Statistics

The term statistics came from the Latin phrase ratio status which means study of practical politics or the statesmans art.
In the middle of 18th century, the term statistik was used, a German term defined as the political science of several countries. From statistik it became statistics defined as a statement in figures and facts of the present condition of a state.

Meaning of Statistics
Statistics as a science
Singular sense

The word statistics can be viewed in two contexts:

Statistics as actual number derived from the data

Plural sense

Statistics (in singular sense)

A body of knowledge concerned with the collection, organization, presentation, analysis and interpretation of data. Example:
To evaluate the performance of ASU students, the final grade of the students were collected, summarized and presented for analysis and interpretation.

Statistics (in plural sense)

Collection of facts and figures
Processed data

Example:
Total number of senior citizens enjoying senior citizens benefits Number of registered SMS students last semester Different occupation held by Filipinos

Role of Statistics in Decision Making

Statistics provides tools in
Designing experiments or surveys Analyzing data
What options to choose? How do we make a choice? Why choose such option?

Statistics can help us answer questions like

Statistics is applicable in various fields such as

Agriculture, Forestry Economics, Social Sciences Medicine, Biology Education Engineering

Some applications of Statistics

Comparing the effects of five kinds of fertilizers on the yield of a particular variety of corn Determining the income distribution of ASU students under Provincial Scholarship Comparing the effectiveness of two diet programs Prediction of daily temperatures Evaluation of student performance

Two broad categories of Statistics

Descriptive Statistics
Used to describe a mass of data in a clear, concise and informative way Deals with the methods of organizing, summarizing, and presenting data

Inferential Statistics
Concerned with making generalizations about the characteristics of a larger set where only part is examined

Example of Descriptive Statistics

Example of Inferential Statistics

Nature of Statistical Data

2 kinds of statistical data:
Numerical data

Obtained by measuring or counting Also referred to as quantitative data Classified as:

Nominal data Ordinal data Interval data Ratio data

Categorical data

Result from observations Also referred to as qualitative data Often coded by assigning number to the different categories, thus converting the categorical data in numerical data

Nominal

Data collected are labels, names or categories Frequencies or counts of observations belonging to the same category can be obtained Examples: gender, occupation, zip code

Ordinal

Data collected are labels with implied ordering The difference between two labels is meaningless Examples: job position performance rating as in

excellent, above average, average, below average or poor

Interval

Data can be ordered or ranked The difference between two data values is meaningful Data at this level may lack an absolute zero point Examples: temperature, IQ, grade

Ratio

Data have all the properties of the interval scale The number zero indicates the absence of the characteristic being measured It is the highest level of measurement Examples: volume of helium in a balloon, number of minutes it took for a runner to reach the finish line

Universe

A collection or set of all individuals or entities whose characteristics are to be studied Answers the question Who or What entities do you want to study? Types of Universe
Finite
When the elements of the universe can be counted for a given time period Examples:
Set of all books in the library Set of all registered voters in Banga

Infinite

When the number of elements of the universe is unlimited

Set of all sand particles in shoreline of Boracay Island Set of all trees and plants in Mt. Makiling

Variable

Attribute or characteristics of interest measurable on each and every unit of the universe Answers the question What do you want to know about the entities? Types of Variable
Qualitative
Assumes values that are not numerical but can be categorized Categories may be identified by either non-numerical descriptions or by numeric codes Examples: gender, marital status, religious affiliation
Indicates the quantity or amount of a characteristic Data are always numeric Can be discrete or continuous Examples: number of kernels in a corn ear, corn ear diameter, weight of a student

Quantitative

Types of Quantitative Variables

Discrete
Variable with a finite or countable number of possible values Examples: age as of last birthday, household size, number of absences in STAT 1

Continuous
Variable that assumes any value in a given interval Examples: weight, head circumference of a student

Population
Set of all possible values of the variable
Universe U1 U2 U3 . . . Un Variable Y Population Y1 Y2 Y3 . . . Yn

Sample
A subset of the population or universe

Sample

Universe/Population

Example
Suppose we are interested in the average height of all ASU students enrolled this semester.
Universe: Set of all ASU students enrolled this semester Variable: X = height of an ASU student enrolled this semester Population: Set consisting of the heights of all ASU students enrolled this semester which ranged from 120 X : 120cm X 210cm to 210 cm; or,

Data

Facts and figures that are collected, presented and analyzed Can be numeric or non-numeric Types of data:
Primary Data which were acquired directly from the source Secondary
Example: heights (in cm) of STAT 1 students taken during a laboratory exercise using a tape measure Data which were not acquired directly from the source Example: data on the total number of hills planted to coconut per barangay in the province of Aklan taken from the publication of Bureau of Agricultural Statistics

Objective method
Collects data either by measurement, counting or by observation Requires the use of a measuring or counting instrument Example: measuring the weights of 10-day old chicks with the use of weighing scale

Subjective method

The information is provided by identified respondents The instrument used to gather data may take the form of a questionnaire The researcher collects data by
Conducting personal interviews either face-to-face or through telephones Gathering responses using mailed questionnaires

Use of existing records

Uses data which have been previously collected by another person or institution fro some other purposes Results to secondary data

Methods of Presenting Data

Textual
A narrative form of describing the characteristics of the universe or population based on the data collected and organized by giving highlights Applicable only when presenting few information Example:
The total number of senior citizens (60 years old and over) based on the 2000 Census of Population and Housing was 4.6 million, accounting for 5.97 percent of the 2000 Philippine population.

 Tabular
Data are organized into classes or categories by rows and/or columns and appropriate pieces of information are found in the cells of the table Relatively more information can be presented and trends are easily seen Some details are lost when data are summarized in tabular form

 Example

Table heading Caption

Stubs or classes

Body

Graphical
Provides the needs to easily visualize the distributional properties of the data Most efficient way of presenting trends Some details are lost in using this type of presentation

 Examples