choose
to aggregate in other ways. Summing is one of the most common ways to
need to aggregate. However, we might need to aggregate in alternative ways.
If we wanted to multiply all of our values together we would use a product
sign ΠΠ** **, capital Greek letter pi. The way we aggregate continuous
values is with something known as integration (a common technique in
calculus), which uses the following symbol ∫∫ which is just a long s. We will
not be using integrals or products for quizzes in this class, but you may see
them in the future!
Notation for the Mean

Final Steps for Calculating the Mean

To finalize our calculation of the mean, we introduce n as the total number of
values in our dataset. We can use this notation both at the top of our
summation, as well as for the value that we divide by when calculating the
mean.

1n∑i=1nxin1i=1∑nxi

Instead of writing out all of the above, we commonly write xˉxˉ to represent
the mean of a dataset. Although similar to the first video, we could use any
variable. Therefore, we might also write yˉyˉ, or any other letter.

We also could index using any other letter, not just ii. We could just as easily
use jj, kk, or mm to index each of our data values. The quizzes on the next
concept will help reinforce this idea.

Notice

At second 0:12, this should say ∑i=15xi=x1+x2+x3+x4+x5 i=1∑5

xi=x1+x2+x3+x4+x5. The xixi is missing here in front of the
summation.
Quiz Question
Calculate the value of each expression where:

x1x1 = 5

x2x2 = 15

x3x3 = 3

x4x4 = 3

x5x5 = 8

x6x6 = 10

x7x7 = 12
These are the correct matches.

Expression

Value

nn
7
∑i=1nxii=1∑nxi
56
∑j=27xj+6j=2∑7xj+6
57
x5x5
8
∑i=36xin−1n−1i=3∑6xi
4

Match The Notation

For this quiz, you will be matching the notation attached to the letters below to
the corresponding numeric value to make sure you understand exactly what is
being done with each part of the notation.
Notation for Quizzes

For the below quiz, let the following letters denote the corresponding notation:

A. ∑i=1nxii=1∑nxi

B. ∑i=1nxinni=1∑nxi

C. xˉxˉ

D. yˉyˉ

E. ∑j=1nyjnnj=1∑nyj
Question 2 of 2

If we wanted to provide notation for the mean of a particular dataset, which of the following
letters would correspond to the notation attached to calculating the mean? (Mark all that apply.)

Notation Recap
Notation is an essential tool for communicating mathematical ideas. We have
introduced the fundamentals of notation in this lesson that will allow you to
read, write, and communicate with others using your new skills!

Notation and Random Variables

As a quick recap, capital letters signify random variables. When we look
at individual instances of a particular random variable, we identify these
as lowercase letters with subscripts attach themselves to each specific
observation.

For example, we might have X be the amount of time an individual spends on

our website. Our first visitor arrives and spends 10 minutes on our website,
and we would say x1x1 is 10 minutes.
 We might imagine the random variables as columns in our dataset, while a
particular value would be notated with the lower case letters.

Notation English Example

Time spent on
X A random variable
website
x1x1 First observed value of the random variable X 15 mins
∑i=1nxii=1∑n Sum values beginning at the first observation and ending at
5 + 2 + ... + 3
xi the last
1n∑i=1nxin1 Sum values beginning at the first observation and ending at
(5 + 2 + 3)/3
i=1∑nxi the last and divide by the number of observations (the mean)
xˉxˉ Exactly the same as the above - the mean of our data. (5 + 2 + 3)/3

Notation for the Mean

We took our notation even further by introducing the notation for
summation ∑∑. Using this we were able to calculate the mean as:

1n∑i=1nxin1i=1∑nxi

In the next section, you will see this notation used to assist in your
understanding of calculating various measures of spread. Notation can take
time to fully grasp. Understanding notation not only helps in conveying
mathematical ideas but also in writing computer programs - if you decide you
want to learn that too! Soon you will analyze data using spreadsheets. When
that happens, many of these operations will be hidden by the functions you
will be using. But until we get to spreadsheets, it is important to understand
how mathematical ideas are commonly communicated. This isn't easy, but
you can do it!

Lesson Recap
This lesson covered some of the foundational statistical topics needed to use
statistics in practice. You can now:

 Evaluate data types and variable types

 Analyze measures of center
 Implement notation
 Descriptive Statistics Part -II
What are Measures of Spread?
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, we will continue to cover more topics related to analyzing
quantitative variables and you will learn to use measures of
spread. Measures of spread are used to provide us an idea of how spread-
out our data are from one another.

