Univariate, Bivariate and

Multivariate statistics

PROF. DR. JIMMY S. LUNA, JD

Department of Statistics
College of Liberal Arts
De La Salle University-Manila

1
 What’s the difference between univariate,
bivariate and multivariate descriptive
statistics?

1) Univariate statistics summarize
only one variable at a time.

Univarate Analysis
Univariate analysis is the simplest form of data analysis where
the data being analyzed contains only one variable. Since it's a
single variable it doesn’t deal with causes or relationships.  The
main purpose of univariate analysis is to describe the data and
find patterns that exist within it.
You can think of the variable as a category
that your data falls into. One example of a
variable in univariate analysis might be "age".
Another might be "height". Univariate analysis
would not look at these two variables at the
same time, nor would it look at the relationship
between them.
Some ways you can describe patterns
found in univariate data include looking
at mean, mode, median, range,
variance, maximum, minimum, quartiles,
and standard deviation. Additionally,
some ways you may display univariate
data include frequency distribution
tables, bar charts, histograms, frequency
polygons, and pie charts.
Univariate analysis
Univariate analysis is the most basic form of statistical data
analysis technique. When the data contains only one variable
and doesn’t deal with a causes or effect relationships then a
Univariate analysis technique is used. For instance, in a survey
of a class room, the researcher may be looking to count the
number of boys and girls. In this instance, the data would
simply reflect the number, i.e. a single variable and its
quantity as per the below table. The key objective of
Univariate analysis is to simply describe the data to find
patterns within the data. This is be done by looking into the
mean, median, mode, dispersion, variance, range, standard
deviation etc.
How Univariate analysis is conducted
Univariate analysis is conducted through several
ways which are mostly descriptive in nature
Frequency Distribution Tables


Histograms


Frequency Polygons


Pie Charts


Bar Charts

 2) Bivariate statistics
compare two variables.
Bivarate Analysis
Bivariate analysis is used to find out if there is a relationship
between two different variables. Something as simple as
creating a scatterplot by plotting one variable against another
on a Cartesian plane (think X and Y axis) can sometimes give
you a picture of what the data is trying to tell you. If the data
seems to fit a line or curve then there is a relationship or
correlation between the two variables.  For example, one might
choose to plot caloric intake versus weight.
Bivariate analysis
Bivariate analysis is slightly more analytical than Univariate
analysis. When the data set contains two variables and
researchers aim to undertake comparisons between the two
data set then Bivariate analysis is the right type of analysis
technique. For example – in a survey of a classroom, the
researcher may be looking to analysis the ratio of students who
scored above 85% corresponding to their genders. In this case,
there are two variables – gender = X (independent variable)
and result = Y (dependent variable). A Bivariate analysis is will
measure the correlations between the two variables as shown
the table below.
How Bivariate analysis is conducted

Correlation coefficients
Correlations is a statistical association technique where
strength of relationship between two variables are observed.
It shows the strength as strong or weak correlations and are
rated on a scale of –1 to 1, where 1 is a perfect direct
correlation, –1 is a perfect inverse correlation, and 0 is no
correlation.

2.Regression analysis
Regression analysis is used for estimating the relationships
between two different variables. It includes techniques for
modelling and analysing several variables, when the focus is
on the relationship between a dependent variable and one or
more independent variables. It helps to understand how the
value of the dependent variable changes when any one of
the independent variables is changed. Regression analysis is
used for advanced data modelling purposes like prediction
and forecasting. There are a range of different regression
techniques used depending on the nature of variable and the
type of analysis sought by the research
. For example –

Linear regression


Simple regression


Polynomial regression


General linear model



Discrete choice


Binomial regression


Binary regression


Logistic regression

 3) Multivariate statistics
compare more than two
variables.
Multivariate Analysis
Multivariate analysis is the analysis of three or
more variables.  There are many ways to perform
multivariate analysis depending on your goals. 
Some of these methods include:

Additive Tree

Canonical Correlation Analysis

Cluster Analysis

Correspondence Analysis / Multiple Correspondence
Analysis

Factor Analysis

Generalized Procrustean Analysis

MANOVA

Multidimensional Scaling

Multiple Regression Analysis

Partial Least Square Regression

Principal Component Analysis / Regression / PARAFAC

Redundancy Analysis.
Multivariate analysis
Multivariate analysis is a more complex form of statistical
analysis technique and used when there are more than
two variables in the data set. Here is an example –
A doctor has collected data on cholesterol, blood pressure,
and weight.  She also collected data on the eating habits
of the subjects (e.g., how many ounces of red meat, fish,
dairy products, and chocolate consumed per week).  She
wants to investigate the relationship between the three
measures of health and eating habits?
In this instance, a multivariate analysis would be
required to understand the relationship of each
variable with each other.

How Multivariate analysis is conducted

Commonly used multivariate analysis technique

include –

Factor Analysis


Cluster Analysis


Variance Analysis


Discriminant Analysis


Multidimensional Scaling


Principal Component Analysis



Redundancy Analysis
