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Definitions

Intro to Statistics and Frequency Distributions

Finite Mathematics Section 10.1

Statistics: A collection of methods for planning experiments; obtaining data; organizing, summarizing, presenting, analyzing, and interpreting the data; and drawing conclusions. Descriptive Statistics: The collection, collection organization, analysis, summarization, and presentation of data. Inferential Statistics: Generalizing from samples to populations using probabilities; performing hypothesis testing, determining relationships between variables, and making predictions.

Definitions, Continued

More Definitions

Population vs. Sample: A population includes all objects of interest whereas a sample is only a portion of the population. Parameters are associated with populations and statistics with samples samples. Parameters are usually denoted using Greek letters ( and ) while statistics are usually denoted using Roman letters (x, s). Usually, we compute statistics, and use them to estimate parameters. Observations: Numerical quantities that measure specific characteristics. Examples include height, weight, gross sales, net profit, etc.

Raw Data:Data collected in original form. Classes / class intervals: Subgroups within a set of collected data. In general, a data set is divided into between 5 and 15 class intervals, each containing at least one data value. Frequency: The number of times a certain value or class of values occurs. Frequency Distribution Table: The organization of raw data into table form using classes and frequencies. Our text uses the convention that each class interval contains its left endpoint but not its right endpoint.

And More Definitions

Histogram

Relative Frequency of a class is computed by dividing the frequency of that class by the total of all frequencies.The relative frequency is the same as the empirical probability that an individual data value will fall within that class. Cumulative Frequency q y of a class is the sum of the frequency of that class and the frequencies of all the preceding classes which are listed in some sensible order (numerical order, alphabetical order, etc.) Cumulative Relative Frequency of a class is the sum of the relative frequency of that class and the relative frequencies of all of the preceding classes which are listed in some sensible order.

A histogram displays data by using adjacent vertical bars of various heights to represent frequencies. A frequency histogram shows how often the collected data fall within a given class class, while a relative frequency histogram tells the percentage of the sample that falls into that class. If each bar in a relative frequency histogram is constructed with a width of one, then the area of the bar is the same as the estimated probability associated with it.

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Example
A clerk at the Carnegie Library counted the number of books checked out by individual patrons between 10 and 10:30 a.m. on Saturday August 24. During this time interval, thirty-three individuals checked out books. The number of books checked out by individual patrons were:

Frequency Distribution Table

3 7

4 8

5 8

5 8

5 8

6 9

6 9

7 9

10 11 11

11 11 11 11 12 13 14 14 14 15 16
Use this data to create a frequency table containing frequency, . relative frequency, and cumulative frequency. Then create a frequency histogram, a relative frequency histogram, and a cumulative frequency histogram

Frequency Histogram

Cumulative Frequency Histogram

Relative Frequency Histogram

Normal Probability Distribution

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Skewed Distributions

Distribution skewed to the right.

Distribution skewed to the left.