Father Saturnino Urios University

Arts and Sciences Program

Nature of
Statistics
STAT 311: Statistical Analysis w/ Software Application

Jayson R. Sarin
Faculty, Mathematics and Science Division
jrsarin@urios.edu.ph
 
“ Statistic is both a science and an art. It is a science in that
its methods are basically systematic and have general
application and art in that their successful application depends,
to a considerable degree, on the skill and special experience of
the statistician, and on his knowledge of the field of
application.”
-L. H. C. Tippett

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 Nature of Statistics - Science

▰ What is the nature of statistics? Is it a science or an art? This is a debatable topic. Let’s look at both.        
▰ Science, by definition, is a systematic body of knowledge which studies the cause and effect relationship and
endeavors to find out generalization. In simpler terms, it explains the facts. Further, the primary features of
science are:
i. It is a systematic study of any subject.
ii. It takes a fact and tries to establish the relationship between cause and effect.
iii. Also, the laws of science are universal in nature.
▰ If we take the various statistical methods in consideration, we can define statistics as a science in which we
study:
i. Numerous methods of collecting, editing, classifying, tabulating and presenting facts using graphs and
diagrams.
ii. Several ways of condensing data regarding various social, political, and economic problems.

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 Nature of Statistics - Art

▰ If Science is knowledge, Art is action or the actual application of science. While Science teaches
us to know, Art teaches us to do. Further, Art has the following characteristics:
i. It is a group of actions which solve a problem.
ii. It does not describe the facts but examines the merits and demerits and suggests ways to
achieve the objective.

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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.
 The first part states that statistics involves the collection of information.
 The second refers to the organization and summarization of information.
 The third states that the information is analyzed to draw conclusions or answer
specific questions.
 The fourth part states that results should be reported using some measure that
represents how convinced we are that our conclusions reflect reality.

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▰ Statistics is important because it enables people to make decisions based
on empirical evidence.
▰ Statistics provides us with tools needed to convert massive data into
pertinent information that can be used in decision making.
▰ Statistics can provide us information that we can use to make sensible
decisions.

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What information is referred to in the definition?

The information referred to the definition is the data.

▰ Data are “factual information used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or
calculation”.
▰ Data can be numerical, as in height, or non-numerical, as in gender. In either case,
data describe characteristics of an individual.

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 Field of Statistics

A. Mathematical Statistics - The study and development of statistical theory

and methods in the abstract.
B. Applied Statistics - The application of statistical methods to solve real
problems involving randomly generated data and the development of new
statistical methodology motivated by real problems.
Example branches of Applied Statistics: psychometric, econometrics, and
biostatistics

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 Limitation of Statistics

 Statistics is not suitable to the study of qualitative phenomenon.

 Statistics does not study individuals.
 Statistical laws are not exact.
 Statistics table may be misused.
 Statistics is only, one of the methods of studying a problem.

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 Basic Terminologies

 Universe is the set of all entities under study.

 A population is the total or entire group of individuals or observations from which information
is desired by a researcher. Apart from persons, a population may consist of mosquitoes,
villages, institution, etc.
 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. 10
 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 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

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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.

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 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
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 Variables

▰ Variables are the characteristics of the individuals within the population.

▰ It is helpful to divide variables into different types, as different statistical methods
are applicable to each.
Variables can be classified into two groups:
 Qualitative variables (Categorical) is variable that yields categorical responses. It is
a word or a code that represents a class or category.
 Quantitative variables (Numeric) takes on numerical values representing an amount
or quantity.

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Variable, Observation, and Data

 The variable is a characteristic or attribute of the elements in a

collection that can assume different values for the different
elements.
 An observation is a realized value of a variable measured from
an element.
 Data is the collection of all the observations.

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Variable/s of Interest
▰ The items or quantities that the study seeks to measure.
Example: The research division of a certain pharmaceutical
company is investigating the effectiveness of a new diet pill in
reducing weight on female adults.
 Population: set of all female adults who will use the diet
pill
 Variable/s of interest: weight before taking the diet pill,
weight after taking the diet pill
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Example 2:
▰A doctor claims that three tablespoons of pure virgin coconut oil daily can reduce
weight. To test the doctor’s claim, a researcher studied two groups of 25 women aged
35 to 40 years with weights between 130 to 140 pounds. He administered the three
tablespoons of pure virgin coconut oil daily for a period of three months to one group
of women only. After three months, he weighed the two groups of women.

 Identify the two populations of interest.

 What are the two samples?
 What is the variable of interest?

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 Example :

Determine whether the following variables are qualitative or quantitative.

1. Hair color
 Qualitative
2. Temperature
 Quantitative
3. Stages of breast cancer
 Qualitative
4. Number of hamburger sold
 Quantitative
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Distinction Between Discrete and Continuous Variable

Quantitative variables may be further classified into:

▰ 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.
▰ 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.

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 Example :

Determine whether the following quantitative variables are discrete or continuous.

1. The number of cars that arrive at a McDonald’s drive-through between 12:00 P.M and 1:00 P.M.
 (Discrete)
2. The distance of a 2005 Toyota Prius can travel in city conditions with a full tank of gas.
 (Continuous)
3. Number of words correctly spelled.
 (Discrete)
4. Time of a runner to finish one lap.
 (Continuous)
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 Level 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.
▰ Measurement refers to the process of determining the value or label, either qualitative or
quantitative, of a particular variable for a particular unit of analysis.
▰ A characteristic may be measured using nominal, ordinal, interval and ration scales.

1. Nominal Level - 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)
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- 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: - Social Economic Class (First, Middle, Lower) - Severity of Pain - Food Preferences - Stage of Disease

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: - Temperature on Fahrenheit/Celsius Thermometer

- IQ (e.g., high IQ vs. average IQ vs. low IQ)

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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 - The expenditure of a company

▰ Operations that make sense for variables of different scales.

Both interval and ratio data involve
measurement. Most data analysis techniques
that apply to ratio data also apply to interval
data. Therefore, in most practical aspects, these
types of data (interval and ratio) are grouped
under metric data. In some other instances,
these type of data are also known as numerical
discrete and numerical continuous.

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 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)
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