In this lesson you will:

 Evaluate measures of spread

 Range
 Interquartile Range (IQR)
 Standard Deviation
 Variance
 Analyze outliers
 Evaluate descriptive and inferential statistics

Throughout this lesson, you will learn how to calculate these, as well as why
we would use one measure of spread over another.

Histograms
Histograms are super useful for understanding the different aspects of data
and they are the most common visual used for quantitative data. In the
upcoming concepts, you will see histograms used all the time to help you
understand the four aspects we outlined earlier regarding a quantitative
variable:

 center
 spread
 shape
 outliers
 How are Histograms constructed?

First, we need to bin our data. Each bin represents a range of values in a
dataset. The number of values that fall in the range of each bin determines the
height of each histogram bar. As shown in the video above, changing the
range of our bins can result in slightly different visuals. However, there is no
right or wrong answer in choosing how to bin, and in most cases, the software
you use will choose the appropriate bins for you.

Weekdays vs. Weekends: What is the

Difference
The two histograms below illustrate the number of dogs Josh saw on weekdays versus
weekends. The measures of center for both histograms (mean, median, mode) are
basically the same and centered about the highest bin for both histograms, 13.

Visually, the difference between the histograms is the range or spread of dogs Josh
sees during each time period. In the upcoming lessons, we will discuss the most
common ways to measure the spread of our data.

Introduction to Five Number Summary

Calculating the 5 Number Summary

The five-number summary consist of 5 values:

1. Minimum: The smallest number in the dataset.

2. Q1Q1: The value such that 25% of the data fall below.
3. Q2Q2: The value such that 50% of the data fall below.
4. Q3Q3: The value such that 75% of the data fall below.
5. Maximum: The largest value in the dataset.
 In the above video, we saw that calculating each of these values was
essentially just finding the median of a bunch of different datasets. Because
we are essentially calculating a bunch of medians, the calculation depends on
whether we have an odd or even number of values.

Range
The range is then calculated as the difference between the maximum and
the minimum.

IQR
The interquartile range is calculated as the difference
between Q3Q3 and Q1Q1.

In the upcoming sections, you will practice this with Katie and on your own.

Quiz: 5 Number Summary Practice

Third Quartile

The third quartile doesn't look right. You should be finding the median of the
five largest values. Don't forget to order the values!
What if We Only Want One Number?
Looking back at the histograms Josh created for the number of dogs he
recorded seeing on weekdays and weekends, we can use the histograms to
mark the values of the 5 number summary and create a box plot.

 Box plots are useful for quickly comparing the spread of two data sets across
some key metrics, like quartiles, maximum, and minimum.

How do we create the box plot?

1. The beginning of the line to the left of the box and the end of the line to the
right of the box represent the minimum and maximum values in a dataset.
2. The visual distance between these markings is an indication of the range of
the values.
3. The box itself represents the IQR. The box begins at the Q1 value, ends at the
Q3 value, and Q2, or the median, is represented by a line within the box.
 From both the histograms and box plots, we can see that the number of dogs seen on weekends
varies much more than on weekdays.

However, instead of depending on a visual of the 5 number summary to compare our data, in the
next lesson, we will learn about using a single value to compare the two distribution spreads -
standard deviation.

Introduction to Standard Deviation

and Variance
Standard Deviation and Variance

The standard deviation is one of the most common measures for talking
about the spread of data. It is defined as the average distance of each
observation from the mean.

In the above video, we saw this as how far individuals were from the average
distance from work (the example distances shown are examples from the full
data set, the mean of just those 4 numbers is 38.5. The mean of 18 shown
later in the video is the mean of the full data set which is not shown in the
video). In the next video, you will see exactly how this is calculated.

Standard Deviation Calculation

Note: at 2:00 the 4 in (14-10) = 4 = 16 should be squared. So it should be
2

(14-10) = 4 = 16
2 2

Example: Calculating the Standard Deviation

The dataset for the example is 10,14,10,610,14,10,6

1. First, calculate the mean:

x‾=(∑i=14xi)n=404=10x=n(i=1∑4xi)=440=10
2. Next, calculate the distance of each observation from the mean and square
the value:
 (xi−x‾)2=(xi−x)2=
(10−10)2=02=0(10−10)2=02=0
(14−10)2=42=16(14−10)2=42=16
(10−10)2=02=0(10−10)2=02=0
(6−10)2=−42=16(6−10)2=−42=16
2. Then calculate the variance, the average squared difference of each
observation from the mean:

