Introduction
to Statistics
Junry P. Bacalso
Instructor
What is Statistics is the science
Statistics? of collecting, organizing,
analyzing, interpreting,
and presenting data to
make decisions or
predictions.
Discussion Questions
Why do Can you
we need think of a
statistics field that
in real life? doesn’t use
statistics?
Branches of Statistics
Type Purpose Example
Descriptive Summarize and Mean, median,
Statistics describe data graphs
Make predictions
Hypothesis testing,
Inferential or generalizations
confidence
Statistics from a sample to a
intervals
population
Population
The entire group of individuals,
items, or data under consideration
in a statistical study.
Example: All students in a
university, all households in a
country, or all manufactured
products in a factory
Sample
A subset of the population
selected for analysis. Used when
studying the whole population is
impractical.
Example: 500 randomly selected
students from a university to study
average GPA.
Why Do We Use Samples Instead of
Populations?
• Populations are often too
large or costly to study fully.
• Sampling allows for quicker,
cheaper, and practical data
collection.
• If done properly, a sample can
represent the population well
enough to make accurate
inferences.
What is Variables?
A variable is any characteristic,
number, or quantity that can be
measured or counted and may vary
among the individuals in a study.
• It is what you collect data
about in a statistical
investigation.
• Examples: age, gender,
income, test scores, eye color.
Classification of Variables
Main Type Subtypes Description Examples
Nominal: No natural Nominal: Gender, Blood type
Qualitative Nominal- order Ordinal: Education level,
(Categorical) Ordinal Ordinal: Natural order Satisfaction
exists (Low/Medium/High)
Discrete: Countable
Discrete: Number of pets,
values
Quantitative Discrete- cars
Continuous:
(Numerical) Continuous Continuous: Weight, height,
Measurable, can take
temperature
any value in a range
Discussion • Why is it important to know the
Questions type of a variable before
analyzing it?
• What kind of variable is
“income bracket” if options are:
low, medium, high?
• Can a variable be both
categorical and ordered?
Levels of Measurement
Describe how data values
relate to each other, and
determine which statistical
methods are valid for a
variable.
There are four levels:
Level Characteristics Examples Can Do With It
Gender, Blood
Nominal Categorical, no order Count, Mode
Type, Nationality
Categorical with order, Satisfaction (Low,
Ordinal but no precise Medium, High), Median, Rank
differences Education Level
Ordered, equal intervals, Temperature in °C Mean, Standard
Interval
no true zero or °F, IQ scores Deviation
All math
Ordered, equal intervals, Weight, Height,
Ratio operations,
true zero exists Age, Income
including ratios
Examples
References:
Triola, M. F. (2021). Elementary Statistics (13th ed.). Pearson.
Bluman, A. G. (2018). Elementary Statistics: A Step-by-Step
Approach (10th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Gravetter, F., & Wallnau, L. (2016). Statistics for the
Behavioral Sciences (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Frost, J. (2023). Statistics by Jim: Levels of Measurement
Thank You!
