THE NATURE OF STATISTICS

STATISTICS is the study refers to the methods in collection, presentation, analysis and
interpretation of data. Generally, the term means numerical observation of any kind. Statistical
data took the forms of figures of birth, death, tax returns, population, frequency, of failures in
schools, crop yield etc.
Data gathering or collection may be done through interview, questionnaires, tests,
observation, registration and experiments.
Presentation of data refers to the organization of data maybe table, graphs, charts, or
paragraphs.
Analysis of data pertains to the process of extracting from the given data relevant and
noteworthy information and this uses statistical tools or techniques.
Interpretation of data refers to the drawing of conclusions or inferences from the analyzed
data
TWO CATEGORIES OF STATISTICS
Descriptive
 Is concerned with the gathering, classification, and presentation of data and the
collection of summarizing values to describe group characteristics of data.
Examples:class average examination, range of student scores, average salary, means of
managerial satisfaction, and average return of investment.
Inferential statistics

 Inferential statistics is one of the two main branches of statistics. It uses a random
sample of data taken from a population to describe and make inferences about the
population. Inferential statistics are valuable when examination of each member of an
entire population is not convenient or possible.

Population

 a population is the entire pool from which a statistical sample is drawn. A population
may refer to an entire group of people, objects, events, hospital visits, or measurements.
A population can thus be said to be an aggregate observation of subjects grouped
together by a common feature.

Sample

 A sample statistic is a piece of information you get from a fraction of a population.

For example, let’s say your population was every American, and you wanted to find
out how much the average person earns. Time and finances stop you from knocking on
every door in America, so you choose to ask 1,000 random people. This one thousand
people is your sample.
 Parameter -descriptive measure of the population.

IMPORTANCE OF STATISTICS

1) Everybody watches weather forecasting. Have you ever think how do you get that information?
There are some computers models build on statistical concepts. These computer models
compare prior weather with the current weather and predict future weather.

2) Statistics mostly used by the researcher. They use their statistical skills to collect the relevant
data. Otherwise, it results in a loss of money, time and data.

3) What do you understand by insurance? Everybody has some kind of insurance, whether it is
medical, home or any other insurance. Based on an individual application some businesses use
statistical models to calculate the risk of giving insurance.

4) In financial market also statistic plays a great role. Statistics are the key of how traders and
businessmen invest and make money.

5) Statistics play a big role in the medical field. Before any drugs prescribed, scientist must show
a statistically valid rate of effectiveness. Statistics are behind all the study of medical.

6) Statistical concepts are used in quality testing. Companies make many products on a daily
basis and every company should make sure that they sold the best quality items. But companies
cannot test all the products, so they use statistics sample.

7) In everyday life we make many predictions. For examples, we keep the alarm for the morning
when we don’t know that we will be alive in the morning or not. Here we use statistics basics
to make predictions.

8) Doctors predict disease on based on statistics concepts. Suppose a survey shows that 75%-
80% people have cancer and not able to find the reason. When the statistics become involved,
then you can have a better idea of how the cancer may affect your body or is smoking is the
major reason for it.

9) News reporter makes a prediction of winner for elections based on political campaigns. Here
statistics play a strong part in who will be your governments.

10) Statistics data allow us to collect the information around the world. The internet is a devise
which help us to collect the information. The fundamental behind the internet is based on
statistics and mathematics concepts.

TYPES OF DATA

RAW DATA - typically refers to tables of data where each row contains an observation and
each column represents a variable that describes some property of each observation.
GROUPED DATA- are placed in tabular form characterized by class intervals with the
corresponding frequency.
PRIMARY DATA-Data collected by the investigator himself/ herself for a specific purpose.
Examples: Data collected by a student for his/her thesis or research project.
(In movies) The hero is directly told by the heroine that he is her “ideal man”.
SECONDARY DATA-Data collected by someone else for some other purpose (but being
utilized by the investigator for another purpose).
Examples: Census data being used to analyze the impact of education on career choice and
earning.

VARIABLES and MEASUREMENT

Variable- is characteristics or attribute of persons or objects, which assumes different values
(numerical) or labels( quantitative).
Measurement- the process of assigning the value or label of a particular experiment unit.
Experimental unit- is the person or the object by which the variable is measured.

