ST131: INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS

WEEK 1: LECTURE

Dr. Dinesh Rao

School of Information Technology, Engineering, Mathematics
and Physics
The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji.
 STATISTICS:
AN INTRODUCTION
What is Statistics?
To get an idea of what statistics is about, let us consider
some problems that involve statistics.

• Who will be the probably winner of the upcoming

election?
• What is the average mileage of the new model of a car?
• Is there enough evidence to reject the claim that the
average starting salary of teachers is $24,000 ?
• Is there any relationship between the variables age and
blood pressure?
Definition of statistics

Statistics is the science, which deals with collecting,

organizing, describing/summarizing, analyzing of data
and making inferences (drawing conclusion) from data.
Example
Briefly describe the two meanings of the word statistics.

The word "statistics" has the following two meanings:

• First, it refers to numerical facts such as the ages of
persons, incomes of families, etc.
• Second, it refers to the field of study. It provides us with
techniques that help us to collect, analyse, present, and
interpret data and to make decisions.
Scope of Statistics
• Business Management
• Education
• Economics
• Biology
• Medical science
• Social science
• Agriculture
• Sports science and so on.
 Why Study Statistics
 To be able to read and understand the various statistical studies
performed in your fields. To have this understanding, you must be
knowledgeable about the vocabulary, symbols, concepts, and
statistical procedures used in these studies.
 To be able conduct research in your fields, since statistical
procedures are basic to research. To accomplish this, you must be able
to design experiments; collect, organize, analyze, and summarize
data; and possibly make reliable predictions or forecasts for future
use.
 To be able to use the knowledge gained from studying statistics to
because better consumers and citizens. For example you can make
intelligent decisions about what products to purchase based on
consumer studies. 7
Basic Terms

• Element: An element (or member) is a specified subject

(or object) about which the information is collected.
• Variable: A characteristic under study (or investigation)
that assumes different values for different elements.
• The value of a variable for an element is called an
observation or measurement.
• Data: The values of the observation obtained from an
element and recorded for a variable is known as data.
• A collection of data values forms a data set. Each value
in the data set is called a data value or a datum.
Example
Population versus sample
• A population consists of all elements, individuals, items,
or objects whose characteristics are being studied.

• A portion of the population selected for study is referred to

as a sample.
Survey
• 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.
Activity
Explain whether each of the following constitutes a
population or a sample.
1.Number of fish caught by all participants in a fishing
trip.
2.Number of traffic offences by 200 drivers in Vanuatu.
3.Yield of sweet potatoes per acre for 10 pieces of land.
4.Ages of all players in a rugby team.
Branches of Statistics
There are two branches of Statistics:

1. Descriptive Statistics
2. Inferential Statistics
Descriptive Statistics
The branch that deals with collecting, organizing,
presenting and describing data called descriptive
statistics.

It makes data more comprehensible.

Inferential Statistics
• The branch, which involves drawing conclusion
based on the analysis of sample data, is called
inferential statistics.
• It includes making inferences from samples to
populations, hypothesis testing, determining
relationship and making predictions.
• Also known as inductive reasoning or
inductive statistics.
• This branch of statistics is based on
probability theory.
Variable
After collecting data for a particular study, the researchers
must identify the key variables to be analyzed and also
know about the types of variables.
Variable: A characteristic under study (or investigation)
that assumes different values for different elements.
Examples:
Incomes of families, Number of nematodes in a soil core,
Weight of a fish and length of plants, Prices of
commodities, Temperatures of days, Gender, Nationality,
etc.
Types of Variables:
A variable that can not be measure
numerically but can be classified
A variable that into different categories.
can be measure
numerically.

Classified into
categories in which
order or ranking is
imposed.

Classified into
categories in which
order or ranking is
not imposed.
Quantitative variables
A variable that can be measured numerically is called a
quantitative variable. The information collected on a
quantitative variable are called quantitative data.

