Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1. History of Statistics

• Statistics came from the Latin word “status,” which means “state.”
• Original definition: the science dealing with data about the condition of state or community.
• Purposes of Statistics in the past: taxes, population count, poultry, and livestock.

1.2. Statistics Today

• The government still uses statistics: Consumer Price Index, Gross National Product, Gross
Domestic Product, Birth Rates, Mortality Rates, Unemployment Rate, Literacy Rate, and
Monetary Exchange Rates. These data are compiled by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
• Today, not only the government is the major user of statistical science. It is now also used by
the private sector.
• Medicine: testing for effectiveness of drugs, Economics: analyze local and international
markets, Business: Market research, Educators: check the validity of tests.

1.3. Statistics and Statistical Inquiry

Statistics is defined as the branch of science that deals with the collection, presentation,
organization, analysis, and interpretation of data.

Another popular definition of statistics is “a set of numerical data” (e.g. vital statistics in a
pageant, monthly sales of a company, daily dollar-peso exchange rate).

Statistical Inquiry is a designed research that provides information needed to solve a research
problem.

Steps in a Statistical Inquiry

1. Identify the problem

2. Plan the study
3. Collect the data
4. Explore the data
5. Analyze data and interpret results
6. Present the results.

1.4. Population vs. Sample

Population is the collection of all elements under consideration in a statistical inquiry.

Sample is a subset of the population.

Example 1.4.1. Suppose we want to know the average income of all Filipino employees. In order
to do this, we randomly chose 50 Filipino employees. In this example, the population of interest
is all the Filipino employees, and the sample is the 50 Filipino employees randomly selected.

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 Why do we resort to sampling? We have two main reasons: because it is more cost-efficient,
and sometimes it is not feasible to collect data from population.

1.5. Variables, Observations, and Data

A variable is a characteristic or attribute of elements in a collection that can assume different

values for the different elements.

An observation is the realized value of a variable

Data is the collection of observations

Example 1.5.1. Given below is the age and sex of four students

Student 1 2 3 4

AGE 17 18 19 21

SEX Male Female Female Male

In the example, Age and Sex are the variables, the values corresponding to the variables
are the observations (17, 18, 19, 21 are the observations for the variable Age), and the
whole table is called data.

1.6. Parameter vs. Statistic

Parameter: Summary measure describing a specific characteristic of the population

Statistic: Summary measure describing a specific characteristic of the sample

Example 1.6.1. Going back to the problem in Example 1.1, suppose from your sample of Filipino
employees, you calculated an average of 20,000 pesos. However, in reality, the real value of the
average income of Filipino employees is 24,000 pesos. Here, 20,000 pesos is a statistic, and
24,000 pesos is a parameter.

1.7. Fields of Statistics

Statistical Theory of Mathematical Statistics (Theoretical Statistics) – deals with the

development and exposition of theories that serve as bases of statistical methods

Statistical Method of Applied Statistics (Applied Statistics)– refer to procedures and

techniques used in the collection, presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data. Applied
Statistics has two main branches: Descriptive and Inferential Statistics.

Descriptive Statistics: includes all techniques used in organizing, summarizing, and

presenting the data on hand. Includes: graphical presentation, tabular descriptions, summary
statistics.

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 Inferential Statistics: includes all techniques used in analyzing the sample data that will lead
to generalizations about a population from which the sample came from.

Descriptive Inferential
Purpose Collection, Making
Description, and Predictions/Inferences
Analysis of data on a larger set of data
Main Concern Describe the sample Infer about the
population

Exercises 1.1.

1. Suppose we are concerned to test whether the true proportion of male born babies is 0.5
based on a sample. Is this an application of descriptive or inferential statistics?
2. A news program wants to know whether all Filipinos are in favor of a proposed tax increase,
so they posted on their Twitter account a poll about it. 90% of the voters in the online poll
are against the proposal.
a. In this scenario, what is the sample and population?
b. Is 90% a statistic or a parameter
c. Comment on the research design given above.

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