1n∑i=1n(xi−x‾)2=14(0+16+0+16)=324=8n1i=1∑n(xi
−x)2=41(0+16+0+16)=432=8
4. Finally, calculate the standard deviation, the square root of the variance:

1n∑i=1n(xi−x‾)2=8=2.83n1i=1∑n(xi−x)2=8=2.83
The standard deviation is, on average, how far each point in our dataset is
from the mean.
Quiz: Measures of Spread (Calculation
and Units)
Question 1 of 2

If we measure the variance associated with our sales in dollars for each month for 3 years, what
are the units associated with the variance?
Dollars squared

That's right - the units of the variance are the square of the original units of your data.
Question 2 of 2

For the following set of data match the correct values.

Remember to find the variance we first find the mean average of the values,
then subtract the mean from each value, then square each of these values,
then add them up, then divide by the number of values. (Round your answer
to two decimal places at the end of your calculation - don't round along the
way.)

1, 5, 10, 3, 8, 12, 4
Variance 13.55
 SD=3.68

Introduction to the Standard Deviation

and Variance
Other Measures of Spread
5 Number Summary

In the previous sections, we have seen how to calculate the values associated
with the five-number summary (min, Q1Q1, Q2Q2, Q3Q3, max), as well
as the measures of spread associated with these values (range and IQR).

For datasets that are not symmetric, the five-number summary and a
corresponding box plot are a great way to get started with understanding the
spread of your data. Although I still prefer a histogram in most cases, box
plots can be easier to compare two or more groups. You will see this in
the quizzes towards the end of this lesson.

Variance and Standard Deviation

Two additional measures of spread that are used all the time are
the variance and standard deviation. At first glance, the variance and
standard deviation can seem overwhelming. If you do not understand the
expressions below, don't panic! In this section, I just want to give you an
overview of what the next sections will cover. We will walk through each of
these parts thoroughly in the next few sections, but the big picture goal is to
generally understand the following:

1. How the mean, variance, and standard deviation are calculated.

2. Why the measures of variance and standard deviation make sense to capture
the spread of our data.
3. Fields, where you might see these values used.
4. Why we might use the standard deviation or variance as opposed to the
values associated with the 5 number summary for a particular dataset.

Calculation

We calculate the variance in the following way:

1n∑i=1n(xi−xˉ)2n1i=1∑n(xi−xˉ)2
The variance is the average squared difference of each observation from
the mean.

To calculate the variance of a set of 10 values in a spreadsheet application,

with our 10 data points in column A, we would create a new column B by
typing in something like =A1-AVERAGE(A$1:A$10) and copying this down
for all 10 rows. This would find us the difference between each data point and
the mean average of all the data. Then we create a new column C having the
square of these differences, using the formula =B1^2 in cell C1, and copying
that down for all rows. Then in the cell below this new column, cell C11, type
in =SUM(C1:C10). This adds up all these values in column C. Finally in cell
C12, we divide this sum by the number of data points we have, in this case,
ten: =C11/10. This cell C12 now contains the variance for our 10 data points.

More detailed guidance on using spreadsheets like this may be included in a

future lesson in your program.

The standard deviation is the square root of the variance. Therefore, the
formula for the standard deviation is the following:

1n∑i=1n(xi−xˉ)2n1i=1∑n(xi−xˉ)2
In the same spreadsheet as above, to find the standard deviation of our same
set of 10 data values, we would use another cell like C13 to take the square
root of our variance measure, by typing in =sqrt(C12).

The standard deviation is a measurement that has the same units as our
original data, while the units of the variance are the square of the units in our
original data. For example, if the units in our original data were dollars, then
units of the standard deviation would also be dollars, while the units of the
variance would be dollars squared.

Again, this section is designed as background knowledge for the

following sections. If it doesn't make sense on this first pass, do not worry.
You will be guided in future sections in performing these calculations, and
building your intuition, as you work through an example using the salary data.
Then we will provide context about why these calculations are important, and
where you might see them!
Why the Standard Deviation?
 Standard deviation is a common metric used to compare the spread of two
datasets. The benefits of using a single metric instead of the 5 number
summary are:

 It simplifies the amount of information needed to give a measure of spread

 It is useful for inferential statistics

Important Final Points

Important Final Points
1. The variance is used to compare the spread of two different groups. A set of
data with higher variance is more spread out than a dataset with lower
variance. Be careful though, there might just be an outlier (or outliers) that is
increasing the variance when most of the data are actually very close.
2. When comparing the spread between two datasets, the units of each must be
the same.
3. When data are related to money or the economy, higher variance (or standard
deviation) is associated with higher risk.
4. The standard deviation is used more often in practice than the variance
because it shares the units of the original dataset.

