CHAPTER 1

Introduction to
Statistics
Definition of Statistics

 Statistics represent scientific procedures and

methods for
presenting
analyzing
organizing

collecting Statistics interpreting

• Based on the analysis

- obtaining information
- drawing conclusion
- making decision
Uses of Statistics

 To compare the current and past performance of

organization
 To guide and plan for the future needs to the
organization

 Eg : - share price on Bursa Malaysia

- Malaysia's industrial production index
The role of Statisticians

 Provide crucial guidance in determining what

information is reliable and which predictions can
be trusted
 Work in variety of field

Medicine Education Business

Finance

Government Agriculture Law

Statistical problem-solving

 To help us in making wise and effective decisions

 There are 6 basic steps :

Identifying Gathering Gathering

the problem available facts new data

Making a Presenting & Organizing

decision analyzing data the data
1. Identifying the problem

 Must understand clearly and define correctly the

problem
 Do not confuse between actual problem and
symptoms which makes the problem
 Eg :
The monthly sale of Proton cars has been declining significantly for the
past 24 months.
problem: to determine the factors that contributed to the decline
for Proton cars
symptoms: high cancellation of booking
2. Gathering available facts

 Gather data and information that are related to the

problem
 Internal data :
- get from the department in our organization
 External data :
- get from other organizations (government
department, bank), journal, newspaper, etc.
3. Gathering new data

 Gather new data if the available data are not give

enough information of the problem
 To do that, we must determine the sample to be
used
 In choosing the sample, appropriate sampling
technique and data collection method must be
applied
4. Organizing the data

 After collecting the new data, the data must be

organize to make it more understandable in the
context of the problem being investigated
5. Presenting and analyzing data

 Must present the data in meaningful ways, so

that people can understand and read the report
 Common methods is graphs, histograms, table,
etc.
6. Making a decision

 After presenting, do data analysis and

interpretation of the results, we should have a
clear idea of a problem

 So, we can make a decision what we should do

Users of Statistics

 Managers
 Decision maker in government department and
private firms
 The executive in marketing, accounting and
financial planning, advertising, hospital
administration, research and development
Types of Statistics

Descriptive
Statistics Inferential
Statistics

There are two types of Statistics

1. Descriptive Statistics

 Involved data are compiled, organized, summarized

and presented in suitable forms which are easy to
understand and suitable for use
 Use tables, graphs, charts and diagrams to present
the information obtained from the data
 The users can make conclusions just taking a quick
look at visual presentations
2. Inferential Statistics

 Make conclusions about a population by

analyzing the sample
 The procedure is to select a sample from the
population, measure the variable of interest,
analyze the data, interpret the result and draw
conclusions based on the data analysis
Common statistical terms

Element An item on which measurement is taken

Population The complete set of items that are of interest in
the research
Sample A subset of items that are chosen from the
population

sample

population
 Data An observation that have been collected

Variable Measure the characteristics of the population

under study which may take different values
Random The choice of a single item from the group if every
items in the group has the same chance of being
selected

Parameter A summary measure (mean, median, mode or

standard deviation) for the entire population

Statistic A summary measure computed from sample data

Census A study that measures a variable for every items in the
study population
A study done before the actual fieldwork is carried out

Pilot Aim
study - to identify possible problems and difficulties that the
researcher may encounter when the actual study is
being carried out
- to test out and improve questionnaires in terms of
flow, question design, language and clarity
Sample -Involvesa samples of a population being chosen and
survey questioned on a set of topics
-The result are usually used to make conclusion for the
population
-Can reduce cost and time
Data

 A measure on variable of interest obtained from

the sample
The brand of detergents most preferred
by housewives in Sabah

The velocity of the burning gas on the

sun’s surface

Example of data
The number of men and women has cancer

The monthly income of medical doctor

in Malaysia
Types of data

 There are two types of data :

Primary data Types of Secondary data

data
1. Primary data

 Collect the primary data from primary sources or

from samples
 the data may be expressly collected for a specific
purpose
 the data is not analyzed yet
 data are collected by the researcher himself
Example :

 A researcher may go to the supermarket and

observe the buying habits of the public during
festival seasons

 The Education Ministry form a body to ask

students about the attitudes of students towards
studying.
Advantages

 Primary data is more accurate and consistent

 The researchers will be able to explain how the data
are collected
 typical information wanted is obtained

Disadvantages : requires more time, manpower

and a higher cost to collect the data
2. Secondary data

 Normally published data collected by other parties

 The data consist of figures and information which
were collected originally to satisfy a particular
inquiry but have been used before
 Some of the secondary data are not current
 Users of secondary data understanding may not same
with the original researcher.
 The researcher needs to choose wisely this type of
data for his research
Example :

 Government agencies (Department of Statistics,

Central Bank, etc) publish their data regularly
and provide secondary sources of data to many
researchers

 Bulletins, journals and newspapers also provide

useful secondary data
Advantages

 More convenient (required less time, effort, manpower and

money)
 This data can help you decide what future research needs to
be done
Disadvantages :
- lack of accuracy because the measurement procedure and the
method of data collection are not explained by the previous
researchers.
- may not meet our specific needs and objectives of current
research
- Not all is readily available
 Types of variables

Variable
Measure the characteristics of the population that the researcher wants to study
Eg : monthly income, age, gender, level of education etc

Qualitative variable Quantitative variable

1. Qualitative variable

 Variable that cannot be measured or expressed by

number
 Also call as categorical variable that can be separated
into different categories.

 Eg : gender, type of cars, level of qualification etc

2. Quantitative variable

 Variable that can be measured numerically or counted

 Eg : - volume of water consumed per day
- an English test score of a student
 There are two types of quantitative variable :
Discrete variable Continuous variable
- arises from a counting process - arises from a measuring process
- a finite number or countable - infinitely many possible values that
number correspond to some continuous
- example : number of cars, number scale
of children - example : height, weight
Scale of measurement

Ordinal
Nominal scale
scale
Ratio
scale
Interval
scale
1. Nominal scale

 Also called categorical data

 Names are assigned to objects as labels
 The data cannot be arranged in ordering scheme
 The lowest in the level of data measurement scales
 Eg : eye colour, marital status, race, birthplace etc

1. Where did you get information about 3G

Newspapers
Magazines
Television
Internet
Other. Please specify: ______________
2. Ordinal scale

 Can be arranged in ranking order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)

 Comparisons of greater and less can be made
 The ordinal scale is a level higher than the nominal scale

 Eg : 1. Your highest completed level of education

SPM
Diploma
Bachelor
Master
PhD
3. Interval scale

 Like ordinal level but have additional property that the different
between 2 data values is meaningful.
 Do not have a natural zero starting point.

 Eg : Temperature
0°F doesn’t mean no heat and 40°F is not twice as hot a
20°F.

Birth of date
Maisarah = 8th May 1991 Qayyum=16th May 1991
Qayyum’s age is not twice of Maisarah’s age
4. Ratio scale

 Highest level of data measurement scale

 Contains a meaningful zero which represent the absence
of the phenomena being measured

 Eg : 1. A time taken to study per day.

2. The monthly amount spent for prepaid top up.
3. The number of cigarette per day.
4. How many son do you have?
5. The monthly salary of factory worker.