Data Types

AND ITS REPRESENTATION

SESSION – 2 & 3
 Inferential Statistics
 Estimation
 e.g., Estimate the population
mean weight using the
sample mean weight
 Hypothesis testing
 e.g., Test the claim that the
population mean weight is
70 kg

Inference is the process of drawing conclusions or making decisions about a

population based on sample results
Sampling

a sample should have the same characteristics

as the population it is representing.
Sampling can be:
 with replacement: a member of the population may be chosen
more than once (picking the candy from the bowl)
 without replacement: a member of the population may be chosen
only once (lottery ticket)
Sampling methods

Sampling methods can be:

 random (each member of the population has an equal
chance of being selected)
 nonrandom

The actual process of sampling causes sampling

errors. For example, the sample may not be large
enough or representative of the population. Factors not
related to the sampling process cause nonsampling
errors. A defective counting device can cause a
nonsampling error.
Random sampling methods

 simple random sample (each sample of the same size

has an equal chance of being selected)
 stratified sample (divide the population into groups
called strata and then take a sample from each
stratum)
 cluster sample (divide the population into strata and
then randomly select some of the strata. All the
members from these strata are in the cluster sample.)
 systematic sample (randomly select a starting point and
take every n-th piece of data from a listing of the
population)
 Descriptive Statistics

 Collect data
 e.g., Survey

 Present data
 e.g., Tables and graphs

 Summarize data
X i
 e.g., Sample mean = n
Statistical data

 The collection of data that are relevant to the problem being

studied is commonly the most difficult, expensive, and time-
consuming part of the entire research project.
 Statistical data are usually obtained by counting or measuring items.
 Primary data are collected specifically for the analysis desired
 Secondary data have already been compiled and are available for
statistical analysis
 A variable is an item of interest that can take on many different
numerical values.
 A constant has a fixed numerical value.
Data

Statistical data are usually obtained by counting or measuring items.

Most data can be put into the following categories:
 Qualitative - data are measurements that each fail into one of
several categories. (hair color, ethnic groups and other attributes of
the population)
 quantitative - data are observations that are measured on a
numerical scale (distance traveled to college, number of children in
a family, etc.)
Qualitative data

Qualitative data are generally described by words or

letters. They are not as widely used as quantitative data
because many numerical techniques do not apply to the
qualitative data. For example, it does not make sense to
find an average hair color or blood type.
Qualitative data can be separated into two subgroups:
 dichotomic (if it takes the form of a word with two options
(gender - male or female)
 polynomic (if it takes the form of a word with more than two
options (education - primary school, secondary school and
university).
Quantitative data

Quantitative data are always numbers and are the

result of counting or measuring attributes of a population.
Quantitative data can be separated into two
subgroups:
 discrete (if it is the result of counting (the number of
students of a given ethnic group in a class, the number
of books on a shelf, ...)
 continuous (if it is the result of measuring (distance
traveled, weight of luggage, …)
Types of variables
Variables

Qualitative Quantitative

Dichotomic Polynomic Discrete Continuous

Amount of
Children in
Gender, marital Brand of Pc, hair income tax
family, Strokes
status color paid, weight of
on a golf hole
a student
Numerical scale of measurement:
 Nominal – consist of categories in each of which the number of
respective observations is recorded. The categories are in no
logical order and have no particular relationship. The categories
are said to be mutually exclusive since an individual, object, or
measurement can be included in only one of them.
 Ordinal – contain more information. Consists of distinct categories
in which order is implied. Values in one category are larger or
smaller than values in other categories (e.g. rating-excelent,
good, fair, poor)
 Interval – is a set of numerical measurements in which the
distance between numbers is of a known, sonstant size.
 Ratio – consists of numerical measurements where the distance
between numbers is of a known, constant size, in addition, there is
a nonarbitrary zero point.
Data presentation

„ The question is“ said Alice, „whether you can make words
mean so many different things.“
„The question is,“ said Humpty Dumpty, „which is to be
master-that´s all.“ (Lewis Carroll)
Numerical presentation of
qualitative data
 pivot table (qualitative dichotomic statistical attributes)
 contingency table (qualitative statistical attributes from which at
least one of them is polynomic)

You should know how to convert absolute

values to relative ones (%).
Frequency distributions – numerical
presentation of quantitative data
 Frequency distribution – shows the frequency, or number of
occurences, in each of several categories. Frequency distributions
are used to summarize large volumes of data values.
 When the raw data are measured on a qunatitative scale, either
interval or ration, categories or classes must be designed for the
data values before a frequency distribution can be formulated.
Steps for constructing a frequency
distribution m n
h
 max  min 
1. Determine the number of classes
m
2. Determine the size of each class
3. Determine the starting point for the first class
4. Tally the number of values that occur in each class
5. Prepare a table of the distribution using actual counts and/ or
percentages (relative frequencies)
Frequency table

 absolute frequency “ni” (Data TabData AnalysisHistogram)

 relative frequency “fi”
Cumulative frequency distribution shows the total number of
occurrences that lie above or below certain key values.
 cumulative frequency “Ni”
 cumulative relative frequency “Fi”
Charts and graphs

 Frequency distributions are good ways to present the essential

aspects of data collections in concise and understable terms
 Pictures are always more effective in displaying large data
collections
Histogram

 Frequently used to graphically present interval and ratio data

 Is often used for interval and ratio data
 The adjacent bars indicate that a numerical range is being
summarized by indicating the frequencies in arbitrarily chosen
classes
Frequency polygon

 Another common method for graphically presenting interval and

ratio data
 To construct a frequency polygon mark the frequencies on the
vertical axis and the values of the variable being measured on the
horizontal axis, as with the histogram.
 If the purpose of presenting is comparation with other distributions,
the frequency polygon provides a good summary of the data
Ogive

 A graph of a cumulative frequency distribution

 Ogive is used when one wants to determine how many observations
lie above or below a certain value in a distribution.
 First cumulative frequency distribution is constructed
 Cumulative frequencies are plotted at the upper class limit of each
category
 Ogive can also be constructed for a relative frequency distribution.
Pie Chart

 The pie chart is an effective way of displaying the percentage

breakdown of data by category.
 Useful if the relative sizes of the data components are to be
emphasized
 Pie charts also provide an effective way of presenting ratio- or
interval-scaled data after they have been organized into categories
Pie Chart
Bar chart

 Another common method for graphically presenting nominal and

ordinal scaled data
 One bar is used to represent the frequency for each category
 The bars are usually positioned vertically with their bases located on
the horizontal axis of the graph
 The bars are separated, and this is why such a graph is frequently
used for nominal and ordinal data – the separation emphasize the
plotting of frequencies for distinct categories
Time Series Graph

 The time series graph is a graph of

data that have been measured over
time.
 The horizontal axis of this graph
represents time periods and the
vertical axis shows the numerical
values corresponding to these time
periods