For example: incomes, heights, gross sales, prices of

homes, number of cars owned, and number of accidents
are quantitative variables because each of them can be
measured numerically.
• Such quantitative variables may be classified as either:
discrete variables;
• continuous variables.
Discrete variables

• A variable that assumes countable values or that

is measured by count is called a discrete
variable.
• Example
 number of cars in a parking lot;
 number of accidents of a road in a month;
 number of people visiting a bank on any day;
 number of cattle owned by a farmer;
 the number of students in a class.
Continuous variables
• A variable that can assume any numerical value
over a certain interval is called a continuous
variable.
• Example
 length of a plant;
 time taken to complete an examination;
 height of a person;
 weight of a person etc.
Qualitative (or categorical)
variables
• A variable that cannot be measured numerically but can
be classified into different categories is called a
qualitative(or categorical) variable. The data collected
on such a variable are called qualitative data.
• Example
 the gender of a person cannot be measured numerically but it
can be classified as either male or female;
 the performance of a worker cannot be measured numerically
but it can be rated as poor, good, or excellent etc.
Nominal or Ordinal
• Classified into categories in which order or ranking
is imposed.
• When the orders of the categories while classifying
the variable are important, the variable is called an
ordinal categorical variable, otherwise, it is known as
a nominal categorical variable.
Example

• Examples of nominal categorical variable are

 Eye colour (black, blue)
 Gender (male, female)
 Make of a car (Toyota, Nissan, etc.)

• Examples of ordinal categorical variable are:

 Rating (poor, good, excellent)
 Grade (A, B, C, D, E)
 Rank (First, second, etc.)
Activity
• List the variables for Variable Type of Variable

the information given Educational Level Categorical (ordinal)

in Dataset 1 Weight Quantitative (continuous)

obtained from a Height Quantitative (continuous)

health survey. Age Quantitative (continuous)
Categorical (nominal)
• Also identify the Smoking Status
Categorical (ordinal)
types of variable. Physical Activity

Blood Glucose Quantitative (continuous)

Serum Cholesterol Quantitative (continuous)

Systolic BP Quantitative (continuous)

BMI Quantitative (continuous)

Method to Collect Data

1. Personal interview surveys

Advantages: obtaining in-depth responses to
questions
Disadvantages: cost more than other two methods;
interviewer may be biased and thus guide people,
hence a need to train them.

2. Telephone surveys
Advantages: cost less than personal interview survey,
people may be more frank in opinions
Disadvantages: people may not have phones or not
at home
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3. Mailed questionnaire surveys
Advantages: cover wider area than telephone survey
or personal interview; respondents can remain
anonymous, less expensive
Disadvantages: low number of responses and
inappropriate answers; some people may have
difficulty reading or understanding the questions

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Sampling Techniques

Samples are used because they are less

expensive, less time consuming when
populations are large.

But samples cannot be chosen anyhow. So now

we examine some sampling methods to obtain
unbiased samples.

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1. Random sampling: Samples are selected by
using chance methods or random numbers,
where each subject in a population has an equal
chance of inclusion in the sample.
Example
In a Tattslotto draw, a sample of 6 numbers is
randomly generated from a population of 45,
with each number having an equal chance of
being selected.
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 2. Systematic sampling: Numbering each subject
of the population and then selecting every kth
subject, but the first subject is selected at
random sampling.
Example
Suppose there are 200 frogs in a area and a sample
of 5 is to be selected. Since 200/5=40, then k=40,
and every 40th frog would be chosen. Say the first
frog is randomly chosen to be 12, then the sample
consists of subjects with numbers 12, 52,92,132,172.
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3. Stratified sampling: Dividing the population into
groups (called strata) according to some
characteristic, that is important to the study then
sampling from each group.
Example
Suppose USPSA president wants to know how
students feel about a certain issue, then he can
divide the students into groups such as first, second
and third year students. The president will select
students from each group to use in the sample.
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4. Cluster sampling: subjects are selected from
intact groups (called clusters) that is the
representative of the population.
Example
If someone wanted to do a study involving the
people in Australia, it will be very costly to try and
obtain a random sample since they would be spread
over a large area. Instead few households could be
selected at random, and the people in these
households would be interviewed in a cluster.
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THE END

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