Use in the World

The standard deviation is associated with risk in finance, assists in

determining the significance of drugs in medical studies, and measures the
error of our results for predicting anything from the amount of rainfall we can
expect tomorrow to your predicted commute time tomorrow.

These applications are beyond the scope of this lesson as they pertain to
specific fields, but know that understanding the spread of a particular set of
data is extremely important to many areas. In this lesson, you mastered the
calculation of the most common measures of spread.
Quiz: Standard Deviation and Variance
Question 1 of 3

Assume d1 and d2 are datasets both measured in the same units. We know
that the standard deviation of d1 is 5 and the variance of d2 is 36, which of the
following are certainly true. Mark all that apply.
Remember the Standard Deviation is the square root of the variance. So if the
Variance is 4 the Standard Deviation would be 2
Think of two histograms that look the same, but that are centered on different
values. Will they have the same mean? Will they have the same variance?

Remember the units are identical. Think about what the standard deviation
and variance would be for each dataset.
Remember the units are identical. Think about what the standard deviation and variance
would be for each dataset.
Remember the units are identical. Think about what the standard deviation
and variance would be for each dataset.

This is tricky - does having a larger range necessarily indicate a dataset has a
larger variance?

That's right! We can only talk about specific measures of spread, and not measures of
center. Additionally, the range isn't directly associated with the standard deviation, so
we can't make a claim that is always true like the final option.
- The variance for d2 is larger than for d1
- The standard deviation of d2 is larger than for d1

Question 2 of 3

If a dataset has a standard deviation of zero, which of the following MUST be

true?
Although our standard deviation cannot be negative, it can be zero.
Although having all of our data points be zero would give us a standard deviation of
zero, this isn't the only case that would give a standard deviation of zero.

That's right! Since the standard deviation is a measure of spread, a zero value suggests
that all of our data points are the same value.
Question 3 of 3

For each of the below: If the statement is true, mark the box next to the
statement.

Oops! That isn't quite right. Remember the standard deviation is always the
square root of the variance.

Oops! Just because two investment options have the same mean return, this
does not mean they have the same risk of gain or loss. What else might we
want to know?
Oops! Just because two investment options have the same mean return, this does not
mean they have the same risk of gain or loss. What else might we want to know?
Oops! That isn't quite right. Remember the standard deviation is always the
square root of the variance.

This one is tricky! The standard deviation of two investments could be the
same despite having different maximums. Consider two datasets: 1, 2, 3, 4
and 5, 6, 7, 8. Different max, but same st. dev.

That is correct! Besides the mean return of an investment, we should also

consider the spread associated with the return. But just because the standard
deviation associated with each investment is the same, this does not mean the
max you could make for each investment is the same.

Quiz: Applied Standard Deviation and

Variance
Investment Data

Consider we have two investment opportunities:

Retur
ns
Year
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 6
5
Investment
5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%
1
Investment
12% -2% 10% 0% 7% 3%
2
The returns for 6 consecutive years for each investment are shown above.
Use this information to answer the questions below.
Question 1 of 3

Use the information above to match the mean/expected return for each
investment.
8%
6%
4%
9%
5%
5%
Question 1 of 3

Use the information above to match the mean/expected return for each
investment.
These are the correct matches.

Investment

Return Investment

Return

Investment 1
5%
Investment 2
5%

Investment Data

In the previous two questions, you should have found that these investments
have the same mean! That is, regardless of which investment opportunity you
choose, you are expected to earn the same amount. So how are they
different? Let's look at some additional questions to see if we can find some
differences.

The same data as above is provided again (to minimize scrolling).

Oops! Beyond knowing the mean, we should also consider the standard deviation (and
other values associated with the spread) for the return on our investments.

That's right! Because the return is the same year over year for Investment 1, it has 'no
spread' or a standard deviation of 0. This smaller standard deviation is associated with
smaller risk. Understanding the spread of values we could earn is just as important as
understanding the expected return (mean return).

Question 3 of 3
Based on the observed data, which of the above two investments has the best
opportunity of earning more than 7%?

That's right! Only Investment 2 has earned more than 7%, so it is more likely (with 1/3
chance). Where Investment 1 has a 0/6 chance of earning more than 7% based on our
observed data.

