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Statistics - Probability

This document provides an introduction to statistics and probability. It discusses the key concepts of populations, samples, and statistical inference in making conclusions about a population based on a sample. It also describes different types of data - qualitative and quantitative - and some common ways to summarize each, such as using classifications for qualitative data and graphical/numerical methods like histograms for quantitative data. The overall goal is for readers to understand basic statistics terminology and apply statistical techniques in decision making.

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Sucher Eolas
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38 views1 page

Statistics - Probability

This document provides an introduction to statistics and probability. It discusses the key concepts of populations, samples, and statistical inference in making conclusions about a population based on a sample. It also describes different types of data - qualitative and quantitative - and some common ways to summarize each, such as using classifications for qualitative data and graphical/numerical methods like histograms for quantitative data. The overall goal is for readers to understand basic statistics terminology and apply statistical techniques in decision making.

Uploaded by

Sucher Eolas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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AACE INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS & PROBABILITY

Chapter 29

Statistics & Probability

Dr. Elizabeth Y. Chen and Mark T. Chen, PE CCE

INTRODUCTION DESCRIBING DATA

Statistics is the field of study where data are collected for the In general, data can be classified as either qualitative or quan-
purpose of drawing conclusions and making inferences. titative.
Descriptive statistics is the summarization and description of
data, and inferential statistics is the estimation, prediction, Qualitative Data
and/or generalization about the population based on the Qualitative data can be categorized or summarized.
data from a sample
Example:
Four elements are essential to inferential statistical problems: As of September 2, 2003, the total membership of AACE
International is 4,307. This can be classified according to
1. Population is the collection of all elements of interest to the member types:
decision-maker. The size of the population is usually
denoted by N. Very often, the population is so large that a members and associates 4,036
complete census is out of the question. Sometimes, not students 147
even a small population can be examined entirely because honorary 124
it may be destructive or prohibitively expensive to obtain total 4,307
the data. Under these situations, we draw inferences based
upon a part of the population (called a sample). Or according to geographical distribution:
2. Sample is a subset of data randomly selected from a
population. the size of a sample is usually denoted by n. U.S. 3,509
3. Statistical inference is an estimation, prediction or gen- Canada 480
eralization about the population based on the informa- Caribbean 28
tion from the sample. Asia 158
4. Reliability is the measurement of the “goodness” of the Africa 29
inference. Europe 48
Australia 55
Only the first two elements will be discussed in this chapter. total 4,307
Numerical characteristics of a population are called parame-
ters of the population. The corresponding numerical charac- Quantitative Data
teristics calculated from a sample are called sample statistics. The description of quantitative data is more complex. It can
be described graphically or numerically.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Some graphic methods for describing quantitative data


include the following:
After completing this chapter, readers should be able to
• frequency distribution and relative frequency (f/n),
• understand basic definitions and terminologies in prob- • stem and leaf plots, and
ability and statistics, and • histogram.
• apply statistical techniques in decision making.

29.1

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