Virtual University of Pakistan

Lecture No. 1
Statistics and Probability

WHAT IS STATISTICS?

That science which enables us to draw conclusions about various phenomena on the basis of real data
collected on sample-basis

 A tool for data-based research

 Also known as Quantitative Analysis

 Any scientific enquiry in which you would like to base your conclusions and decisions on real-life
data, you need to employ statistical techniques!

 Now a days, in the developed countries of the world, there is an active movement for of
Statistical Literacy.

Application Areas

A lot of application in a wide variety of

disciplines …

Agriculture, Anthropology, Astronomy,Biology, Economics, Engineering ,Environment, Geology,

Virtually every single subject fromAnthropology to Zoology …. A to Z!

THE NATURE OF DISCIPLINE

STATISTICS

 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
 INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
 The meaning of Data

The word “data” appears in many contexts and frequently is used in ordinary
conversation. Although the word carries something of an aura of scientific
mystique, its meaning is quite simple and mundane.
It is Latin for “those that are given” (the singular form is “datum”). Data
may therefore be thought of as the results of observation.
EXAMPLES OF DATA
Data are collected in many aspects of everyday life.
• Statements given to a police officer or physician or psychologist during an interview
are data.
• The correct and incorrect answers given by a student a final examination.
• Almost any athletic event produces data.
• The time required by a runner to complete a marathon,
• The number of errors committed by a baseball team nine innings of play.
• And, of course, data are obtained in the course of scientific inquiry:
• The positions of artifacts and fossils in an archaeological site,
• The number of interactions between two members of an animal colony during a period
of observation,
• The spectral composition of light emitted by a star.
 OBSERVATIONS AND VARIABLES
In statistics, an observation often means any sort of numerical recording of information,
whether it is a physical measurement such as height or weight; a classification such as
heads or tails, or an answer to a question such as yes or no.
Variable:
A characteristic that varies with an individual or an object, is called a variable.
For example, age is a variable as it varies from person to person. A variable can assume
a number of values. The given set of all possible values from which the variable takes on
a value is called its Domain. If for a given problem, the domain of a variable contains
only one value, then the variable is referred to as a constant.
QUANTITATIVE & QUALITATIVE VARIABLES

Variables may be classified into quantitative and qualitative according to the form of the
characteristic of interest.

A variable is called a quantitative variable when a characteristic can be expressed numerically

An individual or an object with such a characteristic can be counted or enumerated after having
been assigned to one of the several mutually exclusive classes or categories.
 DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS VARIABLES:

A quantitative variable may be classified as discrete or continuous. A discrete variable is one that can
take only a discrete set of integers or whole numbers, that is, the values are taken by jumps or breaks. A
discrete variable represents count data such as the number of persons in a family, the number of rooms
in a house, the number of deaths in an accident, the income of an individual, etc.

A variable is called a continuous variable if it can take on any value-fractional or integral––within a given
interval, i.e. its domain is an interval with all possible values without gaps. A continuous variable
represents measurement data such as the age of a person, the height of a plant, the weight of a
commodity, the temperature at a place, etc.

A variable whether countable or measurable, is generally denoted by some symbol such as X or Y and Xi
or Xj represents the ith or jth value of the variable. The subscript i or j is replaced by a number such as
1,2,3, … when referred to a particular value.

MEASUREMENT SCALES (Cont.)

Interval scale
A measurement scale possessing a constant interval size (distance) but not a true zero point, is
called an interval scale. Temperature measured on either the Celcius or the Fahrenheit scale is
an outstanding example of interval scale because the same difference exists between 20o C
(68o F) and 30o C (86o F) as between 5o C (41o F) and 15o C (59o F). It cannot be said that a
temperature of 40 degrees is twice as hot as a temperature of 20 degree, i.e. the ratio 40/20
has no meaning. The arithmetic operation of addition, subtraction, etc. are meaningful.
 RATIO SCALE

It is a special kind of an interval scale where the sale of measurement has a true zero point as
its origin. The ratio scale is used to measure weight, volume, distance, money, etc. The, key to
differentiating interval and ratio scale is that the zero point is meaningful for ratio scale.

Example

Chemical and manufacturing plants sometimes discharge toxic-waste materials such as DDT
into nearby rivers and streams. These toxins can adversely affect the plants and animals
inhabiting the river and the river bank.

A study of fish was conducted in the Tennessee River in Alabama and its three tributary creeks:
Flint creek, Limestone creek and Spring creek.

A total of 144 fish were captured, and the following variable measured for each one:

1. River/Creek from where fish was captured

2. Species of fish (Channel fish, Largemouth bass or smallmouth buffalo fish)

3. Length of fish (Centimeters)

4. Weight of fish (grams)

5. DDT concentration in the bodily system of the fish (parts per million)

Classify each of the five variables measured as quantitative or qualitative.

Also, identify the types of measurement scales for each of the five variables.

Solution:
The variables Length, weight and DDT concentration are quantitative variables becauseeach
is measured on a nominal

scale (Length is centimeters, Weight is

grams and DDT in parts per million).

All three of these variables are being

measured on the Ratio Scale.