Chapter 2: Mathematics as a Tool (Part I)

Overview

The field of statistics is the science of learning from data. Statistical knowledge helps
you use the proper methods to collect the data, employ analyses, and effectively present the
results. Statistics is a crucial process behind how we make discoveries in science, make
decisions based on data, and make predictions. Statistics allows you to understand a subject
much more deeply.

In performing all these processes involved, the application of statistical tools and techniques
is necessary. Statistical tools derived from mathematics are useful in processing and
managing numerical data in order to describe a phenomenon and predict values.

General Objectives:

This chapter emphasize the use of different statistical tools to process and manage
numerical data.

Lesson 1: Data Management

Data come in different forms and from different sources. You read them in a daily
newspaper, hear them over the radio, see them on television, and find them on the internet.
We have great quantities of data related to sports, business, education, traffic, law
enforcement, and hundreds of some other human activities. These vast data are made
available to assist us in our decision-making. If these data are not properly managed and
analyzed, everything will be meaningless and void or lead us to false and unreliable
information.

Specific objectives:

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

1. Organize and present data in forms that are both meaningful and useful to decision
makers;
2. Use a variety of statistical tools to process and manage numerical data;
3. Use the methods of linear regression and correlation to predict the value of a variable
given certain conditions; and
4. Advocate the use of statistical data in making important decisions.

I. Basic Statistical Concepts

The study of statistics can be organized in different ways. One way is to subdivided statistics
into two branches: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. To understand the difference
between the two, definitions of population and sample are helpful.

A population generally consists of the totality of the observations, individuals, or objects in

which the investigator is interested. One should not start collecting data without carefully
defining the population to be considered in the study. It should be in agreement with the
objective, and its statistical elements should be properly identified. A sample is a portion of a
population. This is a small but representative cross section of the population. It is used to give
inferences on the population from which it was extracted.

If a researcher is using data gathered on a group to describe or reach conclusions about that
same group, the statistics are called descriptive statistics. For example, if an instructor
produces statistics to summarize a class’ examination performance and uses those statistics
to reach conclusions about that class only, the statistics are descriptive. The instructor can
use these statistics to discuss class average or talk about the range of class scores.
If a researcher gathers data from a sample and uses the statistics generated to reach
conclusions about the population from which the sample was drawn, it is called inferential
statistics. For example, a soft drink company asked 500 students from a certain university
about the number of bottles of soft drink they consumed in a week and infer from the data the
number of bottles of soft drink consumed by all 50,000 students in the campus.

Statistician and researchers are interested in particular variables of a sample or population. A

variable is a characteristic of interest about an object under investigation that can take on
different possible outcomes, such as age, color, height, weight, and religious preference.

There are basically two kinds of variables:

1. Qualitative variables are variables that can be placed into distinct categories, according to
some characteristic or attribute. For example, if subjects are classified according to sex (male
or female), then the variable gender is qualitative. Some other examples of qualitative
variables are religious preference and geographic location.

2. Quantitative variables are numerical and can be ordered or ranked. For example, the
variable age is numerical, and people can be ranked according to their ages. Some other
examples of quantitative variables are height, weight, and body temperature.

Quantitative variables can be further classified into two groups: discrete and continuous.

Discrete variables can be assigned values such as 0, 1, 2, an 3 and are said to be countable.
The data are obtained by means of counting. Example of discrete variables are the number of
children in a family and the number of calls received by a telephone operator each day for a
month. Continuous variables, on the other hand, can assume an infinite number of values in
an interval between any two specific values. The data for this variable are obtained by means
of direct or indirect measuring. Temperature, for example, is a continuous variable, since the
variable can assume an infinite number of values between any two given temperatures.
The bulk of data gathered every day should not be analyzed the same way statistically
because the values are represented differently. For this reason, data are categorized
according to four levels of data measurement:

1. Nominal level – is the lowest level of data measurement. The numbers representing
nominal data are used only for identification of classification. These numbers may serve as
labels and have no meaning attached to their magnitude. Examples are ID number of
students, numbers on the uniform jerseys of basketball players, and plate numbers of
vehicles.