CLASSIFICATION OF VARIABLE
Qualitative-Qualitative variables take on values that are names or labels.
The color of a ball (e.g., red, green, blue) or the breed of a dog (e.g., collie, shepherd, terrier)
would be examples of qualitative or categorical variables.

Quantitative. Quantitative variables are numeric. They represent a measurable quantity.

For example, when we speak of the population of a city, we are talking about the number of
people in the city - a measurable attribute of the city. Therefore, population would be a
quantitative variable.

Numerical data gathered are either discrete or continuous.

DISCRETE QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES – assume finite or countable infinite values
such as 0, 1, 2, 3,4...
Example : Number of children (0, 1, 2, 3, 4)
Number of student dropouts(2, 3, 4)
CONTINUOUS QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES – cannot take on finite values but the
values are related/associated with points on an interval of the real line.
Examples: Height 5’4” cm. 1.5m
Weight 130.42 kilos, 210lbs, 432 grams.

LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT

Nominal level-measurement scale, in which numbers serve as “tags” or “labels” only, to

identify or classify an object. A nominal scale measurement normally deals only with non-
numeric (quantitative) variables or where numbers have no value.

Examples:
 Sex: M-MALE. F-FEMALE
 Faculty tenure:1 Tenured. 0-Non-tenured
 let’s assume we have 5 colors, orange, blue, red, black and yellow. We could number
them in any order we like either 1 to 5 or 5 to 1 in ascending or descending order. Here
numbers are assigned to colors only to identify them.
 Another example of nominal scale from a research activity point to view is YES/NO
scale. It essentially has no order.
Ordinal level -Ordinal” indicates “order”. Ordinal data is quantitative data which have
naturally occurring orders and the difference between is unknown. It can be named, grouped
and also ranked.

For example:

“How satisfied are you with our products?”

1- Totally Satisfied
2- Satisfied
3- Neutral
4- Dissatisfied
5- Totally Dissatisfied
“How happy are you with the customer service?”
1- Very Unhappy
2- Unhappy
3- Neutral
4- Unhappy
5- Very Unhappy

Interval level - defined as a quantitative measurement scale where the difference between 2
variables is meaningful. In other words, the variables are measured in actuals and not as a
relative manner, where the presence of zero is arbitrary.

Examples:
 Difference between 68 degrees F and 58 degrees F is the exact same as 101 degrees F
and 91 degrees F. In this example, you can not say that 98 degrees F is double the
temperature in terms of “heat” or “cold” of 49 degrees F. This is because there is no
absolute zero on the Fahrenheit scale – that is at zero temperature doesn’t exist.

Ratio level – possesses all the properties of the nom8nal, ordinal and interval levels. In addition,
this has an absolute zero point. Data can be classified and placed in a proper order. We can
compare the magnitudes of these data.
Examples:
 Age, income, exam scores, performance ratings, grades of students, and tuition fees.
 The temperature outside is 0-degree Celsius. 0 degree doesn’t mean it’s not hot or cold,
it is a value

.
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

RANDOM SAMPLING
 Is the method of selecting a sample size (n) from a universe (N) such that each member
of the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample and all possible
combinations of size(n) have an equal chance of being selected.

RANDOM SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

1. LOTTERY SAMPLING
 -creating a simple random sample is exactly what it sounds like. A researcher randomly
picks numbers, with each number corresponding to a subject or item, in order to create
the sample. To create a sample this way, the researcher must ensure that the numbers
are well mixed before selecting the sample population.
2. TABLE OF RANDOM NUMBERS
-Most random number tables will have as many as 10,000 random numbers. These will.
be composed of integers between zero and nine and arranged in groups of five. These tables
are carefully created to ensure that each number is equally probable, so using it is a way to
produce a random sample required for valid research outcomes.

The use of the Table of Random Numbers can be illustrated as follows:

a. Direct Selection Method – the method is used when there are only few sample units to
be selected.
b. The Remainder Method – used whenever the direct selection method cannot be applied.
There are two ways of conducting the remainder method.
1. When the number taken from the Table of Random Numbers is subtracted from
the upper limit within which this number falls, the remainder is the sample unit
2. When the upper limit of the set is subtracted from the number taken from the
Random Table and yields a number equal or less than N, the remainder is the
sample.
SYSTEMATIC SAMPLING
 This method involves selecting every nth element of a series representing the
population.

Other Types of Sampling

1. STRATIFIED SAMPLING – this is a random sampling technique in which the
population is divided into non-overlapping subpopulations called strata.
2. CLUSTER or AREA SAMPLING – Involves dividing the population into non-
overlapping clusters.
Example: A college unit may be considered as one cluster.
3. MULTI-STAGE SAMPLING – this considers different stages or phases

The formula below is used to determine the sample sizes for proportional allocation.

ni=[N]n for i=1,2,3….

N

n=is the total size of the stratified random sample

N=total population
N¹=number of 1st stratum elements
N²=number of 2nd stratum elements
N³=number of 3rd stratum elements

Note: To determine the appropriate sample size without resorting to your subjective decision,
you may use the Slovin’s formula.
n=____N____
1+Ne²
Where: n=sample size
N=population size
E=0.05( the sampling error)
Cluster sampling – selects a sample containing either all, or a random selecti9n, of the element
for clusters that have been selected randomly from the population.
Area sampling – considering geographic areas as clusters.

Formula: K=_N_
n
NONPROBABILITY SAMPLING does not involve random selection of sample elements.
Some elements of the population do not have a chance to be included in the sample.

Common Methods of Nonprobability Sampling

 Purposive Sampling-purposive sample is a non-probability sample that is selected

based on characteristics of a population and the objective of the study. Purposive
sampling is different from convenience sampling and is also known as judgmental,
selective, or subjective sampling.

 Quota sampling is a method for selecting survey participants that is a non-probabilistic

version of stratified sampling.

 Convenience sampling (also known as grab sampling, accidental sampling, or

opportunity sampling) is a type of non-probability sampling that involves the sample
being drawn from that part of the population that is close to hand. This type of sampling
is most useful for pilot testing.
References
DATA COLLECTION

1. DIRECT/INTERVIEW METHOD – one of the most effective methods of collecting

original data.
Advantages:
 It can give complete information needed in the study.
 It can yield inaccurate information since the interviewer can influence the
respondents answers through his facial expression, tone of voice, or wording of
questions.
 The interviewer may cheat by turning in dishonest responses if their expected of
desired responses are not obtained.
2. INDIRECT/ QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD – one of the easiest methods of data
gathering. It takes time to prepare because questionnaires need to be attractive.
Advantages:
 Its is less expensive since questionnaires can be distributed personally or by mail.
 It is less time-consuming since it can be distributed over wider geographical area in
a shorter time.
 It can give confidential responses since the respondents can answer the
questionnaire privately.
 The answer obtained are free from any influence coming frim the interviewer.
Limitations:
 It cannot be accomplished by illiterates.
 It has a high proportion of nonresponse or nonreturn.
 It tends to give wrong information since answers cannot be corrected right away.
 It tends to give incomplete information.
 3. REGISTRATION METHOD – the respondents provide information in compliance
with certain laws, policies, rules, regulations, decrees or standard practices.
4. OTHER METHODS
4.1 OBSERVATION – gather data regarding attitudes, behavior, values and cultural
patterns of the samples under investigation.
4.2 TELEPHONE INTERVIEW – this method is employed if the questions to be
askes are brief and few.
4.3 EXPERIMENTS – this method is applied to collect or gather data if the
investigator wants to control the factors affecting the variable being studied.

References: https://support.minitab.com/en-us/minitab-express/1/help-and-how-to/basic-
statistics/inference/supporting-topics/basics/what-are-inferential-statistics/

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/population.asp
https://www.statisticshowto.datasciencecentral.com/sample/

https://medium.com/@john_marsh7/10-awesome-reasons-why-statistics-are-important-
96b87e283640
https://www.questionpro.com/blog/ratio-scale/amp
https://www.thoughtco.com/purposive-sampling-3026727

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convenience_sampling
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quota_sampling