Chapter 1:Introduction to

Statistics

Introduction
In any analytical endeavor, quantitative or qualitative, a wise decision has to
be made. To come up with a sound decision, essential information or data has to be

U
collected first and plan how to deal with the evidence gathered. Hence, statistical
method has to be employed to give meaning of this information.

Modern environmental science and environmental management would be

impossible without statistics. Not only do environmental practitioners need to know
how to analyze data, they also need to be able to discern the quality of existing
analyses.

In this particular chapter, we will have arecapitulation of what statistics is and

the basic concepts of statistics before we proceed with higher statistics.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:

1. Define statistics.
2. Explain the following concepts associated to statistics:
a. Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
b. Sample and Population
c. Statistic and Parameter
3. Differentiate variable and constant.
4. Classify variables according to:
a. General Classifications
b. Functional Relationship
c. Continuity of Scale
d. Level of Measurement

5. Appreciate the importance and application of statistics in environmental

science. LESSON 1:
WHAT ISSTATISTICS?

The word statistics originates from the Latin word “status”, Italian word
“statista” and the German word “statistic”, which means political state. Before,
statistics was considered as the by product of the administrative activity of the State
such as collecting information to have an idea about the manpower and wealth of the
nation.

Nowadays, many definitions are established about statistics. One is that

statisticsis defined as the numerical information gathered in any event. It can be
also attributed to different statistical tools used in analyzing data. Meanwhile, the
American Statistical Association (ASA, 2015)definedstatisticsas the science of
learning from data, and of measuring, controlling, and communicating
uncertainty.Also, theUCI Department of Statistics (2020)defined statistics as a
science which concerned of the following processes:

Collecting Presenting Analyzing Interpreting

The process of Presentation of The activity of The process of

gathering data can be describing the making sense
numerical done through properties or of numerical
information tables behavior of the data that has
which can be (frequency data or the been collected,
done through distributions) possible presented, and
interview, and / or graphs correlation of analyzed.
questionnaire, (line graph, bar different
experiments, graph, pie quantities or
observation, graph, etc.) variables
and applying
documentary different
analysis. statistical tools.

Tate (1995) summarized the different definitions of statistics as follows:

“It’s all perfectly clear; you compute statistics (mean, median, mode, etc)
from statistics (numerical facts) by statistics (statistical method).”

Population versus Sample

Two commonly terms associated with statistics are population and sample.
When we say population, it refers to the totality of all objects under study. These
objects could be living or non – living things depending on the research type being
conducted. The numerical or descriptive measure that describes a population is
called parameter.

On the other hand, sampleisa subsetor a part that serves as the

representative of the population. Hence, it is smaller in size compared to
population.The numerical or descriptive measure that describes a sample is called
statistic. However, if there are two or more measures calculated from sample, the
measures are called statistics.

The figure below shows the difference between population and statistic.
 Population Sample

Subset

Parameter Statistic

“Parameter is to population as statistic is to sample.”

Here are some examples:

1. Population: Mangrove plants in Region VIII.

Sample :Mangroves plants in the Province of Eastern Samar.

2. Population: People living in the coastal area of the Province of Eastern Samar.
Sample:People living in the coastal area of the Municipality of Hernani, Eastern
Samar.

Areas of Statistics

Statistics is divided into two areas, namely: descriptive statistics and

inferential statistics.

STATISTICS

DESCRIPTIVE INFERENTIAL
STATISTICS STATISTICS

Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics is the initial stage of data analysis where exploration,
visualization, and summarization of data are done. This area of statistics deals with
the methods of collecting, classifying, graphing, and averaging, with the main
objective of describing a set of data without going beyond what is given by the data.
Example:This example is discussed by Scheaffer et al. (1996). A questionnaire was
distributed among the students seeking their personal information such as
age, gender, weight or height, or their opinion about a critical
environmental problem or an environmental factor which they consider
more important where they live, etc. Students can construct the two-way
table and summarize the results using the descriptive statistics. Also, they
can study the existing relationship between gender and the chosen critical
environmental problem using the descriptive analytical tool.

Inferential Statistics

This area of statistics deals with the method of analyzing a sample leading to
conclusions, inferences, or predictions about the population beyond the data being
analyzed. Thus, the task of the statistician here is not just to devise ways to give
summary description of the data but ways to test the significance of the results. In
making inference, attached is the confidence level, the measure of reliability of the
inference usually expressed in percentage. In environment, the concept of probability
is important for studying uncertainties. For example, whether it will rain or not
tomorrow can be best inferred by using probability.

LESSON 2:
VARIABLE AND CONSTANT

As the saying goes “no two things are alike” and that variability is true to all
things. As far as statistics is concerned, constant and variable are also two important
concepts that you need to learn.