2. Ordinal level – is higher that the nominal level. The numbers are used not only to classify
items but also to reflect some rank or order of the individuals or objects. It indicates that
objects in one category are not only different from those in the other categories of the variable,
but they may also be ranked as either higher or lower. Bigger or smaller, better or worse than
those in the other categories. Examples are ranks given to the winners in a singing contest,
hotel classifications, and military ranks.

3. Interval level – is second to the highest of data measurement. The measurements have all
the properties of ordinal data; in addition, the distance between consecutive numbers have
meaning. The zero point value on this level is arbitrary; that is, zero is just another point on the
scale relative to a certain concept and does not mean the absence of the phenomenon.
Examples are temperature reading in Celsius scale, scores in intelligence tests, and scholastic
grades of students.

4. Ratio level – is the highest level of data management. It has the same properties as
interval level but the zero point value of this level is absolute; that is, the zero value represents
the absence of the characteristic being considered. Examples are height, weight, time, and
volume.

Data that are collected must be organized and presented effectively for analysis and
interpretation. They can be presented in different forms as follows:

1. Textual presentation – presents data in a paragraph form which combines text and
figures. Examples are data in business, finance, economics, or industries which are used to
make emphasis or to make comparisons, contrasts, syntheses, generalizations, or findings.

2. Tabular presentation – presents data in tables. Tabulation is a process of summarizing

classified and arranging them in table. It gives a more precise, systematic, and orderly
presentation of data in rows and columns. It makes comparison of figures easy and
comprehensible. The table below displays the Philippine population by region based on the
2010 and 2015 censuses.

Table 1. Population Enumerated in 2010 & 2015

REGION 2010 2015
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION 92,337,852 100,981,437
CORDILLERA ADMINISTRATIVE 11,855,975 12,877,253
REGION
REGION I – ILOCOS 1,616,867 1,722,006
REGION II – CAGAYAN VALLEY 3,229,163 3,451,410
REGION III – CENTRAL LUZON 10,137,737 11,218,177
REGION IV – A – CALABARZON 12,609,803 14,414,774
MIMAROPA REGION 1 2,744,671 2,963,360
REGION V – BICOL 5,420,411 5,796,989
REGION VI – WESTERN VISAYAS 4,194,579 4,477,247
REGION VII – CENTRAL VISAYAS 5,513,514 6,041,903
NEGROS ISLAND REGION 2 4,194,525 4,414,131
REGION VIII – EASTERN VISAYAS 4,101,322 4,440,150
REGION IX – ZAMBOANGA PENINSULA 3,407,353 3,629,783
REGION X – NORTHERN MINDANAO 4,297,323 4,689,302
REGION XI – DAVAO 4,468,563 4,893,318
REGION XII – SOCCSKSARGEN 4,109,571 4,545,276
REGION XIII – CARAGA 2,429,224 2,596,709
ARMM 3,256,140 3,781,387
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority
3. Graphical presentation – is an effective method of presenting statistical results and can
present clear pictures of the data. There are several kinds of graphs, and some of these are as
follows:

Bar Graph consists of bar either vertically or horizontally and usually

constructed for comparative purposes. The lengths of the bars represent
the frequencies or magnitudes of the quantities being compared.

Line Graph shows the relationship between two or more sets

of quantities. It may show the relationship between two variables, and
it is best used to establish trends.
 Pie Chart is used to represent quantities that make up a
whole. It is a circular diagram cut into subdivisions. The size of each
section indicates the proportion of each component part of the whole.
The pie chart can be constructed using percent or the actual figures.
The slices of the pie must be drawn in proportion to the different
values of the items.

Data analysis techniques enabling to meaningfully describe data with numerical or in graphic
form. This technique includes the following: