Thus, a teacher who gives a class, of say, 35 students,
an exam is interested in the descriptive statistics to assess the performance of the class. What was the class average, the median grade, the standard deviation, etc.? The teacher is not interested in making any inferences to some larger population. TYPES OF STATISTICS
TYPES OF STATISTICS
Example of inferential statistics from quality control:
GE manufactures LED bulbs and wants to know how many are defective. Suppose one million bulbs a year are produced in its new plant in Staten Island. The company might sample, say, 500 bulbs to estimate the proportion of defectives. N = 1,000,000 and n = 500 If 5 out of 500 bulbs tested are defective, the sample proportion of defectives will be 1% (5/500). This statistic may be used to estimate the true proportion of defective bulbs (the population proportion). In this case, the sample proportion is used to make inferences about the population proportion.
6 Key Terms Data: Any observations that have been collected
8 Key Terms Population: A population consists of all elements – individuals, items, or objects – whose characteristics are being studied. The population that is being studied is also called the target population. Or The entire category under consideration. Or the complete set of elements being studied. The population size is usually indicated by a capital N. Examples: every lawyer in the United States; all single women in the United States. 9 Key Terms Sample. A portion of the population selected for study is referred to as a sample. or That portion of the population that is available, or to be made available, for analysis. A good sample is representative of the population. We will learn about probability samples and how they provide assurance that a sample is indeed representative. The sample size is shown as lower case n. If your company manufactures one million laptops, they might take a sample of say, 500, of them to test quality. The population size is N = 1,000,000 and the sample size is n= 500.
Census: A survey that includes every member of the population is called
a census. The technique of collecting information from a portion of the population is called a sample survey. Figure 1.1 Population and Sample
a. Opinions on a certain issue obtained from all adults living in a city.
b. The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline on a given day
at each of 28 gas stations in the Miami, Florida, metropolitan area.
c. Credit card debts of 100 families selected from a given city.
d. The percentage of all U.S. registered voters in each state who
voted in the 2012 Presidential election.
e. The number of left-handed students in each of 50 classes selected
from a given university. Key Terms
Introduction 13 POPULATION VERSUS SAMPLE A sample that represents the characteristics of the population as closely as possible is called a representative sample. A sample drawn in such a way that each element of the population has a chance of being selected is called a random sample. If all samples of the same size selected from a population have the same chance of being selected, we call it simple random sampling. Such a sample is called a simple random sample. Sample with replacement Sample without replacement BASIC TERMS An element or member of a sample or population is a specific subject or object (for example, a person, firm, item, state, or country) about which the information is collected. A variable is a characteristic under study that assumes different values for different elements. In contrast to a variable, the value of a constant is fixed. The value of a variable for an element is called an observation or measurement. A data set is a collection of observations on one or more variables. Table 1.1 Charitable Givings of Six Retailers in 2007
a. What is the variable for this data set? b. How many observations are in this data set? c. How many elements does this data set contain? TYPES OF VARIABLES Quantitative Variables Discrete Variables Continuous Variables
are countable is called a discrete variable. In other words, a discrete variable can assume only certain values with no intermediate values.
Example: How many courses have you
taken at this College? ____ Quantitative Variables Continuous variables A variable that can assume any numerical value over a certain interval or intervals is called a continuous variable. Example: How much do you weigh? ____
One way to determine whether data is continuous, is
to ask yourself whether you can add several decimal places to the answer. For example, you may weigh 150 pounds but in
actuality may weigh 150.23568924567 pounds.
On the other hand, if you have 2 children, you do not have 2.3217638 children. Figure 1.2 Types of Variables
03:50 PM 25 Measurement Scales Ordinal • It reports the ranking and ordering of the data without actually establishing the degree of variation between them. • “Ordinal” is easy to remember because is sounds like “order” and that’s the key to remember with “ordinal scales”–it is the order that matters, but that’s all you really get from these.
03:50 PM 26 Measurement Scales Interval • Interval scales are numeric scales in which we know both the order and the exact differences between the values. • Here’s the problem with interval scales: they don’t have a “true zero.” • For example, there is no such thing as “no temperature,” at least not with Celsius.
03:50 PM 27 Measurement Scales Ratio • Ratio scale allows any researcher to compare the intervals or differences and possesses a zero point or character of origin. • What is your height in feet and inches?
1. Less than 5 feet
2. 5 feet 1 inch – 5 feet 5 inches 3. 5 feet 6 inches- 6 feet 4. More than 6 feet 03:50 PM 28 Measurement Scales Scale
Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio
Data may True Zero Point Meaningful
Data are only does not Zero ranked be classified Exist. point and Ratio Between values
Eye color, Level of Temperature,
Hair Color Knowledge Shoe Size, Height, Weight, Gender. about SPSS IQ Scores Distance.
03:50 PM 29 Cross-Section Data Definition Data collected on different elements at the same point in time or for the same period of time are called cross-section data.
Types of surveys. A lot of data is obtained using surveys. Each survey type has advantages and disadvantages. Mail: lowest rate of response; usually the lowest cost Personally administered: can “probe”; most costly; interviewer effects (the interviewer might influence the response) Telephone: fastest Web: fast and inexpensive
Introduction 36 Primary vs. Secondary Data Secondary data. This is data that has been compiled or published elsewhere, e.g., census data. The trick is to find data that is useful. The data was probably collected for some purpose other than helping to solve the researcher’s problem at hand.
Advantages: It can be gathered quickly and
inexpensively. It enables researchers to build on past research.
Problems: Data may be outdated. Variation in
definition of terms. Different units of measurement. May not be accurate (e.g., census undercount). Introduction 37 SUMMATION NOTATION A sample of prices of five literary books: $75, $80, $35, $97, and $88 The variable price of a book: x Price of the first book = x1 = $75 Price of the second book = x2 = $80 … Adding the prices of all five books gives 75+80+35+97+88 = x1+x2+x3+x4+x5 = Σx