The termvariable refers to any characteristic that can vary from one individual
or object to another under study. For instance, gender, height, weight, religion, and
I.Q. are some characteristics of individuals which varies from one another. Generally,
variables are classified into quantitative variable and qualitative variable.
Quantitative variables are the variables that can take on numerical values such as
age, height, weight, I.Q., and income. Meanwhile, qualitative variables are variables
that are non – numeric such as gender, religion, occupation, and educational
attainment.
 On the other hand, constant is defined as a characteristic that assume only
one value for all members of the population. For example, college level is typically a
variable if your study involves college students from first year to fourth year.
However, if your study involves only first year college students, grade level becomes
constant. Another example is the program where the first-year college students are
enrolled in is a variable. But if you involve only those first-year college students in the
College of Education, this variable rendered as a constant.

Classification of Variables

Further, variables can be classified according to functional relationship,

continuity of scale, and level of measurement.

 Independent  Continuous  Nominal

 Dependent  Discrete  Ordinal
 Interval
 Ratio

According to Functional Relationship:

1. Independent Variable. It exactly what it sounds like. It is a variable that

stands alone and isn't changed by the other variables you are trying to
measure. It also the variable that is thought to influence a dependent variable.

2. Dependent Variable.Like an independent variable, a dependent variable is

exactly what it sounds like. It is something that depends on other factors.

The relationship between the dependent and independent variable is

usually indicated by a directional arrow or path from the independent to the
dependent variables as shown in the figure below.

Independent Dependent
Variable Variable

For example, you want to see which type of fertilizer helps plants grow
fastest, so you add a different brand of fertilizer to each plant and see how tall
they grow. In this given situation, your independent variable are typesof
 fertilizers given to the plant and your dependent variables are the plant
heights.

According to Continuity of Scale:

Quantitative variables can be classified as either discrete or continuous

variables.

1. Discrete Variable. A variable which can assume only some specific values
within a given range. It can only occur in whole numbers. Data which can be
described by a discrete variable are called discrete data. For example,
number of mangrove trees, number of days, number of individuals, and
shoesize.

2. Continuous Variable. A variable which can assume each and every value
within a given range. It can occur in decimals.Data which can be described by
a continuous variable are called continuous data. For example, weight,
height, temperature,age, and distance.

According to Level of Measurement:

Measurement in statistics refers to the assigning of number or codes to the

categories of variables based on predetermined rules. There are four types of data
which can arise when measuring a variable, namely: nominal, ordinal, interval, and
ratio
Level of Measurement Example

Ratio Scale
•Weight
The highest level of measurement. It bears all •Height
the characteristics of an interval scale, in •Age
addition to that, it has a true zero point. •Temperature in K

Interval Scale
•Temperature in °C
Interval scale offers labels, order, as well as, •I.Q.
equal interval between each of its variable •Achievement
options so that we can assess not only which Scores
is higher but also “how much higher. •Attitudes

Ordinal Scale
•Socio – Economic
The numbers in this scale also serve as Status
labels of categories and can be •Salary Grade
meaningfullyranked. Hence, order is exactly •Level of Satisfaction
the purpose of this scale. •Grades

Nominal Scale
•Gender
The simplest scale of measurement where •Civil Status
numbers are used merely for labeling •Political Preference
variables into distinct categorieswith no •Nationality
specific order.
 LESSON 3:
ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

Sampling is the process of selecting samples from a population. Before

sampling is done, list of all elements in the population are prepared first. This list is
called sampling frame and the elements that constitute the population is called
sampling units.

To select the samples, the following sampling techniques may use:

Simple Random Sampling.

A simple random sample is one that is obtained by a process that gives each
sample unit the same probability of being chosen. Usually it will be desirable to
choose such a sample without replacement so that sample units are not used more
than once. This gives slightly more accurate results than sampling with replacement,
whereby individual units can appear two or more times in the sample.

Simple random sampling can be done through the lottery method (fishbowl
technique) where researcher listsall sampling units on a piece of paper and put
together in a fishbowl. After such, the researcher draws randomly from this fishbowl
until the desired number of samples is achieved.

Also, simple random sampling can befacilitated by using a table of random

numbers such as the one shown at the table in the next page. As an example of how
such a table can be used, suppose that a study area is divided into 116 quadrats as
shown in the figure below,
 A study area divided into 116 square quadrats to be used as sample units.

and it is desirable to select a simple random sample of ten of these quadrats without
replacement. To do this, first start at an arbitrary place in the table such as the
beginning of row five. The first three digits in each block of four digits can then be
considered, to give the series 698, 419, 008, 127, 106, 605, 843, 378, 462, 953, 745,
and so on. The first ten different numbers between 1 and 116 then give a simple
random sample of quadrats: 8, 106, and so on. For selecting large samples
essentially, the same process can be carried out on a computer using pseudo-
random numbers in a spreadsheet, for example.

0Table of Random Numbers

Stratified Random Sampling.

Stratified random sampling involves dividing the units in the population into
non-overlapping strata, and selecting an independent simple random sample from
each of these strata.Populations of people are often stratified by age, sex,
geographic location, political party, or other important variables. Meanwhile,
environmental samples are often stratified by land type, terrain, geography, geology,
land use, zones of contamination, and so forth.

Population of the Study Population divided into homogeneuous groupings

If samples from each stratum of the population are drawn, the resulting
sample will be representative of the population since each stratum is represented.
Drawing the samples from each stratum may be done using simple random
sampling. For example, in a pond or a lagoon where oily waste floats over water and
sediment settles to the bottom, the strata can be selected as a function of depth, and
random sampling can be done within each stratum.

