CHAPTER 1

I N T R O D U C T I O N T O S TAT I S T I C S
WHAT IS STATISTICS?
IMAGINE YOU ARE A RESEARCHER
DEFINITION

Statistics  the science of collecting, organizing,

summarizing, presenting, analyzing and
interpreting numerical data for the
purpose of making a more informed
conclusion and decision.
 TYPES OF
STATISTICS

DESCRIPTIVE INFERENTIAL
STATISTIC STATISTICS
 TYPES OF STATISTICS: DESCRIPTIVE
STATISTICS
• The types of statistics used to describe data numerically or graphically in forms that are easily
understood and used.

• eg: mean, mode, standard deviation, variance, charts etc.

 TYPES OF STATISTICS : INFERENTIAL
STATISTICS
• The type of statistics used to make statements and draw conclusions about a population using
information obtained from a sample and based on probability theory.

• Eg: hypothesis testing (z test, t test, ANOVA), determining relationships between variables
(correlation) and making prediction (regression) etc.
IMPORTANT STATISTICAL TERMINOLOGIEST
TERMINOLOGY DEFINITION EXAMPLE
POPULATION Entire group of people or objects being - All registered voters
studied (set of all measurement of interest). - all students in a college
- all can beverage produced in a
month

SAMPLE A small group which is selected from the - 50 students selected randomly
population (a subset of the population). A from the Technology
good sample is a random sample (fair i.e. equal Department
chance of being selected and representative of - 30 cans of carbonated drinks,
the population). - 100 resistors from a batch of
10,000.

SAMPLING UNIT Each population unit that may be sampled Person, objects, item,
product

VARIABLE Simply put, it is something that varies. A height, weight, length, gender, taste,
variable is a characteristic or attribute of a aroma, colour
population that is being studied
LOOK AT THE PICTURE BELOW.

IDENTIFY..

1. POPULATION
2. SAMPLE
3. SAMPLING UNIT
4. VARIABLE

PLEASE GIVE
ANOTHER EXAMPLE.
TYPES OF VARIABLES
1. QUALITATIVE VARIABLES
- Known as categorical variables, refer to variables that express QUALITY @
CATEGORY (NOMINAL SCALE) or QUALITY (ORDINAL SCALE).
- Eg : gender, hair color, state of birth
NOMINAL SCALE
- They can be coded to appear numeric but the values are meaningless.

2. QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES
- variables that can be measured on a numeric scale.
- the values are numerically meaningful.
- eg: number of children in a family, amount of bacteria in a culture, weight of chillies in kg.
 QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES
• DISCRETE
– Variables which assume a finite or countable number of possible values (whole numbers)
– Obtained by counting of objects.
– Discrete Data can only take certain values.
– Eg : no. of bedrooms in a house, the number of apples in the basket, the number Information
of students in a class (you can't have half a student). gathered of
qualitative and
quantitative
• CONTINUOUS variables are
– Variables which assume an infinite number of possible values called DATA
– Obtained by measurement.
– Continuous Data can take any value (within a range)
– Eg: the weight of potatoes in a bag, time duration taken to bake a cake.
TIME TO DO SOME ACTIVITY !!!!!!
• In a group of 5 students, PLEASE REFER
PAGE 6
1. List whether the following statement is either
QUANTITATIVE variable or QUALITATIVE
variable.

2. State whether the following statement is either

DISCRETE variable or CONTINUOUS variable.
 LET’S CHECK YOUR ANSWER.

QUANTITATIVE QUALITATIVE

 Lifetime of a light bulb in hours  Religion of an individual

 Final results from the judges  Aroma of flowers
 The concentration of sugar in a fruit juice
 Monthly telephone bill
 Dividend paid to investment with Amanah Saham
Bumiputera
 Temperature of a region

WELL DONE. YOU DID IT.

 LET’S CHECK YOUR ANSWER.
DISCRETE VARIABLE
 Number of goals that scored by a player in a
tournament
 Number of seeds in an orange.
 Number of children in a family.
GOOD JOB.
CONTINUOUS VARIABLE
 The amount of petrol used by a car in 4 days
 Weight of a letter.
 Speed of a car
 Time needed to run 100 meters.
 Volume of fruit juice in a bottle.
 STATISTICS AND RESEARCH
WHY DO RESEARCHERS USE STATISTICS?
• Describe the population or phenomenon being studied
• To apply different statistical methods to analyze and understand the data better (more accurately)

• Help the researcher to understand a phenomenon by confirming or rejecting a hypothesis and to

make informed or more valid decisions.

• Describe the population or phenomenon being studied

THANK YOU