1.

Statistics as a Tool in Decision-Making

Statistics is defined as a science that studies data to be able to make a decision. Hence, it is a tool in decision-making
process. Mention that Statistics as a science involves the methods of collecting, processing, summarizing and analyzing
data in order to provide answers or solutions to an inquiry. One also needs to interpret and communicate the results of
the methods identified above to support a decision that one makes when faced with a problem or an inquiry.

Trivia: The word “statistics” actually comes from the word “state”— because governments have been involved in the
statistical activities, especially the conduct of censuses either for military or taxation purposes. The need for and conduct
of censuses are recorded in the pages of holy texts. In the Christian Bible, particularly the Book of Numbers, God is
reported to have instructed Moses to carry out a census. Another census mentioned in the Bible is the census ordered
by Caesar Augustus throughout the entire Roman Empire before the birth of Christ.

Inform students that uncovering patterns in data involves not just science but it is also an art, and this is why some
people may think “Stat is eeeks!” and may view any statistical procedures and results with much skepticism.

Make known to students that Statistics enable us to

• characterize persons, objects, situations, and phenomena;
• explain relationships among variables;
• formulate objective assessments and comparisons; and, more importantly
• make evidence-based decisions and predictions.
To use Statistics in decision-making there is a statistical process to follow which is to be discussed in the next section.
2. Statistical Process in Solving a Problem

For illustration on how to do it, let us discuss how we could answer the question “Do dogs eat more than cats?”

As discussed earlier, this question requires you to gather data to generate statistics which will serve as basis in
answering the query. There should be plan or a design on how to collect the data so that the information we get from it
is enough or sufficient for us to minimize any bias in responding to the query. In relation to the query, we said earlier
that we cannot gather the data from all dogs and cats. Hence, the plan is to get representative group of dogs and
another representative group of cats. These representative groups were observed for some characteristics like the
animal weight, amount of food in grams eaten per day and breed of the animal. Included in the plan are factors like how
many dogs and cats are included in the group, how to select those included in the representative groups and when to
observe theseanimals for their characteristics.

After the data were gathered, we must verify the quality of the data to make a good decision. Data quality check could
be done as we process the data to summarize the information extracted from the data. Then using this information, one
can then make a decision or provide answers to the problem or question at hand.

To summarize, a statistical process in making a decision or providing solutions to a problem include the following:

• Planning or designing the collection of data to answer statistical questions in a way that maximizes information
content and minimizes bias;

• Collecting the data as required in the plan;

• Verifying the quality of the data after they were collected;

• Summarizing the information extracted from the data; and

• Examining the summary statistics so that insight and meaningful information can be produced to support decision-
making or solutions to the question or problem at hand.

Hence, several activities make up a statistical process which for some the process is simple but for others it might be a
little bit complicated to implement. Also, not all questions or problems could be answered by a simple statistical
process. There are indeed problems that need complex statistical process. However, one can be assured that logical
decisions or solutions could be formulated using a statistical process.
GROUP 1: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

 How old is our teacher?

• Is the vehicle of the Mayor of our city/town/municipality bigger than the vehicle used by the President of the
Philippines?

• How many days are there in December?

• Does the Principal of the school has a post graduate degree?

• How much does the Barangay Captain receive as allowance?

• What is the weight of my smallest classmate?

GROUP 2: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

• How old are the people residing in our town?

• Do dogs eat more than cats?

• Does it rain more in our country than in Thailand?

• Do math teachers earn more than science teachers?

• How many books do my classmates usually bring to school?

• What is the proportion of Filipino children aged 0 to 5 years who are underweight or overweight for their age?

GROUP 3: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

 How old is our teacher?

• Is the vehicle of the Mayor of our city/town/municipality bigger than the vehicle used by the President of the
Philippines?

• How many days are there in December?

• Does the Principal of the school has a post graduate degree?

• How much does the Barangay Captain receive as allowance?

• What is the weight of my smallest classmate?

GROUP 4: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

• How old are the people residing in our town?

• Do dogs eat more than cats?

• Does it rain more in our country than in Thailand?

• Do math teachers earn more than science teachers?

• How many books do my classmates usually bring to school?

• What is the proportion of Filipino children aged 0 to 5 years who are underweight or overweight for their age?