MODULE 1:
INTRODUCTION TO THE
STATISTICAL
CONCEPTS
Objectives:
After successful completion of this
module, you should be able to:
• Define statistics
• Explain the process of statistics
• Know the difference between
descriptive and inferential
statistics.
• Distinguish between qualitative
and quantitative variables.
• Distinguish between discrete and
continuous variables.
• Determine the level of
measurement of a variable.
DEFINITION OF STATISTICS
Statistics plays a major role in many aspects of our
lives. It is used in sports, for example, to help a
general manager decide which player might be the
best fit for a team. It is used in politics to help
candidates understand how the public feels about
various policies. And statistics is used in medicine to
help determine the effectiveness of new drugs. Used
a p p r o p r i a t e l y, s t a t i s t i c s c a n e n h a n c e o u r
understanding of the world around us. Used
inappropriately, it can lend support to inaccurate
beliefs. Understanding statistical methods will
provide you with the ability to analyze and critique
studies and the opportunity to become an informed
consumer of information. Understanding statistical
methods will also enable you to distinguish solid
analysis from bogus “facts.”
Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing,
summarizing, and analyzing information to draw
conclusions or answer questions. In addition,
statistics is about providing a measure of confidence
in any conclusions.
What information is referred to in the definition?
The information referred to the definition is the data.
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, data
are “factual information used as a basis for
reasoning, discussion, or calculation”.
Definitions:
• Universe is the set of all entities under study.
Population is the set of all possible values of the
variable. An individual is a person or object that
is a member of the population being studied.
• A statistic is a numerical summary of a sample.
• Sample is the subset of the population.
• Descriptive statistics consist of organizing and
summarizing data. Descriptive statistics describe
data through numerical summaries, tables, and
graphs.
• Inferential statistics uses methods that
take a result from a sample, extend it to the
population, and measure the reliability of the
result.
• A parameter is a numerical summary of a
population.
Example: Consider the Scenario.
You are walking down the street and notice
that a person walking in front of you drops
PHP100. Nobody seems to notice the PHP100
except you. Since you could keep the money
without anyone knowing, would you keep the
money or return it to the owner?
Suppose you wanted to use this scenario as a
gauge of the morality of students at your
school by determining the percent of students
who would return the money. How might you
do this? You could attempt to present the
scenario to every student at the school, but
this would be difficult or impossible if the
student body is large. A second possibility is to
present the scenario to 50 students and use
the results to make a statement about all the
students at the school.
In the PHP100 study presented, the population
is all the students at the school. Each student
is an individual. The sample is the 50 students
selected to participate in the study.
Suppose 39 of the 50 students stated that they
would return the money to the owner. We could
present this result by saying that the percent of
students in the survey who would return the
money to the owner is 78%. This is an
example of a descriptive statistic because it
describes the results of the sample without
making any general conclusions about the
population. So 78% is a statistic because it is a
numerical summary based on a sample.
Descriptive statistics make it easier to get an
overview of what the data are telling us.
If we extend the results of our sample to the
population, we are performing inferential
statistics. The generalization contains
uncertainty because a sample cannot tell us
everything about a population. Therefore,
inferential statistics includes a level of
confidence in the results. So rather than saying
that 78% of all students would return the
money, we might say that we are 95%
confident that between 74% and 82% of all
students would return the money. Notice how
this inferential statement includes a level of
confidence (measure of reliability) in our
results. It also includes a range of values to
account for the variability in our results. One
goal of inferential statistics is to use statistics
to estimate parameters.
PROCESS OF STATISTICS
1. Identify the research objective.
A researcher must determine the question(s)
he or she wants answered. The question(s)
must clearly identify the population that is to be
studied. Identify the research objective.
2. Collect the information needed to answer
the questions.
Conducting research on an entire population is
often difficult and expensive, so we typically
