STATISTICS FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION What is statistics?

is a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, organizing, analysis, interpretation & presentation of masses of numerical data. =>meaningful conclusions can be drawn from them. Types of Statistics? Two kinds of Statistics Descriptive statistics Inferential statistics Whats the DIFFERENCE? Descriptive Statistics Techniques that take the raw scores from a distribution and summarize them in a form that is more manageable. characteristics of the data = described in simple terms. Methods = summarize, organize, simplify data. Include the construction of graphs, charts & tables and the calculation of various descriptive measures such as average (MEANS) and measure of variation (STANDARD DEVIATION). Inferential Statistics Other name = statistical induction. Comprises the use of statistics to make inferences concerning some unknown aspect of a population. mathematical tools to make forecasts and projections by analyzing the given data. When use the statistics?? Descriptive statistics To describe the basic features of the data in a study. To present quantitative descriptions in a manageable form. Inferential statistics To study samples and then make generalizations about the population from which they were selected Interrelation between Descriptive statistics & Inferential statistics Preliminary descriptive analysis of sample > choose the appropriate inferential method. Descriptive Statistics = performed on a sample & on a population To examine & explore the data Inferential Statistics = An inference is made about the population based on the samples data VARIABLES AND DATA SETS A variable is property of an object or event that can take on different values. It is a characteristic associated with each unit in a population Constant: An event whose value never changes Quantitative data can be distinguished in terms they are discrete or continuous.

Discrete vs Continuous variable A discrete variable (also called a count variable) is a numerical variable whose values are obtained from a count. Continuous Variable A variable that consists of numbers whose values, at least in theory has no restrictions. Example, weights of female statistics students, reaction time, standardized test score Continuous or Discrete?? Cooking time for pasta IQ score Age Population in Parit Raja Number of speeding tickets obtained Speed of jetliner.

Data Quantitative Data Qualitative Data Quantitative Data Data is quantitative if the observations or measurements made on a given variable of a sample or population have numerical values. Example: height, weight, number of children, blood pressure, current, voltage. is discrete if the corresponding data values take discrete values. Example : number of children, number of cars. is continuous if the data values take continuous values. Example: speed, distance, time, pressure. Qualitative Data Data is qualitative if words, groups and categories represents the observations or measurements. Example: colors, yes-no answers, blood group. Qualitative or Quantitative ? Race Age Family size Academic major IQ Score Net Worth (RM) Favorite sport Gender Temperature Political preference

Data Types/ Measurement Scales Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio