Chapter 1: Introduction to Statistics
Variables
• A variable is a characteristic or condition that can change or take on different values.
• Most research begins with a general question about the relationship between two
variables for a specific group of individuals.
Population
• The entire group of individuals is called the population.
• For example, a researcher may be interested in the relation between class size (variable
1) and academic performance (variable 2) for the population of third-grade children.
Sample
• Usually populations are so large that a researcher cannot examine the entire group.
Therefore, a sample is selected to represent the population in a research study. The
goal is to use the results obtained from the sample to help answer questions about the
population.
Types of Variables
• Variables can be classified as discrete or continuous.
• Discrete variables (such as class size) consist of indivisible categories, and continuous
variables (such as time or weight) are infinitely divisible into whatever units a
researcher may choose. For example, time can be measured to the nearest minute,
second, half-second, etc.
Measuring Variables
• To establish relationships between variables, researchers must observe the variables
and record their observations. This requires that the variables be measured.
• The process of measuring a variable requires a set of categories called a scale of
measurement and a process that classifies each individual into one category.
4 Types of Measurement Scales
Categorical Variables – values quantified are qualitative in nature
1. A nominal scale is an unordered set of categories identified only by name. Nominal
measurements only permit you to determine whether two individuals are the same or
different.
2. An ordinal scale is an ordered set of categories. Ordinal measurements tell you the
direction of difference between two individuals. (The differences between variables
cannot be identified; the difference between satisfied and very satisfied, THE
DIFFERENCE IS NOT FIXED).
3. An interval scale is an ordered series of equal-sized categories. Interval measurements
identify the direction and magnitude of a difference. The zero point is located arbitrarily
on an interval scale.
Zero value has no meaning.
Cures the problem in ordinal scale, the differences between variables are
equal.
Order, numeric not description.
4. A ratio scale is an interval scale where a value of zero indicates none of the variable.
Ratio measurements identify the direction and magnitude of differences and allow ratio
comparisons of measurements.
Zero value has its meaning (0 Celsius)
3 Types of Relationship
1. Positive relationship
2. Negative relationship
3. No relationship
Correlational Studies
• The goal of a correlational study is to determine whether there is a
relationship between two variables and to describe the relationship.
• A correlational study simply observes the two variables as they exist
naturally.
Experiments
• The goal of an experiment is to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between
two variables; that is, to show that changing the value of one variable causes changes to
occur in a second variable.
• In an experiment, one variable is manipulated to create treatment conditions. A second
variable is observed and measured to obtain scores for a group of individuals in each of
the treatment conditions. The measurements are then compared to see if there are
differences between treatment conditions. All other variables are controlled to prevent
them from influencing the results.
• In an experiment, the manipulated variable is called the independent variable and the
observed variable is the dependent variable.
Other Types of Studies
• Other types of research studies, known as non-experimental or quasi-experimental, are
similar to experiments because they also compare groups of scores.
• These studies do not use a manipulated variable to differentiate the groups. Instead,
the variable that differentiates the groups is usually a pre-existing participant variable
(such as male/female) or a time variable (such as before/after).
• Because these studies do not use the manipulation and control of true experiments,
they cannot demonstrate cause and effect relationships. As a result, they are similar to
correlational research because they simply demonstrate and describe relationships.
Data
• The measurements obtained in a research study are called the data.
• The goal of statistics is to help researchers organize and interpret the data.
Descriptive Statistics
• Descriptive statistics are methods for organizing and summarizing data.
• For example, tables or graphs are used to organize data, and descriptive values such as
the average score are used to summarize data.
• A descriptive value for a population is called a parameter and a descriptive value for a
sample is called a statistic.
Inferential Statistics
• Inferential statistics are methods for using sample data to make general conclusions
(inferences) about populations.
• Because a sample is typically only a part of the whole population, sample data provide
only limited information about the population. As a result, sample statistics are
generally imperfect representatives of the corresponding population parameters.
Sampling Error
• The discrepancy between a sample statistic and its population parameter is called
sampling error.
• Defining and measuring sampling error is a large part of inferential statistics.
The goal of the Statistician is to mitigate the sampling risk
3 Best ways to Mitigate Sampling Risk
1. Increase the number of sample
2. Use an effective sampling method
3. Making a lot of sample groups to test then getting the mean.
Notation
• The individual measurements or scores obtained for a research participant will be
identified by the letter X (or X and Y if there are multiple scores for each individual).
• The number of scores in a data set will be identified by N for a population or n for a
sample.
• Summing a set of values is a common operation in statistics and has its own notation.
The Greek letter sigma, Σ, will be used to stand for "the sum of." For example, ΣX
identifies the sum of the scores.