look at a sample. This step is vital to the
statistical process, because if the data are not
collected correctly, the conclusions drawn are
meaningless. Do not overlook the importance
of appropriate data collection.
Example:
A research objective is presented. For each
research objective, identify the population and
sample in the study.
1. The Philippine Mental Health Associations
contacts 1,028 teenagers who are 13 to 17
years of age and live in Antipolo City and
asked whether or not they had been
prescribed medications for any mental
disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
Population: Teenagers 13 to 17 years of age
who live in Antipolo City
Sample: 1,028 teenagers 13 to 17 years of
age who live in Antipolo City
2. A farmer wanted to learn about the weight
of his soybean crop. He randomly sampled
100 plants and weighted the soybeans on
each plant.
Population: Entire soybean crop
Sample: 100 selected soybean crop
3. Organize and summarize the information.
Descriptive statistics allow the researcher to
obtain an overview of the data and can help
determine the type of statistical methods the
researcher should use.
4. Draw conclusion from the information.
In this step the information collected from the
sample is generalized to the population.
Inferential statistics uses methods that takes
results obtained from a sample, extends them
to the population, and measures the reliability
of the result.
Take Note!
If the entire population is studied, then
inferential statistics is not necessary, because
descriptive statistics will provide all the
information that we need regarding the
population.
Example:
For the following statements, decide whether it
belongs to the field of descriptive statistics or
inferential statistics.
1. A badminton player wants to know his
average score for the past 10 games.
(Descriptive Statistics)
2. A car manufacturer wishes to estimate the
average lifetime of batteries by testing a
sample of 50 batteries. (Inferential
Statistics)
3. Janine wants to determine the variability of
her six exam scores in Algebra.
(Descriptive Statistics)
4. A shipping company wishes to estimate the
number of passengers traveling via their
ships next year using their data on the
number of passengers in the past three
years. (Inferential Statistics)
5. A politician wants to determine the total
number of votes his rival obtained in the
past election based on his copies of the
tally sheet of electoral returns.
(Descriptive Statistics)
DISTINCTION BETWEEN QUALITATIVE AND
QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES
Variables are the characteristics of the
individuals within the population. For example,
recently my mother and I planted a tomato
plant in our backyard. We collected information
about the tomatoes harvested from the plant.
The individuals we studied were the tomatoes.
The variable that interested us was the weight
of a tomato.
Variables can be classified into two groups:
1. Qualitative variables is variable that
yields categorical responses. It is a word or
a code that represents a class or category.
2. Quantitative variables takes on numerical
values representing an amount or quantity.
Example:
Determine whether the following variables are
qualitative or quantitative.
1. Haircolor (Qualitative)
2. Temperature (Quantitative)
3. Number of hamburger sold (Quantitative)
4. Number of children (Quantitative)
5. Zip code (Qualitative)
DISTINCTION BETWEEN DISCRETE AND
CONTINUOUS
Quantitative variables may be further classified
into:
1. A discrete variable is a quantitative
variable that either a finite number of
possible values or a countable number of
possible values. If you count to get the
value of a quantitative variable, it is
discrete.
2. A continuous variable is a quantitative
variable that has an infinite number of
possible values that are not countable. If
you measure to get the value of a
quantitative variable, it is continuous.
Example:
Determine whether the following quantitative
variables are discrete or continuous.
1. The number of heads obtained after
flipping a coin five times. (Discrete)
2. The number of cars that arrive at a
McDonald’s drive-through between 12:00
P.M and 1:00 P.M. (Continuous)
3. The distance of a 2005 Toyota Prius can
travel in city conditions with a full tank of
gas. (Continuous)
4. Number of words correctly spelled.
(Discrete)
5. Time of a runner to finish one lap.
(Continuous)
LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT
It is important to know which type of scale is
represented by your data since different
statistics are appropriate for different scales of
measurement. A characteristic may be
measured using nominal, ordinal, interval and
ration scales.
1. Nominal Level - This is the first level of
measurement and it is characterized by data
that consist of names, labels or categories
only. The data cannot be arranged in ordering
scheme. Nominal scales have no numerical
value.

