STATISTICS

INTRODUCTION

• Statistics can be defined as the practice of collecting, organizing,

describing, and analyzing data to draw conclusions from the data to
apply to a cause. Data must either be numeric in origin or transformed
by researchers into numbers.
• There are two main branches of statistics: descriptive and inferential.
Descriptive statistics is used to say something about a set of
information that has been collected only. Inferential statistics is used
to make predictions or comparisons about a larger group (a
population) using information gathered about a small part of that
population.
 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

• Descriptive statistics describe patterns and general trends in a data

set. In most cases, descriptive statistics are used to examine or
explore one variable at a time. However, the relationship between
two variables can also be described as with correlation and
regression.
• The first phase of data analysis involves the placing of some order on
some sort of “chaos”. Typically the data are reduced down to one or
two descriptive summaries
 FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS

• These types of distributions are a way of displaying “chaos” of

numbers in an organized manner so such questions can be answered
easily. A frequency distribution is simply a table that, at minimum,
displays how many times in a data set each response or "score" occurs.
 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

• This type of measurements gives a single description of the average or

"typical" score in a data distribution. These measures attempt to
quantify what we mean when we think of as the "average" score in a
data set. The concept is extremely important and we encounter it
frequently in daily life.
• For example, we often want to know before purchasing a car its
average distance per liter of petrol. Or before accepting a job, you
might want to know what a typical salary is for people in that position
so you will know whether or not you are going to be paid what you
are worth.
 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

• 1. Median: It is the middle number of a set of numbers arranged in

numerical order. If the number of values in a set is even, then the
median is the sum of the two middle values, divided by 2.
• 2. Mode: the mode is the most frequent value in a set. A set can have
more than one mode; if it has two, it is said to be bimodal. The mode is
useful when the members of a set are very different, for example the
comparison of grades of a test (A, B, C, D, E).
• 3. Mean: the mean is the sum of all the values in a set, divided by the
number of values. The mean of a whole population is usually denoted
by µ, while the mean of a sample is usually denoted by 𝑥ҧ .
 MEASURES OF VARIABILITY

• The average score in a distribution is important in many research

contexts. So too is another set of statistics that quantify how variable or
how dispersed the scores in a set of data tend to be. Sometimes
variability in scores is the central issue in a research question.
Variability is a quantitative concept, so none of this applies to
distributions of qualitative data.
• 1. Range: the range is the difference between the largest and smallest
values of a set, but is not very useful because it depends on the
extreme values, which may be distorted.
 MEASURES OF VARIABILITY

• 2. Variance: the variance is a measure of how items are dispersed

about their mean. The variance of a whole population is given by the
σ 𝑥−𝜇 2
equation: 𝜎 2 = . The variance of a sample is calculated
𝑁
2 σ 𝑥−𝑥ҧ 2
differently: 𝑠 = 𝑛−1

• 3. Standard deviation: The standard deviation “σ” (or “s” for a

sample) is the square root of the variance.
• 4. Relative variability: The relative variability of a set is its standard
deviation divided by its mean. The relative variability is useful for
comparing several variances.
 INFERENTIAL STATISTICS

• Inferential statistics are used to judge the meaning of data. Inferential

statistics assess how likely it is that group differences or correlations
would exist in the population rather than occurring only due to
variables associated with the chosen sample.
• Two basic uses of inferential statistics are possible:
• Confidence intervals, which is also referred to as Interval estimation.
• Hypothesis testing, which is also referred to as Point Estimation.
 THE HYPOTHESIS TESTING

• Often times we want to determine whether a claim is true or false.

Such a claim is called a hypothesis. It is important to clear up some
terms such as:
1. Null hypothesis: a specific hypothesis to be tested in an experiment.
The null hypothesis is usually labeled Ho.
2. Alternative hypothesis: a hypothesis that is different from the null
hypothesis, which we usually want to show that is true (thereby showing
that the null hypothesis is false). The alternative hypothesis is usually
labeled Ha.
 THE HYPOTHESIS TESTING
• The null hypothesis is tested through the following procedure:
• Determine the null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis.
• Pick an appropriate sample.
• Use measurements from the sample to determine the likelihood of the null
hypothesis.
• Other important concepts when studying hypothesis test are:
• Type 1 Error: If the null hypothesis is true but the sample mean is such
that the null hypothesis is rejected, a Type I error occurs. The probability
that such an error will occur is the risk.
• Type 2 Error: If the null hypothesis is false but the sample mean is such
that the null hypothesis cannot be rejected, a Type II error occurs. The
probability that such an error will occur is called the risk.
 CONFIDENCE INTERVALS
• Interval estimation is used when we wish to be fairly certain that the
true population value is contained within that interval. When we
attach a probability statement to an estimated interval, we obtain a
confidence interval.
• Confidence is defined as 1 - alpha (1 minus the significance level).
Thus, when we construct a 95% confidence interval, we are saying
that we are 95% certain that the true population mean is covered by
the interval - consequently, of course, we have a 5% chance of being
wrong.
• Any statistic that can be evaluated in a test of significance
("hypothesis testing") can be used in constructing a confidence
interval.