Useful Insight

The above example is a simplified version of the real world but does point out
something useful that you may have heard before. Notice if you were not fully
invested in either Investment 1 or fully invested in Investment 2, but instead,
you were diversified across both investment options, you could earn more
than either investment individually. This is the benefit of diversifying your
portfolio for long-term gains. For short-term gains, you might not need or want
to diversify. You could get lucky and hit short-term gains associated with the
upswings (12%, 10%, or 7%) of Investment 2. However, you might also get
unlucky, and hit a down term and earn nothing or even lose money on your
investment using this same strategy.
Final Quiz on Measures Spread
Question 1 of 2

For the following dataset, match each value to the appropriate label:

15, 4, 3, 8, 15, 22, 7, 9, 2, 3, 3, 12, 6

These are the correct matches.

Term

Value

n
13
median
7
first quartile
3
third quartile
13.5
mean
8.4
mode
3’

Question 2 of 2

For the following dataset, match each value to the appropriate label:

15, 4, 3, 8, 15, 22, 7, 9, 2, 3, 3, 12, 6

These are the correct matches.

Term

Value

interquartile range
10.5
range
20
variance
33.9
standard deviation
5.8
minimum
2
maximum
22

Measures of Center and Spread

Summary
Recap

Variable Types

We have covered a lot up to this point! We started with identifying data types
as either categorical or quantitative. We then learned we could identify
 quantitative variables as either continuous or discrete. We also found we could
identify categorical variables as either ordinal or nominal.

Categorical Variables

When analyzing categorical variables, we commonly just look at the count or

percent of a group that falls into each level of a category. For example, if we
had two levels of a dog category: lab and not lab. We might say, 32% of the
dogs were lab (percent), or we might say 32 of the 100 dogs I saw were labs
(count).

However, the 4 aspects associated with describing quantitative variables are

not used to describe categorical variables.

Quantitative Variables

Then we learned there are four main aspects used to

describe quantitative variables:

1. Measures of Center
2. Measures of Spread
3. Shape of the Distribution
4. Outliers

We looked at calculating measures of Center

1. Means
2. Medians
3. Modes

We also looked at calculating measures of Spread

1. Range
2. Interquartile Range
3. Standard Deviation
4. Variance
Calculating Variance

We saw that we could calculate the variance as:

1n∑i=1n(xi−xˉ)2n1i=1∑n(xi−xˉ)2
You will also see:

1n−1∑i=1n(xi−xˉ)2n−11i=1∑n(xi−xˉ)2
The reason for this is beyond the scope of what we have covered thus far, but
you can find an explanation here(opens in a new tab).

You can commonly find answers to your questions with a quick Google
search(opens in a new tab). Now is a great time to get started with this
practice! This answer should make more sense at the completion of this
lesson.

Standard Deviation vs. Variance

The standard deviation is the square root of the variance. In practice, you
usually use the standard deviation rather than the variance. The reason for
this is because the standard deviation shares the same units with our original
data, while the variance has squared units.

What Next?

In the next sections, we will be looking at the last two aspects of quantitative
variables: shape and outliers. What we know about measures of center and
measures of spread will assist in your understanding of these final two
aspects.

Shape
Histograms
We learned how to build a histogram in this video, as this is the most popular
visual for quantitative data.
Shape
From a histogram, we can quickly identify the shape of our data, which helps
influence all of the measures we learned in the previous concepts. We learned
that the distribution of our data is frequently associated with one of the
three shapes:

1. Right-skewed

2. Left-skewed

3. Symmetric (frequently normally distributed)

Summary
Mean vs.
Shape Real-World Applications
Median
Symmetric Mean equals
Height, Weight, Errors, Precipitation
(Normal) Median
Mean greater Amount of drug remaining in a bloodstream, Time between
Right-skewed
than Median phone calls at a call center, Time until light bulb dies
Mean less than Grades as a percentage in many universities, Age of death,
Left-skewed
Median Asset price changes
The mode of a distribution is essentially the tallest bar in a histogram. There
may be multiple modes depending on the number of peaks in our histogram.
The Shape For Data In The World
When working with data, building a quick plot lets you quickly see the shape
of your data.

Distribution
Types of Data
Shape
Bell Shaped Heights, Weight, Scores
Left Skewed GPA, Age of Death, Price
Right Skewed Distribution of Wealth, Athletic Abilities

References
These are the references used to pull the applications of each shape.
 Quora(opens in a new tab)
 University of Texas(opens in a new tab)
 Stack Exchange(opens in a new tab)

Supporting Materials

 Quora(opens in a new tab)

 Stack Exchange
 Question 1 of 2
 Match the distribution shape with the correct relationship in comparing
the mean to the median.
 Cannot be Determined.
 Shape
 Comparison
 Right-skewed
 Mean is greater than the Median.
 Left-skewed
 Mean is less than the Median.
 Symmetric
 Mean is equal to the Median.
 Submit

Question 2 of 2

Check all of the below that must be true.

