LECTURE 1

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

WHAT IS STATISTICS?
Statistics: A collection of methods for planning, studies and experiments, obtaining data, and then organizing, summarizing, presenting, analyzing, interpreting, and drawing conclusion based on DATA (emphasis mine) [Triola, 2008] Now lest learn the jargon of statistics

DATA
Data (singular datum) are observations or results etc that have been gathered.
Examples: measurements, experimental results, survey responses, scores, . . .

POPULATION VERSUS SAMPLE

This is the complete of data from all elements being studied. The completeness is based on the fact that every single eligible subject was studied. Such a collection of data from every member of the population is called a census. For example, income of all Florida residents. However a census is costly and not practical for most cases. A sample is a subset of the population

SAMPLE DATA
The field of statistics involves using sample data to make inferences about a population. In order to do this we must collect sample data in a appropriate manner to eliminate bias We must also correctly test characterize the sample data otherwise the inferences on the population will be meaningless.

MORE DEFINITIONS
Parameter: This is a numerical measure describing or characterizing a population. Statistics: This is a numerical measure describing or characterizing a sample. Example: The average income of Floridians would be a parameter, whereas the height of a sample of Tallahassee residents would be a statistic.

TYPES OF DATA
Quantitative data: Consist of numerical values representing counts, measurements etc Examples: traffic volumes, number of units produced by an industrial process, heights of basketball players, sales numbers for a retail store etc etc

TYPES OF DATA
Qualitative data: Also called categorical data or attribute. These distinguish a nonnumeric characteristic.
Examples: gender, ethnicity, level of education, marital status, hair color, apparel size, hobby,

TYPES OF DATA
Quantitative data may be further subdivided into; Discrete data Continuous data Discrete data consists of only countable numeric values i.e. 3, 18, 10, 200 1, 0, etc Example: number of eggs a hen lays, number of parcels processed by a courier service

TYPES OF DATA
Continuous data: These result from infinitely many possible discrete as well as decimal values. Examples: sales revenue, weight of patients, volume of milk produced by dairy cows,

TYPES OF DATA
Nominal versus ordinal data Nominal level of measurement : This exists if qualitative data cannot be arranged in an ordering scheme. E.g. hair color, is a name, label or category but cannot be expressed on a scale of low to high or vice versa. whereas apparel size does not exhibit NLM

TYPES OF DATA
Ordinal data: Data exhibits ordinal level of measurement if they can be arranged in some order. However differences between the data values have no meaning. Examples: Class grade, A, B, C etc; Seniority as in police departments, corporal, lieutenant, captain, major, chief, etc

SOFTWARE
There are currently a plethora of statistical software in use. Various disciplines have embraced different products based on their needs Popular software among engineers include Minitab, SAS, SPSS. In this class we shall use MS Excel to provide a general overview TI calculators also have advanced statistical packages.

OTHER RESOURCES
Vendors & Unofficial (Disclaimer !)
o StatSoft electronic statistics textbook o SpringerLink online math encyclopedia o And a plethora of others (youtube, .)

US Commerce Department
o NIST/SEMATECH eHandbook
Yep, thats me. I use it A LOT !

QUESTIONS & COMMENTS ?

Did any of this make any sense at all ?