SOME STATISTICAL TERMS

Unit
- is the smallest material from which we collect data. - examples include person, family, store, machine, animal, event, transaction, etc.

Population
- data from all units of interest

Sample
- A portion or subset of population.

Variable
- is an observed property of every unit in the population or sample - Examples include height (X), gender (G), race (R), income (Y)

Types of Variables
Two Types of Variables
- (i) Qualitative/ Attribute/ Categorical - (ii) Quantitative/ Numerical

(i) Qualitative Variable - is a property/characteristic obtained by classifying each object or unit as belonging to one of several categories. Examples include
- gender, race, method of payment, nationality, patients status at hospital discharge (dead/alive), outcome of a coin toss (H/T), etc.

Types of Variables
(ii) Quantitative Variable - is a numerical characteristic obtained by measuring or counting sample/population units - measurement variables include height, weight, length, temperature, etc. - count variables include number of children in families, daily number of accidents, number of credit cards you have, etc. - measurement variables are in general continuous and count variables are discrete.

Displaying data of a sample or population

Data Set - is a collection of values of all variables often displayed in the form of an array with one column for each variable and one row for each unit in the sample or population

Example. A hypothetical data set

A data set based on a sample of five students (Think about a data set of 10,000 students)
Student 1 2 3 4 5 Gender M F F M M GPA 3.5 3.7 2.8 2.9 3.6 # of Courses 4 5 5 6 5

We may be interested in
average GPA average GPA by gender proportion of male students percentage of students with GPA > 3.5 most typical number of courses taken by students distribution of number of courses by gender, etc.

More Key Terms

Statistic and Parameter
- Statistic is function of sample (e.g., sample average, sample proportion, range of data in a sample, etc.) - Parameter is function of population (e.g., population average, population proportion, range of data in the population, etc.)

Descriptive vs Inferential Statistics

Descriptive Statistics
- Refers to numerical summaries (e.g., average, variance, percentile, etc.) and basic features of data often displayed in graphs, tables, etc.

Inferential Statistics
- Refers to estimation, prediction, and hypothesis testing about some unknown characteristics of a population based on information in a random sample drawn from the population.

Chapter One Summary

Important Statistical Terms

Population: consists of measurements taken from all units Sample: a subset of population Statistic: function of sample values Parameter: function of population values Variable: observed qualitative or quantitative property of units (of sample or population) Descriptive Statistics: simple numerical summaries and basic features of observed data (of sample or population). Inferential Statistics: Conclusion about population properties based on information obtained from sample

Sample Question
Suppose you are interested in learning about age of students enrolled in your class. Define the variable of interest
Age Quantitative Age of all students enrolled in your class

Is the variable quantitative or qualitative?

Define the population

You determine the age of 10 students of your class of 350 students. Would this determination represent a population or a sample?
Sample

The average age of 10 randomly selected students is 19 years. Is 19 a value of statistic or parameter?
Statistic

The average age of all 350 students is 21 years. Is 21 a value of statistic or parameter?
Parameter

Sample Question
The average age of students in your class is 19 years. Does this statement describe descriptive or inferential statistics?
Answer. Descriptive Statistics.

Based on the average age of 65 randomly selected students from STA-2023, you concluded that the average age of all 350 students enrolled in STA 2023 is 19 years. Does this statement describe descriptive or inferential statistics?
Answer. Inferential Statistics.

Sample Question
From past figures, it is predicted that 57% of registered voters in Florida will vote in the next election. Does this statement describe descriptive or inferential statistics?
Answer. Inferential Statistics.

Identify each of the following as examples of attribute/qualitative (A) or quantitative (Q) variables
The amount of flu vaccine in a syringe
Ans Q

Method of payments (cash, check, etc.) for books bought by UCF students
Ans A

The amount of carbon monoxide product per gallon of unleaded gas.

(Ans Q)

Sample question
All of the following are examples of quantitative data except
(a) Length of maximum span (feet) (b) Average daily traffic (c) Number of vehicle lanes (d) Condition of deck (good, fair, poor)

Ans (d) Condition of deck (good, fair, poor)

Sample Question
Identify the following variables as examples of Qualitative (A) or Quantitative (Q) Variable - Temperature, Gender
Answer: Q, A Answer: A, Q

- Nationality of Student, # of Children

- Political Party Affiliation, Method of Payments, Zip-Code

- Answer: (A, A, A)

- Length, Height, Number of Vehicle Lanes

Answer: (Q, Q, Q)

End of Chapter One

Read all definitions, redo examples covered in class and try problems listed below:
1:12, 1:14, 1:15, 1:18, 1:19, 1:20

Sample Question
Identify the following variables as examples of Qualitative (A) or Quantitative (Q) Variable - Temperature, Unemployment Rate, Gender
Answer: Q, Q, A Answer: A, Q, Q

- Nationality of Student, # of Children, GPA

- Political Party Affiliation, Method of Payments, Size of Car (S,M,L), Zip-Code, Phone Area-Code
- Answer: (A, A, A, A, A)

- Length, Height, Weight, Income, Age, Number of Vehicle Lanes

Answer: (Q, Q, Q, Q, Q, Q)

Sample Question
A sample of high school teenagers reported that 92% of those sampled are interested in pursuing a college education. This statement is a result of a
A) quantitative variable B) statistical inference C) descriptive statistic
(Ans. C)

A published analysis recently stated "Based on a sample of 250 newly hired truck drivers, there is evidence to indicate that, on average, independent truck drivers are overpaid relative to company-hired truck drivers." This statement is an example of
A) descriptive statistics B) a random sample C) a conclusion D) inferential statistics
(Ans. D)

Sample Question

A study published in 1990 attempted to estimate the proportion of Florida residents who were willing to spend more tax dollars on protecting the Florida beaches from environmental disasters. Forty-three hundred Florida residents were surveyed. Which of the following describes the variable of interest in the study?

A) the response to the question "Do you use the beach? B) the 4300 Florida residents surveyed C) being willing to spend more tax dollars on protecting the Florida beaches from environmental disasters D) the response to the question "Do you live along the beach?
(Ans C)

Sample Question
Parking at a large university has become a very big problem. University administrators are interested in determining the average parking time (e.g. the time it takes a student to find a parking spot) of its students. An administrator followed 260 students and carefully recorded their parking times. Identify the inference of interest to the university administration.

A) the generalization of the average time it takes the university administrators to find a parking spot B) the generalization of the average time it takes a student to find a parking spot C) the generalization of the average number of parking spots available for students D) the generalization of the average amount of money that should be charged for student parking passes as a result of limited parking spots
(Ans B)

What is Statistics?
Statistics is the science (of data) which involves
Collection of data Classification of data Summarization Organization Presentation Analyses Estimation tests of hypothesis Interpretation

Descriptive Statistics

Inferential Statistics

More Key Terms

Survey - refers to data collection method in which data on a set of variables are obtained by sampling some units of a population of interest (e.g., Neilson, Gallup, Harris and other polls) Census - refers to observing a set of variables for every unit in the population under consideration