For every dataset the mean equals the median, so every data set is normally
distributed.

Oops! This one is tricky. If data are normally distributed, the mean must equal
the median. However, any perfectly symmetric distribution will have a mean
equal to the median.

Oops! Remember a box-plot has 5 lines that relate to the minimum, first
quartile, second quartile, third quartile, and maximum.
Oops! This one is tricky. If data are normally distributed, the mean must equal
the median. However, any perfectly symmetric distribution will have a mean
equal to the median.
Oops! All normal distributions are perfectly symmetric. What do you think that
means about how the mean relates to the median?

Oops! Remember a box-plot has 5 lines that relate to the minimum, first
quartile, second quartile, third quartile, and maximum.
Oops! Histograms and box plots are used only for quantitative data. We have not
discussed any plots for categorical variables, but more on that soon!

Check all of the below that must be true.

- Normally distributed data must have a mean equal to the median.
- Histograms and box plots are both used to plot quantitative data.
They cannot be used to plot categorical data.
- A box plot relates directly to the 5 number summary.
Shape and Outliers
Outliers
We learned that outliers are points that fall very far from the rest of our data
points. This influences measures like the mean and standard deviation much
more than measures associated with the five-number summary.

Identifying Outliers
There are a number of different techniques for identifying outliers. A full paper
on this topic is provided here(opens in a new tab). In general, I usually just
look at a picture and see if something looks suspicious!

Working With Outliers

Common Techniques
When outliers are present we should consider the following points.

1. Noting they exist and the impact on summary statistics.

2. If typo - remove or fix

3. Understanding why they exist, and the impact on questions we are trying to
answer about our data.
 4. Reporting the 5 number summary values is often a better indication than
measures like the mean and standard deviation when we have outliers.

5. Be careful in reporting. Know how to ask the right questions.

Working With Outliers: My Advice
Outliers Advice
Below are my guidelines for working with any column (random variable) in
your dataset.

1. Plot your data to identify if you have outliers.

2. Handle outliers accordingly via the previous methods.

3. If no outliers and your data follow a normal distribution - use the mean and
standard deviation to describe your dataset, and report that the data are
normally distributed.

Side note

If you aren't sure if your data are normally distributed, there are plots
called normal quantile plots(opens in a new tab) and statistical methods
like the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test(opens in a new tab) that are aimed to
help you understand whether or not your data are normally distributed.
Implementing this test is beyond the scope of this class, but can be used as a
fun fact.

4. If you have skewed data or outliers, use the five-number summary to

summarize your data and report the outliers.

Supporting Materials

 Kolmogorov-Smirnov test(opens in a new tab)

 Normal quantile plots
Quiz: Shape and Outliers (Comparing
Distributions)
mage Summary
In the below image, we have three box-plots. Each box-plot is for a different
Iris flower: setosa, versicolor, or virginica. On the y-axis, we are given the sepal
length. Notice that virginica has an outlier towards the bottom of the plot.
Therefore, the minimum is not given by the bottom line here; rather, it is
provided by this point.

Box Plots of Sepal length for 3 Iris Flower Species

Quick Refresher: The measures of center and spread we can determine from
a Box Plot are as follows. Let's use Setosa for these examples.

Median is the centerline inside the box and is 5

IQR is space between the first and third quartile which are the edges of the
box. They are about 4.8 for the first quartile and 5.2 for the third

Image Summary
In the below image, we have three box-plots. Each box-plot is for a different
Iris flower: setosa, versicolor, or virginica. On the y-axis, we are given the sepal
length. Notice that virginica has an outlier towards the bottom of the plot.
Therefore, the minimum is not given by the bottom line here; rather, it is
provided by this point.

Box Plots of Sepal length for 3 Iris Flower Species

Quick Refresher: The measures of center and spread we can determine from
a Box Plot are as follows. Let's use Setosa for these examples.

Median is the centerline inside the box and is 5

IQR is space between the first and third quartile which are the edges of the
box. They are about 4.8 for the first quartile and 5.2 for the third
Question 1 of 2

Match the appropriate Iris type to the statement(s) that are true for its Sepal
Length.
These are the correct matches.

