Ms. NONALIZA B.

TAPEC

DEFINITION, NATURES AND IMPORTANCE OF

STATISTICS

statistics is derived from the Latin word status

meaning state
Definition :
In laymans term, Statistics is a collection of
quantitative data
(statistics on crimes, statistics on enrollment,
statistics on unemployment)
Statistics is a science which deals with the
collection, presentation, analysis, and
interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data.

 Statistics

is also a tool that helps us develop general

and meaningful conclusions that go beyond the original
data.
The following are some examples of the uses of
statistics:
Surveys
Consumer Preference
Experiments
Sampling
Economics

NATURES OF STATISTICS
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
deals with the methods of organizing,
summarizing and presenting a mass of data so
as to yield meaningful information.

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
deals with making generalizations about a
body of data where only a part of it is
examined, and comprises the methods
concerned with the analysis of a subset of data
leading to predictions or inferences about the
entire set of data.

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
1. Philippines Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
grows by 4.6% in 2002, 1.4 percentage
higher than its 3.2% performance in 2001.

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
1. Philippines Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
grows by 4.6% in 2002, 1.4 percentage
higher than its 3.2% performance in 2001.

Descriptive Statistics

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
2. A manager would like to predict based on
previous years sales, the sales performance of
a company for the next five years.

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
2. A manager would like to predict based on
previous years sales, the sales performance of
a company for the next five years.
Inferential Statistics

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
3. A politician would like to estimate, based on
an opinion poll, his chance for winning in the
upcoming senatorial election.

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
3. A politician would like to estimate, based on
an opinion poll, his chance for winning in the
upcoming senatorial election.
Inferential Statistics

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
4. A student wishes to determine the average
monthly expenditures on school supplies for
the past five months.

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
4. A student wishes to determine the average
monthly expenditures on school supplies for
the past five months.
Descriptive Statistics

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
5. A teacher wishes to determine the
percentage of students who passed the
examination.

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.
5. A teacher wishes to determine the
percentage of students who passed the
examination.

Descriptive Statistics

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.

6. A basketball player wants to estimate his

chance of winning the most valuable player
(MVP) award based on his current season
averages and the averages of his opponents

Example: Determine whether the following

statements use the area of descriptive
statistics or statistical inference.

6. A basketball player wants to estimate his

chance of winning the most valuable player
(MVP) award based on his current season
averages and the averages of his opponents
Inferential Statistics

DEFINITION OF SOME BASIC STATISTICAL TERMS

1. Population
set of all individuals or entities under
consideration or study.
Example1 :
The researcher would like to determine the
average age of patients infected with dengue fever
for the month of June at UMC.
Population: the set of all patients with dengue fever
Example 2: The researcher would like to determine
the number of BA students in DLSU-D.
Population: the set of all students in DLSU-D.

DEFINITION OF SOME BASIC STATISTICAL TERMS

2. Variable
A characteristic of interest that is measurable in
every individual in the population, denoted by
capital letters of the English alphabet.
Types of Variable
1. Qualitative Variable - consists of categories or
attributes, which have non-numerical
characteristics.
Example: year level, sex and subjects enrolled

2. Quantitative Variable - consists of numbers

representing counts or measurements.
Examples: A = age , I = Monthly Income, . . .

DEFINITION OF SOME BASIC STATISTICAL TERMS

Classification of Quantitative Variable
1. Discrete Quantitative Variable

2. Continuous Quantitative Variable

DEFINITION OF SOME BASIC STATISTICAL TERMS

Classification of Quantitative Variable
1. Discrete Quantitative Variable - results from
either a finite number of possible values or a
countable number of possible values.
Example: number of students, number of subjects
enrolled, number of costumers, etc.
2. Continuous Quantitative Variable - results from
infinitely many possible values that can be
associated with points on a continuous scale in
such a way that there are no gaps or
interruptions.
Example: height, weight, grade point average, and
time

TRY!
Direction: Identify the population, variable of
interest, and type of variable in the following:

1. The dean of CIH would like to determine

the average weekly allowance of BS
HRM students.
Population:
Variable:
Type of variable:

TRY!
Direction: Identify the population, variable of
interest, and type of variable in the following:

1. The dean of CIH would like to determine

the average weekly allowance of BS
HRM students.
Population: All BS HRM Students.
Variable: Weekly Allowance
Type of variable: Continuous Quantitative Variable

TRY!
Direction: Identify the population, variable of
interest, and type of variable in the following:

2. The registrar of DLSU-D would like to

conduct a survey on the preferred
courses of 4th year high school students
in Cavite.
Population:

Variable:
Type of variable:

TRY!
Direction: Identify the population, variable of
interest, and type of variable in the following:

2. The registrar of DLSU-D would like to

conduct a survey on the preferred
courses of 4th year high school students
in Cavite.
Population: All 4th year High School Students in
Cavite
Variable: Preferred Courses
Type of variable: Qualitative Variable

TRY!
Direction: Identify the population, variable of
interest, and type of variable in the following:

3. The head librarian would like to identify

the book/s commonly read by DLSU-D
students.
Population:
Variable:
Type of variable:

TRY!
Direction: Identify the population, variable of
interest, and type of variable in the following:

3. The head librarian would like to identify

the book/s commonly read by DLSU-D
students.
Population: All DLSU-D students.
Variable: Book/s commonly read by the students.
Type of variable: Qualitative Variable.

DEFINITION OF SOME BASIC STATISTICAL TERMS

3. Sample
- part of the population or a sub-collection of
elements drawn from a population.
4. Parameter
- a numerical measurement describing some
characteristic of a population.
5. Statistic
- a numerical measurement describing some
characteristic of a sample.

DEFINITION OF SOME BASIC STATISTICAL TERMS

6. Survey
- conducted to gather opinions or feedbacks
about a variety of topics.
TWO TYPES OF SURVEY
Census Survey(Census)
- gathering information from the entire
population.
Sampling Survey(Survey)
- gathering information only from part of the
population

LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT
1. Nominal
- data that consist of names, labels, or categories
only
- data cannot be arranged in an ordering scheme
Examples: religion, civil status, degree program,
zip codes
2. Ordinal
- data that may be arranged in some order, but
differences between data values either cannot be
determined or are meaningless
Examples: year level, job positions, academic
ranks, military ranks

LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT
3. Interval
- meaningful amounts of differences between
data can be determined
- there is no true zero value
Examples: IQ Score, temperature (in C)
Grades (1.0, 1.25,3.0,)
4. Ratio
- same as the interval level but modified to have a
true zero value
Examples: height, area, width, weekly allowance

At what level are the following variables measured?

1. Student number
2. Weights of a sample of candies
3. Zip codes
4. SSS number
5. Final course grades of 1.0,1.25,1.50,.
6. Instructors rated as superior, above average,
average, below average, or poor
7. Movies listed according to their genre such as,
comedy, adventure, romance, action,
suspense, or
8. Lengths of TV commercials ( in seconds)
9. The years 1896, 2000, 1776,1995
10. Attitude toward gun laws such as favorable,
somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable.

At what level are the following variables measured?

11.Exam score
12. Ideal number of children
13. Family Income
14. Candidate voted for in 2002 barangay
elections
15. Tax Identification Number
16. Gender
17. Average number of glasses of water
consumed per day
18. Blood pressure
19. Height of students
20. Number of clients
21. Number of won cases in court
22. Academic rank in High School

At what level are the following variables measured?

23. Savings Account Number
24. Are you a Pag-Ibig Member?(Yes/No)
25. Number of books sold per day
26. Weekly allowance of BA students
27. Main source of income
28. Birth order in the family
29. Number of organizations involved in
30. Car plate number