UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
2016/2017 Session

ECN 112: Introductory Statistics (3 Units)

Course Lecturers: S. O. AKINLEYE, A. ADEBISI AND S. A. OLAKOJO

Course Objectives:
At the end of the course, every student should be able to:

• explain role of statistics in social science research and basic concepts in statistics
• distinguish between population and sample;
• present data in different forms
• calculate measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion

Course Outline:
1. Definition and Scope: The role of Statistics in Social Science Research
2. Basic Concepts- Discrete and Continuous Variables, other types of Variables,
Constants, Number Accuracy and Approximations, Summations and
manipulations.
3. Population and Samples: Distinction between Population, parameters and Sample
Statistic.
4. Sources of Data used in Statistical analysis and Research, Qualitative data and
Quantitative data, methods of data collection.
5. Methods of Data presentation.
i. Wording
ii. Pictorial
iii. Pie Chart
iv. Bar Chart
v. Graphs
6. Frequency Distribution.
i. Raw Data Arrays, frequency Distributions
ii. Class Intervals and class Limits, Class boundaries.
iii. The size or width of a class Interval, the class mark
iv. General rules for forming Frequency Distribution
v. Histograms and Frequency Polygon
vi. Relative Frequency Distribution

1
 vii. Cumulative Frequency Distribution and Ogives
viii. Ogives, Frequency curves and smoothed Ogives.
ix. Types of Frequency curves.
7. Measures of Central tendency
i. Mean
(a) Arithmetic Mean, Property of Arithmetic Mean, Computation of
Arithmetic Mean from Ungrouped data, from Grouped data
(b) Weighted Arithmetic Mean, Its advantages over conventional method of
calculating mean.
(c) The Geometric Mean G
(d) The harmonic Mean
(e) Relationships between Arithmetic, Geometric and Harmonic Mean
(f) The Median- The meaning and computation of Median for ungrouped
and grouped data.
(g) The Mode- Meaning and computation of Mode from ungrouped and
grouped data.
(h) Empirical relationship between Mean, Median and Mode.
8. Quartile, Deciles and percentile of a given distribution.
9. The Standard Deviation and other measures of Dispersion
i. Dispersion and Variation
ii. The Range
iii. The Mean Deviation.
iv. Standard Deviation
v. Variance
vi. Absolute and Relative Dispersion: Co-efficient of Variation
vii. Standard Score; Standardize Variable.
viii. Application of these measures in Economics.

Suggested Reading Texts

1. Adedayo, O.A. (2000), Understanding Statistics. Lagos, Jas Publisher.

2. Agresti, A. & Finlay, B., Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences, 3th Edition. Prentice
Hall, 1997.

3. Frankfort-Nachmias C. and Leon-Guerrero A. (2009). Social Statistics for a Diverse

Society. 5th Edition Pine Forge Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publication, Inc.

4. Mann P.S. (2010). Introductory Statistics. 7th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc

5. Murray R. Spiegel et al (1998), Statistics. 3rd edition N.Y. Mcgraw – Hill Schaum’ s outline
series

6. Weiss, N.A., Introductory Statistics. Addison Wesley, 1999.