Sepal Length

Iris Type

The largest Range

Virginica
The smallest Interquartile Range
Setosa
Median is approximately 5
Setosa
Third quartile is approximately 6.3
Versicolor
Approximately Symmetric
All
The largest sepals on average.
Virginica

Third quartile is approximately 6.3

Oops! Remember the third quartile is the top part of the box in the box-plot.

Approximately Symmetric

Oops! We can tell the shape of our distribution by looking at the middle portion
of the box-plot. If it is square, the plot is symmetric. If it is more rectangular it
is skewed.

Question 2 of 2

Using the same flower data, select all of the below statements that MUST be
true.

Virginica
 Box Plots of Sepal length for 3 Iris Flower Species
Question 2 of 2

Using the same flower data, select all of the below statements that MUST be
true.
- More than 75% of the virginica flowers have a larger sepal
length than the largest setosa flower.
- More than 50% of setosa flowers have larger sepal length
than the shortest versicolor flower.

Notice that we cannot tell how many of each flower type were collected based on this
plot. However, we do know about the max, min, and the quartiles based on this
dataset. Since all of the box-plots overlap according to the y-axis, no one flower type
has a larger sepal length all the time.

Quiz: Shape and Outliers (Visuals)

Questions 1 - 2: Petal Length
The below plot will be used to answer the first two questions in this section.

Quiz Image
Question 1 of 5

What is the name of the above plot?

Bar Chart

Box Plot

Histogram

Pie Chart

That’s right! This is called a histogram! We know this is a histogram, because we

have a quantitative variable on the x-axis and it's frequency on the y-axis.
Sometimes we might see the probability of this event on the y-axis instead.

Question 2 of 5

What is the shape of the above distribution?

Right skewed

Left skewed
Symmetric

Bi-modal
That's right! This is a bi-modal distribution. Notice it has two areas where there
are peaks in our dataset.

Questions 3 - 6: Shape and Outliers

Use the below image to assist with answering the next three questions.

Plot image for the quiz below.

Question 3 of 5

What is the name of the above plot?

Bar Chart

Box Plot

Histogram

Pie Chart

That's right! This is a box plot, or a box-and-whisker plot.

Question 4 of 5

What is the shape of the distribution?

Right skewed
Left skewed

Symmetric

Bi-modal

That's right! This is a left skewed distribution!

Question 5 of 5

Select the true statement for the box-plot above.

The mean is less than the median.

The mean is greater than the median.

The mean is approximately equal to the median.

It is impossible to tell the relationship between the mean and median.

That's right! Because the distribution is left-skewed, we know the mean will be
less than the median.

Quiz: Shape and Outliers (Final Quiz)

Histograms
Let the histogram on the left be Histogram 1 and the histogram on the right
be Histogram 2.
 Histograms for the Quiz below.
Quick Notes

Pay attention to the scale of these two graphs. The first is dealing with a lot
higher numbers.

The median is the middle number and is not affected by outliers.

The average factors in all the numbers so outliers will bring the average
towards them.

Left Skewed is when the graphs start with a low frequency and then slopes
up. Right Skewed is when the graph starts with a high frequency and slopes
down.

Descriptive Statistics Summary

Recap

Variable Types

We have covered a lot up to this point! We started with identifying data types
as either categorical or quantitative. We then learned we could identify
quantitative variables as either continuous or discrete. We also found we could
identify categorical variables as either ordinal or nominal.
 Categorical Variables

When analyzing categorical variables, we commonly just look at the count or

percent of a group that falls into each level of a category. For example, if we
had two levels of a dog category: lab and not lab. We might say, 32% of the
dogs were lab (percent), or we might say 32 of the 100 dogs I saw were labs
(count).

However, the 4 aspects associated with describing quantitative variables are

not used to describe categorical variables.

Quantitative Variables

Then we learned there are four main aspects used to

describe quantitative variables:

1. Measures of Center
2. Measures of Spread
3. Shape of the Distribution
4. Outliers

Measures of Center

We looked at calculating measures of Center

1. Means
2. Medians
3. Modes

Measures of Spread

We also looked at calculating measures of Spread

1. Range
2. Interquartile Range
3. Standard Deviation
4. Variance

Shape

We learned that the distribution of our data is frequently associated with one
of the three shapes:

1. Right-skewed

2. Left-skewed

3. Symmetric (frequently normally distributed)

Depending on the shape associated with our dataset, certain measures of

center or spread may be better for summarizing our dataset.

When we have data that follows a normal distribution, we can completely

understand our dataset using the mean and standard deviation.