The strata in a stratified scheme do not necessarily have to be obviously

different. The area may be divided into arbitrary subareas. Then a set of these are
selected randomly. Each of these units is then sampled randomly. For example, a
hazardous waste site can be divided into different regions or units. Then, the soil
samples are collected at random within each region or within randomly selected
regions. Stratification can reduce the number of samples required to characterize an
environmental system, in comparison to fully random sampling.

Systematic Random Sampling

Measurements are taken at locations and/or times according to a

predetermined pattern. For example, the area to be analyzed may divided by a grid,
and a sample taken at each point of the grid. For air pollution studies, an air sample
might be taken at fixed intervals of time, say every three hours. This approach does
not require the prior knowledge of pollutant distribution, is easy to implement, and
should produce unbiased samples. However, systematic sampling may require more
samples to be taken than some of the other methods.
Judgmental Sampling

This is a non-statistical sampling procedure. This type of sampling plan

involves selecting experimental conditions or taking environmental samples based on
professional judgment or on the conditions observed in the field. For example, you
are looking forcontamination on a property so you do a visual inspection and sample
those spots you believe appear to be contaminated based on color, odor,
surroundings, etc.This type of judgmental sampling introduces a certain degree of
bias into the measurement. For example, it would be wrong to conclude that the
average concentration at these clustered sampling points is a measure of the
concentration of the entire lake. However, it is the point which best characterizes the
content of the waste stream. In many instances, this may be the method of choice,
especially when purpose of the analysis is simply to identify the pollutants present.
Judgmental sampling usually requires fewer samples than statistical methods, but
the analyst needs to be aware of the limitations of the samples collected by this
method.

Chapter Exercises

Exercise 1: Crossword Puzzle

Directions: Complete the crossword by filling in a word that fits each clue. Tell
something about each word.

15

14 13

16
17

12 10

1 3 11

4 5 6

2 7
 8

Down: Cross:

1. To lay data in table or graph 2. Studying the relationship among

3. Describe the data that is being variables by analysis
analyzed 4. Systematic process of treating
5. Single numerical measure numerical data
derived from sample 7. Totality of observations
6. Percentage of a whole. 8. Explain the meaning of data
9. Quantity derived from 11. Demand higher degree of critical
population. judgement
10. Gathering 12. Body of knowledge
13. Inference or generalization 14. Main purpose of descriptive
15. Way of presenting data. statistics
16. Way gathering data.
17. Reliability

Exercise 2: Identification
Directions: Answer the following practice exercises as instructed.

.1. The paired pictures below illustrate the difference between a variable and
aconstant. Which of these pictures illustrate variable and constant? Why?
a.

Source: watchandlearn.scholastic.com Source: alibaba.com

b.

Source: pinterest.ph Source: jooinn.com

2. For each given research questions, identify the variables and classify as either
dependent or independent.
a. Is there a significant difference on the level of practices on prevention
of coronavirus disease of college students in ESSU – Salcedo
Campus in terms of their demographic profile (age, gender, socio –
economic status)?
b. Does river water quality of Quinapondan, Eastern Samar affected by
farming practices of rice farmers?
c. Is there a significant relationship among the level of knowledge,
attitudes, and practices on Solid Waste Management ofselected
coastal Barangays in Giporlos, Eastern Samar?

3. For each variable, indicate whether it is a discrete or continuous variable.

a. Distance between adjacent sampling plots.
b. Time utilized in conductingexperiment
c. Number of books in the library
d. Number of times the letter “b” appears on a page.
e. Annual income of Company B.

4. For each variable, indicate whether it is a discrete or continuous variable.

a. Distance between adjacent sampling plots.
b. Time utilized in conducting experiment
c. Number of books in the library
d. Number of times the letter “b” appears on a page.
e. Annual income of Company B.

5. Classify each variable as quantitative or qualitative.

a. Socio – economic status.
b. Sources of information regarding COVID – 19.
c. Political preference
d. Highest level of educational attainment
e. Method of teaching science.

6. Identify the most likely scale of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, or

ratio)
a. Distance between adjacent sampling plots.
b. Gender of workers in an office
c. Socio – economic status.
d. Method of teaching science
e. Number of books in the library

Exercise 3: Where I belong?

Directions: Give three examples of variables in the field of research of your
specialization that are measured on each of the four levels of measurement. Then
each variable, identify whether the variable is qualitative or quantitative and whether
it is discrete or continuous, if applicable.

Level of Qualitative or Discrete or

Variable
Measurement Quantitative? Continuous?
1.
Nominal 2.
3.
1.
Ordinal 2.
3.
1.
Interval 2.
3.
1.
Ratio 2.
3.

Exercise 4: Fill in!

Directions: Complete the following table below by writing what is asked.

Sampling How it is
No. When to use? Example
Techniques done?
Simple Random
1.
Sampling
Systematic
2.
Random Sampling
Stratified Random
3.
Sampling
Judgmental
4.
Sampling