INTRODUCTION

TO STATISTICS
Chapter 1 Part 1

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Contents
 Introduction
 Population & Sample
 Variables & Data
 Sources of Data
 Sample Surveys & Sampling Techniques

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Objectives
 At the end of this topic, students should be able
to:
 classify a statistical study as either descriptive or
inferential
 identify the population and the sample in an inferential
study
 explain what is meant by a representative sample
 describe simple random sampling

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The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2011 has shown
that the prevalence of diabetes in Malaysia has increased by 31.0%
in 5 years, from 11.6% in 2006 to 15.2% in 2011

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Source: Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Character 2010, Population
and Housing Census, Department of Statistics, Malaysia.

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Introduction
 What is statistics?
 Common usage: Numerical facts
 Second meaning: A group of methods used to collect,
analyze, present and interpret data and to make
decisions
 2 major types of statistics
 Descriptive

 Inferential

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Introduction
 Descriptive Statistics
 consists of methods for organizing and
summarizing information.
 includes the construction of graphs, charts,
and tables and the calculation of various
descriptive measures such as averages,
measures of variation, and percentiles.

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Introduction

 Inferential statistics
 consists of methods for drawing and
measuring the reliability of conclusions about
a population based on information obtained
from a sample of the population.

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Introduction
 Descriptive or inferential?
 Should consider the purpose of statistical
study. If….
 Examine and explore information for its own
intrinsic only  descriptive statistics
 The use the information obtained from a sample of
a population to draw conclusions  inferential
statistics

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Population & Sample

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Population & Sample
 What is population & sample?
 Population:
The collection of all individuals or
items under consideration in a statistical
study.
 Sample: That part of the population from
which information is obtained.
 Give examples of population & sample.

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Exercise 1
A researcher selects randomly 100 students from School of Computing.

She asks each student their age and calculates the mean age of the

100 students. It is 21.3 years. She then estimates the mean age of all

students in School of Computing to be 21.3 years. Based on the given

information, answer the following questions:

 Classify the study as either descriptive or inferential.

 Identify the population and sample of the study.

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