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SOME PRELIMINARIES TO
UNDERSTAND STATISTICS
Dr. Vipul Patel
Variables
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Variable is defined as a characterizes of the
participants or situation for a given study that has
different values in that study.
Variable v/s constant
A variable must be able to vary or have different
values.
Variable is a logical groping of attributes. Attribute are
the characteristics or qualities that describes an object.
For Example : Gender, Age, SPSS Anxiety, Job
Satisfaction, Brand Loyalty
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Dependent v/s Independent Variable
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Independent Variable: A variable with values that are not
problematic in an analysis but are taken as given. An
independent variable is presumed to cause or determine a
dependent variable. Also known as predictor variable.
Dependent Variable: A variable assumed to depend on or be
caused by another variable. Also known as criterion variable.
For example: If you find that income is partly a function of
amount of formal education, income is being treated as a
dependent variable and formal education is independent variable.
Levels of Measurement of Variables
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Continuous Variables
Categorical Variables
You can convert a continuous variable into
categorical variable.
Dependent variables may be categorical or
continuous, independent variables are generally
categorical.
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Hypothesis
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Hypothesis is the basic statement that is tested in
research.
The term derives from the Greek word hypotithenai
meaning to put under or to suppose.
An hypothesis is a specific statement of prediction
about relationship between two variables.
A hypothesis refers to a provisional idea whose
merit requires evaluation. A hypothesis requires
more work by the researcher in order to either
confirm or disprove it.
Statistical Hypothesis Testing
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The null hypothesis is the hypothesis that states that
there is no relation between the variables whose
relation is under investigation.
The alternative hypothesis is the alternative to the
null hypothesis: it states that there is some kind of
relation.
Objective of any research is to reject the null
hypothesis
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Significance level
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p- value is probability.
Popular levels of significance are 10% (0.1), 5%
(0.05), 1% (0.01), 0.5% (0.005), and 0.1% (0.001).
If a test of significance gives a p-value lower than
the significance level, the null hypothesis is
rejected.
Parametric v/s Non-parametric Test
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Parametric statistics are based on the assumption
that the data in the study are drawn from a
population with a normal (bell-shaped) distribution
Non parametric data are distribution free.
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Univariate test
Bivariate test
Multivariate test
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Thank you!!!
vipulpat@gmail.com