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Statistical Guidelines For Collecting KPI Data
Statistical Guidelines For Collecting KPI Data
Technical Reference
Statistical Guidelines for Collecting KPI Data 2009-05-14
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2009-05-14 Statistical Guidelines for Collecting KPI Data
Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................1
1. Introduction
The accuracy of statistics is a function of the amount of data on which it is based. To
be able to compute KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) with a specified accuracy,
you must have collected a data sample of appropriate size. This document explains
how to calculate that sample size given the accuracy requirement.
If we denote the sample size by n and the estimated proportional frequency (i.e. the
measured KPI) by f, then, using the Gaussian approximation of the binomial
distribution, we obtain the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the true proportional
frequency p as
f 1 f
p f 1.96
n
This means that the true proportional frequency p falls within the confidence interval
f (1 f ) f (1 f )
f 1.96 , f 1.96
n n
1.96 2
n f (1 f )
e2
Example:
The Attach Failure Ratio for packet-switched is estimated at f = 10% with a sample
size of n1 = 200 measurements. By the formula for p, the uncertainty of the
measurement at the 95% confidence level is e1 = 4.16%. Thus, with 95% probability,
the true proportional frequency p falls within the interval [5.84%, 14.16%].
To reduce the uncertainty to ±3% at the same confidence level, a sample size of n2
2 2
= (1.96 / 0.03 ) · 0.1 · 0.9 = 384 would be needed.
e 1.96 s n
2 x x 2
s
n 1
and n is the sample size. The sample size corresponding to a predefined estimation
accuracy (confidence interval [f – e, f + e]) can therefore be calculated as
1.96 2 s 2
n
e2
If measurements show a higher standard deviation than expected, the sample size
must be increased further in order to give the desired accuracy.
Example:
Attach Setup Time is estimated from a sample of size n1 = 200. The measured
1/2
standard deviation is s = 250 ms. Then e1 = 1.96 · 250 / 200 = 49 ms. If the
measured average Attach Setup Time is 1820 ms, we can be 95% confident that the
true average Attach Setup Time is between 1771 and 1869 ms.
2
To shrink the confidence interval so that e2 = 20 ms, a sample size of n2 = 1.96 ·
2 2
250 / 20 = 600 would be required.
2(2) Public