Lesson 1

Basic Statistical Concepts

INTRODUCTION:

This lesson focuses on the basic concepts of statistics including levels of

measurement. In measurement, you will be learning the rules in assigning
numbers or symbols to the levels of our variables. Learning the different levels of
measurement will help you decide which statistical tool is appropriate in
analyzing the data.

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Define the basic concepts of statistics;
2. Give examples of the different levels of measurement;
3. Differentiate:
a. Descriptive vs. inferential statistics
b. Data vs. variable
c. Population vs. sample
d. Parameter vs. statistics

Basic Concepts in Statistics

The word statistics is derived from the Greek word statistiks (Mariappan,
2019). The early use of statistics can be traced from the administration of the
state regarding the population and property usually for war and finance
purposes. Statistics is defined as the science of collection, organization,
presentation and analysis of data. Thus, one can draw conclusion and make
reasonable decision based on the analysis of that data.

Areas of Statistics
There are two broad areas of statistics- the descriptive and inferential.
Descriptive statistics can be defined as a set of methods involving the
collection, presentation and summarization by means of numerical descriptions.
Inferential statistics, on the other hand, is a set of methods that allow
estimation or testing of the characteristics of the population based only from the
sample drawn from that population.
Examples of Descriptive Statistics
1. The weekly mean sales of TV sets in a certain stores.
2. Alcohol is the most frequent disinfectant against COVID – 19.
3. At least 5% discount is deducted on the online sale.
4. The rice importation was doubled last year compare to the rice
importation two years ago.
5. The median age of the College of Teacher Education students is 25 years
old.
Examples of Inferential Statistics
1. Salary predicts the life satisfaction of businessmen in Antique.
2. Productivity of crops is a factor in determining the choice of students to
go into farming.
3. Awareness of COVID – 19 symptoms is directly related to resiliency of the
residents living in Cebu City.
4. Number of received calls predicts the number of orders in a certain flower
shop.

Definition of terms
➢ Data is used to describe a collection of natural phenomena
descriptors, including the result of experience, observation or
experiment. These could be numbers, words or images that are
used as measurement or result from observations of a set of
variables. Data can be drawn from the population or sample.

➢ Population is the entirety of individuals or objects of interest.

➢ Sample is a portion or part of the population of interest.

➢ The measures of the population are called parameters and the

measures of the sample are called statistics or estimates.
For example, during the 2020 census the mean age of
Antiqueños represents the parameter however if the researcher
took sample from the entire population of Antiqueños and then
compute the mean age, the value is called estimate. In other
words, the value taken from the population is called the parameter
while the value taken from the sample is called statistic.

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 ➢ Variable is the characteristics of an individual or object that can
be measured. A variable must vary or have different values in the
study.
For example, sex is a variable because it can have two
values, male and female. However, if you are studying the quality
of life of policemen in certain area and they are all male, sex
cannot be considered as a variable in that study.

Scale of Measurement
There are four (4) scales of measurement – nominal, ordinal, interval and
ratio.
1. Nominal scale is a scale of measurement in which objects or individuals
are assigned into distinct categories and have no numerical properties.
This is the lowest scale.
For examples, sex (male, female), marital status (single, married),
highest educational attainment (elementary, secondary, or college
graduate) and bath soap brand (Safeguard, Palmolive, Zest, Bioderm,
etc.) are nominal in nature. They do not possess quantitative properties.

2. Ordinal scale has the property of a nominal scale in which categories

can be ranked. Ordinal data are sometimes referred to as ranked data and
they can be arranged in order either descending or ascending. Even the
data are ranked; their distances may not be equal.
For example, the top three performing students in a class are
ranked as first, second and third. The difference of scores between the
first and the second may not be equal to the difference between the
scores of the second and third. Another example of ranked data are
academic rank (Instructor I, II, III, Asst. Instructor I, II, III, etc.) and
shirt size (small, medium, large).

3. Interval scale is a scale of measurement in which objects or individuals

have the characteristics of ordinal scale. In addition, the difference
between the values is a constant size. Another property of an interval
scale measurement is that there is no absolute zero. Meaning, zero does
not denote the absence of quantity being measured.
For example, temperature is an interval scale. The difference
between 790C and 800C is equal to the difference between 800C and 810C.
Furthermore, 00C does not denote absence of temperature.
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 4. Ratio scale is a scale of measurement in which objects or individuals
have all the characteristics of interval scale but it has an absolute zero
value. In ratio scale, zero represents nothing. Zero means absence of the
quantity being measured.
For example, weight, length, number of students inside the
classroom or price of commodities.

Type of Variables
There are two types of variables – qualitative and quantitative.
➢ Qualitative Variables are variables that can be classified into
categories, according to characteristics or attributes.
For example, sex is a qualitative variable because you can
classify as either male or female. Another example is the color of
the eyes (blue, brown, etc).
➢ Quantitative variables are variables that are numerical or you
can possibly rank them.
The examples of quantitative variables are age, number of
deliveries, amount of sugar, etc. Quantitative variables can further
be classified discrete or continuous.
• Discrete variables assume only certain values and
are countable.
For example, number of active COVID-19 cases in the
province, number of friends you have, number of
Facebook likes and etc.
• Continuous variables are variables that can
assume any values between two values.
For example, weight of cargo vessels, time consumed
in reading a novel and others.

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