Ahram Canidian University (ACU) Dr.

Ramy Aldallal
Statistics (Lec 1)
Introduction to statistics
Definition

Is the science of collecting, analyzing, presenting and interpreting

numerical data for the purposes of assisting in making decision?

Data Collection Methods

The most frequently used method is through surveys. The following

are considered some of the most useful and commonly used survey
methods:

 Telephone Surveys: are inexpensive and efficient tools of data

collection. The disadvantages of telephone surveys are that people
may not be home when the call comes and others refuse to respond to
survey or cannot stat on the line for very long. So, this type of survey
must be short.

 Mailed Questionnaires: the most frequently used method is a

written survey in the form of mail questionnaire. It is the least
expensive means of data collection. The disadvantages are the low
number of respondents and inappropriate responses to questions.

 Personal interview surveys: can be "structured" when the

questions are scripted or "unstructured" when the interview starts with
one or more broadly stated questions. The advantage is that it helps in
obtaining in-depth responses to questions.

Descriptive statistics & Inferential statistics

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Ahram Canidian University (ACU) Dr. Ramy Aldallal
Statistics (Lec 1)
 Descriptive statistics: It consists of methods for organizing,
displaying and describing data by using tables, graphs and
summary measures.

 Inferential statistics: It consists of methods that use sample

results to help make decisions or predictions about a
population.

Basic Statistical concepts and terms

Population: Consists of all elements, individuals, items or objects

whose characteristics are being studied.

Sample: It is a portion of the population selected for study.

Example:
To test the quality of its daily production, MEC can randomly select 10
TV sets and inspect them. Then, the 10 TV sets are the sample of the
population composed of 132 TV sets.

Element

It is a specific subject or object (for example, a person, firm,

item, state or country) about which the information is collected.

Variable

A variable is a characteristic under study that assumes different

values for different elements.

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Ahram Canidian University (ACU) Dr. Ramy Aldallal
Statistics (Lec 1)
Examples:
Incomes of households, number T.V sets per households, height and
weight of individuals…….etc.

Observation or measurement
The value of a variable for an element is called an observation or
measurement, e.g. Aly is 60 years old.
The variable is age and the observation is 60 years.
Data Set
A data set is a collection of observations on one or more variables.
Statistical data is often classified according to the number of variables
being studied.

Univariate data. When we conduct a study that looks at only one
variable, we say that we are working with univariate data. Suppose,
for example, that we conducted a survey to estimate the average
weight of high school students. Since we are only working with one
variable (weight), we would be working with univariate data.

Bivariate data. When we conduct a study that examines the
relationship between two variables, we are working with bivariate
data. Suppose we conducted a study to see if there were a relationship
between the height and weight of high school students. Since we are
working with two variables (height and weight), we would be working
with bivariate data.

Types of variables
Quantitative Variable

A variable that can be measures numerically is called quantitative

variable. It results from counting a variable (No. of scored baskets) or
physically measure a variable (time to complete a task). Quantitative
variable can be analyzed using Discrete or Continuous variables.

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Ahram Canidian University (ACU) Dr. Ramy Aldallal
Statistics (Lec 1)
 Discrete variable: Whose values are countable and can be
assigned values such as 0, 1, 2, …. e.g., number of men, horses
and houses.
 Continuous variable: A variable that may assume all numerical
values between any two specific values. e.g., age, weight, height
and temperature.

Some examples will clarify the difference between discrete and

continuous variables.
 The weight of a fire fighter would be an example of a continuous
variable.
 Suppose we flip a coin and count the number of heads.

Qualitative or categorical variables

A variable that cannot assume a numerical value but can be classified into
two or more nonnumeric categories is called a qualitative variable.
Levels of Measurement

 Nominal

Classifies data into mutually exclusive categories where no

ranking is imposed on the data.

Example: Marital Status, faculty departments.

 Ordinal

When it is possible to rank or order all the categories according to

some criterion.

Example: educational level, age categories.

 Interval

An ordered scale where the differences between numerical values

are meaningful.

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Ahram Canidian University (ACU) Dr. Ramy Aldallal
Statistics (Lec 1)
Example: temperature, calendar time.

 Ratio

Has all the characteristics of interval level, but in addition the 0

point (absolute zero) is meaningful and the ratio between two
numerical values (numbers) is meaningful.

Example: weight, height.

The difference between interval and ratio measurements involves the

definition of a true zero and the ratio between values.

TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THIS LESSON

Problem 1

Indicate which of the following examples refer to a population and

which refer to a sample.
(1) A group of five employees selected from a company to
represent it at a conference.
(2) Total items produced on a machine during one week.
(3) Yearly expenditure on clothes for 50 persons

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Ahram Canidian University (ACU) Dr. Ramy Aldallal
Statistics (Lec 1)
(4) Number of houses sold by all 10 employees of a real estate
agency.
(5) Ages of CEOs of all companies in New York City.
(6) Salaries of all employees of a bank.
Problem 2

Indicate which of the following variables are quantitative and

which are qualitative:

a. Color of cars
b. Marital status

c. Number of typing errors in a document

d. Time needed to complete a task

Problem 3
Which of the following variables are discrete and which are
continuous:
a. Exam scores
b. Temperature
c. Gender
d. Stock prices
Summation Notations
The word sum or total is referred to in statistics by the Latin
letter  = Sigma
Example (1):
The weights of seven packages mailed by a company are 7, 9 6, 12,
10, 9 and 8 pounds. One way of presenting this data is to give them
algebraic symbols as follows:
7 9 6 12 10 9 8
X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7

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Ahram Canidian University (ACU) Dr. Ramy Aldallal
Statistics (Lec 1)
Find:
a- x b- (x – 4) c- (x)2 d- x2
Solution
a. x = 7 + 9 + 6 + 12 + 10 + 9 + 8 = 61
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A different way is to write it:  xi
i 1

b. (x–4) = (7–4) + (9–4) + (6–4)+ (12–4) + (10–4) +

(9–4) + (8–4)
= 3 + 5 + 2 + 8 + 6 + 5 + 4 = 33

Prove that: (x–4) = x – n.4

c. ( x i ) 2 = 61. 61 = 3721
d. x2 = 49 + 81 + 36 + 144 + 100 + 81 + 64 = 555.

Example (2):
The following table lists five pairs of x and y values:
x 4 18 25 9 12
y 12 5 14 7 12

Compute:
a)  x , b)  y ; c)  xy , d)  y ,  ( x  3) 2 y .
2

Solution
x y xy y2 ( x  3) 2 ( x  3) 2 y

4 12 48 144 1 12

18 5 90 25 225 1125

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Ahram Canidian University (ACU) Dr. Ramy Aldallal
Statistics (Lec 1)
25 14 350 196 484 6776

9 7 63 49 36 252

12 12 144 144 81 972

 x  68  y  50  xy  695  y2  558   9137

TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THIS LESSON

Problem 2

The following table lists five pairs of m and f values.

m 3 16 11 9 20
f 7 32 17 12 34

Compute the value of each of the following:

 m,  mf ,  f 2 ,  m 2 f and  (m  5) 2 f .