Levels of Measurement
They are sometimes called categorical scales
or categorical data. Such a scale classifies
persons or objects into two or more categories.
Whatever the basis for classification, a person
can only be in one category, and members of a
given category have a common set of
characteristics.
Example:
- Method of payment (cash, check, debit card,
credit card)
- Type of school (public vs. private)
- Eye Color (Blue, Green, Brown)
2. Ordinal Level - This involves data that may
be arranged in some order, but differences
between data values either cannot be
determined or meaningless. An ordinal scale
not only classifies subjects but also ranks them
in terms of the degree to which they possess a
characteristics of interest. In other words, an
ordinal scale puts the subjects in order from
highest to lowest, from most to least. Although
ordinal scales indicate that some subjects are
higher, or lower than others, they do not
indicate how much higher or how much better.
Example:
- Food Preferences
- Rank of a Military officer
- Social Economic Class (First, Middle, Lower)
3. Interval Level - This is a measurement level
not only classifies and orders the
measurements, but it also specifies that the
distances between each interval on the scale
are equivalent along the scale from low interval
to high interval. A value of zero does not mean
the absence of the quantity. Arithmetic
operations such as addition and subtraction
can be performed on values of the variable.
Example:
- Te m p e r a t u r e o n F a h r e n h e i t / C e l s i u s
Thermometer
- Trait anxiety (e.g., high anxious vs. low
anxious)
- IQ (e.g., high IQ vs. average IQ vs. low IQ)
4. Ratio Level - A ratio scale represents the
highest, most precise, level of measurement. It
has the properties of the interval level of
measurement and the ratios of the values of
the variable have meaning. A value of zero
means the absence of the quantity. Arithmetic
operations such as multiplication and division
can be performed on the values of the
variable.
Example:
- Height and weight
- Time
- Distance and speed
Example:
Categorize each of the following as nominal,
ordinal, interval or ratio measurement.
1. Ranking of college athletic teams.
(Ordinal)
2. Employee number. (Nominal)
3. Number of vehicles registered. (Ratio)
4. Brands of soft drinks. (Nominal)
5. Number of car passers along C5 on a
given day. (Ratio)
ACTIVITIES/ASSESSMENTS:
I. A research objective is presented. For
each, identify the (A) population and (B)
sample in the study.
6. A polling organization contacts 2141 male
university graduates who have a white-
collar job and asks whether or not they had
received a raise at work during the past 4
months.
A. ______________________________
B. ______________________________
2. Every year the PSA releases the Current
Population Report based on a survey of
50,000 households. The goal of this report
is to learn the demographic characteristics,
such as income, of all households within
the Philippines.
A. ______________________________
B. ______________________________
II. Indicate whether the following statements
require the use of descriptive or inferential
statistics.
______________1. A teacher wants to know
the attitudes of all students towards abortion.
______________2. A market analyst of a sales
firm draws a chart showing the sales figures of
a given product for the period 2006-2007.
______________3. A forecaster predicts the
results of an election using the number of
votes cast in 15 out of 25 barangays.
______________4. Men are better in math
than women.
______________5. Forty percent of the
employees of an organization were recorded
tardy for at least 15 working days.
_____________6. There are very few gender-
related occupations.
______________7. An account predicts
accuracy rate of a client’s financial resources.
______________8. A quality control manager
wishes to check production output.
______________9. Records indicated that
75% of the faculty in the graduate school are
doctoral degree holders.
______________10. There is no relationship
between educational qualification of parents
and academic achievement of their children.
III. Identify the qualitative and quantitative
variables and indicate the highest level of
measurement required in each. If
quantitative, classify whether discrete or
continuous.
______________1. Occupation
______________2. Number of government
officials
______________3. Favorite color

______________4. Temperature in Celsius

degrees

______________5. Type of school

______________6. Volume of mineral water

sold daily

______________7. Employee number

______________8. Civil status

______________9. Zip code numbers

______________10. Brands of soft drinks

______________11. Socioeconomic status

______________12. Status Employment

______________13. Number of vehicles

registered

______________14. Jersey Number

______________15. Number of employees

collecting retirement
benefits from GSIS

REFERENCES:

Statistics. Informed Decision using Data by

Michael Sullivan, III,. Fifth Edition

Sampling: Design and Analysis by Sharon L.

Lhr. Second Edition