However, if our dataset is skewed, the 5 number summary (and measures of

center associated with it) might be better to summarize our dataset.

Outliers

We learned that outliers have a larger influence on measures like the mean
than on measures like the median. We learned that we should work with
outliers on a situation by situation basis. Common techniques include:

1. At least note they exist and the impact on summary statistics.

2. If typo - remove or fix

3. Understand why they exist, and the impact on questions we are trying to
answer about our data.

4. Reporting the 5 number summary values is often a better indication than

measures like the mean and standard deviation when we have outliers.
 5. Be careful in reporting. Know how to ask the right questions.

Histograms and Box Plots

We also looked at histograms and box plots to visualize our quantitative data.
Identifying outliers and the shape associated with the distribution of our data
are easier when using a visual as opposed to using summary statistics.

What Next?

Up to this point, we have only looked at Descriptive Statistics, because we

are describing our collected data. In the final sections of this lesson, we will be
looking at the difference between Descriptive Statistics and Inferential
Statistics.
Descriptive vs. Inferential Statistics
In this section, we learned about how Inferential Statistics differs
from Descriptive Statistics.

Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statisticsis about describing our collected data.

Inferential Statistics
Inferential Statisticsis
about using our collected data to draw conclusions
about a larger population.

We looked at specific examples that allowed us to identify the

1. Population - our entire group of interest.

2. Parameter - numeric summary about a population
3. Sample - a subset of the population
4. Statistic numeric summary about a sample
Quiz: Descriptive vs. Inferential
Question 1 of 3

Identify the population, parameter, sample, and statistic for the below
scenario:

Consider we are interested in the average number of hours slept by all

Udacity students (100,000 students). I send an email to all Udacity students,
but I only receive 5,000 response emails. The average amount of sleep of
those that responded was 6.8 hours of sleep.
These are the correct matches.

Term

Description

Population
All Udacity students
Parameter
We cannot know for sure.
Sample
5,000 Udacity students
Statistic
6.8 hours of sleep

Amazing! This one is really tricky.

Essentially we have two populations - one is all the bagels from our
competitor, and the second is all the bagels from our shop. We know the
diameter of all the bagels at our shop, so this is a parameter. The 100 bagels
from the competitor are now a sample, and we have a statistic, which is our
numeric summary from that sample of 6 inches.
Question 3 of 3

For the below, match the term to the correct description.

These are the correct matches.

Description
Term

A numeric summary of a sample.

Statistic
A numeric summary of a population.
Parameter
Drawing conclusions regarding a population using information from a sample.
Inference
Drawing conclusions regarding a sample using information from a population.
None
A subset of a population.
Sample
Our entire group of interest.
Population
Frequently we do not know this value, so we must try and estimate.
Parameter
Descriptive vs. Inferential Summary
Descriptive vs. Inferential Statistics
In this section, we learned about how Inferential Statistics differs
from Descriptive Statistics.

Descriptive Statistics

is about describing our collected data using the

Descriptive statistics
measures discussed throughout this lesson: measures of center, measures of
spread, the shape of our distribution, and outliers. We can also use plots of
our data to gain a better understanding.

Inferential Statistics

is about using our collected data to draw conclusions to

Inferential Statistics
a larger population. Performing inferential statistics well requires that we
take a sample that accurately represents our population of interest.
 A common way to collect data is via a survey. However, surveys may be
extremely biased depending on the types of questions that are asked, and the
way the questions are asked. This is a topic you should think about when
tackling the first project.

We looked at specific examples that allowed us to identify the

1. Population - our entire group of interest.

2. Parameter - numeric summary about a population
3. Sample - a subset of the population
4. Statistic - numeric summary about a sample

Looking Ahead

Though we will not be diving deep into inferential statistics within this course,
you are now aware of the difference between these two branches of statistics.
If you have ever conducted a hypothesis test or built a confidence interval,
you have performed inferential statistics. The way we perform inferential
statistics is changing as technology evolves. Many career paths
involving Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are aimed at using
collected data to draw conclusions about entire populations at an individual
level. It is an exciting time to be a part of this space, and you are now well on
your way to joining the other practitioners!
Lesson Recap
Lesson Review
Congratulations on completing this lesson on descriptive statistics. You
learned some foundational metrics for understanding data, including how to :

 Evaluate measures of spread

 Range
 Interquartile Range (IQR)
 Standard Deviation
 Variance
 Analyze outliers
 Evaluate descriptive and inferential statistics
Spreadsheets 1; Getting Started

Intro