I.

Variable and Types of Statistical Variables

There are several operational terms that we shall often use in the field of statistics.

 Data -it is a set of observations, values, elements, or objects under

consideration. It is manipulated by the statistician with the use of different
statistical test.

 Population - it is a complete set of all possible observations or elements. It is the

totality of all the objects that is set to be studied by the statistician.

 Sample - it is a part that represents the population.

 Parameter - it is any statistical information or attribute taken from a population.

It is the numerical characteristic of a population.

 Statistic - it is any statistical information taken from a sample and it is the

numerical characteristic of a sample.

 Variable - is a specific factor, property, and characteristic of a population

or a sample.

TWO KINDS OF DATA ACCORDING TO THEIR ATTRIBUTE

 Quantitative Data - it refers to numerical information obtained from counting

or measuring.

Ex.
Age, Height, Weight, Mortality rate, Income, etc.
 Qualitative Data - refers to descriptive attributes that cannot be subjected to
operations of mathematics.

Ex.
Gender, Civil Status, Business Type, Religion, Province, etc.

TWO KINDS OF VARIABLE ACCORDING TO THEIR COUNTABILITY

 Discrete Variable - these are variables that can be obtained through counting.
These variables are exact in measure.

Ex.
Number of births, Identification numbers, Pages in a textbook.

 Continuous Variable - these are the variables that can be obtain by measuring
objects or attributes. They can never be exact in measure.

Ex.
Height, Temperature, Weight, Area. Time.

TWO KINDS OF VARIABLE ACCORDING TO ITS USE

 Independent Variable - it is the variable that is being manipulated by the

investigator
 Dependent Variable - it is the variable whose value is predicted by the variable
that is being used.
Measurement Scales

Measurements are quantifiers of data in order for these variables to have a specific
magnitude. Note that knowing the type of measurement used in a given data is a must
for a statistician in order for him to avoid wrong choice of statistical test. There are
four types of measurement scales used in statistics.

1. Nominal Measurements - these are coded numbers assigned for identification

and classification purposes only. There is no meaning attached to the magnitudes of
numbers. Most of these measures are under the qualitative data
 Ex.
For Civil Status: 1 - Single
2 - Married
3 - Divorced or Separated
4 - Single Parent

Ex.
Engineering Courses 5 - Mechanical Engineering
4 - Electrical Engineering
3 - Civil Engineering
2 - Electronics Engineering
1 - Chemical Engineering

2. Ordinal Measurements - these are measurements that assigns elements or objects

into ranks, order, or classes.

Ex.
Volume of Customers 1 - Low 2 - Medium 3 - High 4- Very High
Ranks of Honor Students
Order of grades from highest to lowest in statistics.
Average score classes in Chemistry

3. Interval Measurements - these are measurements that has an absolute zero

value.

Ex.
Test Results , Gravity , Water Level, Temperature

4. Ratio Measurements - these are measurements that has no absolute zero

value in nature.

Ex.
Height, Area, Time, etc.
II. RANDOM SAMPLING OF STATISTICAL VARIABLES.

Sampling is the process of selecting and gathering of data. It can minimize the labor
exerted by the researchers and also the cost, time, and effort needed in the study.
There are two types of sampling technique and it is according to the chances of
different elements in a population to be a part of the sample.

1. Probability Sampling - it is a sampling procedure where every element of a

population had given an equal chance to be a part of a sample. There are six kinds of
probability sampling technique.

a) Simple Random Sampling - also called as the “lottery method” wherein the
elements are randomly selected or with the aid of table of random numbers. This
method limits the number of individual to be chosen as a sample and everyone has an
equal chance to be a part of the sample.

b) Stratified Random Sampling - it is used to avoid biased sample. This is done

by dividing the population into categories, divisions, clusters, or strata.

c) Systematic Random Sampling - also called as the “nth technique” wherein the
nth element in the population is being selected until the desired sample size is
selected.

d) Cluster Sampling - is is very applicable when the population is spread out over
a wide geographical area. This is called also as the area sampling technique.

e) Multi-Stage Random Sampling - this is a combination of two or more

probability sampling technique wherein the population is divided into strata, then
strata into clusters, then obtaining sample from clusters using the simple random
sampling technique
 f) Sequential Sampling - in this method, units are drawn one by one in a sequence
without prior fixing of the total number of observations and the results of the
drawing of any stage are used to decide whether to terminate sampling or not.

Note: To obtain probability samples requires the use of a selection mechanism

called randomization.

Randomization - is the process of selecting elements of the universe so that each

element has a known, not necessarily equal chance of being included in the sample.
Example of using randomization is the use of chip-in-a box method, table of random
numbers, and a generator of random numbers using calculator or computer.

2. Non-Probability Sampling - a sampling procedure in which not every element of

the population is given an equal chance of being selected as a sample. There are five
kinds of non-probability sampling technique.

a) Convenience Sampling - this method selects sampling units that come to hand
or are convenient to get information. This technique is used when the accessibility of
the researchers towards the given sample is limited and requires a more easy way to
get that sample or element.

b) Purposive Sampling - this is used when a specific objective under study

requires a particular sample. This method sets out to make a sample agree with the
profile of the population based on some pre-selected characteristics.

c) Quota Sampling - this is done by drawing samples randomly but if the desired
quota is reached, the drawing of the samples is terminated. This method selects a
specified number of sampling units possessing certain characteristics.

d) Judgement Sampling - in this method, the selection of the sample is based with
accordance of the expert’s judgments towards the given study.

e) Accidental Sampling - only those whom the researcher meets by chance are
included in the sample when using this technique.
 To determine the number of samples needed in the study, we will use the Slovin’s
formula.

N
n
1  Ne2
Where

n is the number of samples only needed in the study

N is the total population
E is the margin of error.

The margin of error is the confidence interval of the formula. Usually, 5% and 1%
are commonly used as the error size which means that 95% and 99% of the sample’s
responses are accurate.

We can also derive a formula for the population and the margin of error.

A. Given: Sample size and Margin of error B. Given: Sample size and Population
Missing: Population Missing: Margin of Error

N N
n n
1  Ne2 1  Ne2

(1) n(1  Ne2 )  N (1) n(1  Ne2 )  N

(2) n  nNe2  N (2) n  nNe2  N

(3) n  N  nNe2 (3) nNe2  N  n

(4) n  N( 1 ne 2 ) N n
(4) e 2 
Nn
 (5) N 
n N n
(5) e   100
1  ne 2 Nn

Example 2.3.1 At 5% margin of error, a researcher used 90 students from a school as

samples.What is the student’s population?

Given: n = 90
e = 5% = 0.05
N=?

Solution

n
(1) N 
1  ne 2

90
(2) N 
1  90( o.o5 )2

(3) N  116 students.

Example 2.3.2 Find the sample size if the population size is 250 at 95% accuracy.

Given: N = 250
95% accuracy = 5% margin of error = 0.05
N=?

Solution

N
(1) n 
1  Ne2

250
(2) n 
1  250( 0.05 )2

(3) n  154

Example 2.3.3 A researcher wants his sample size for his study is 600 respondents.
Given that the total population is 50,000. What would be his margin of error?

Solution

N n
(1) e   100 (3) e  4.06%
Nn

50000  600
(2) e   100
( 50000 )( 600 )

III. STATISTICAL TOOLS FOR DATA ANALYSIS

A. PARAMETRIC TESTS - these are test whose distribution are assumed to be
normal,

KULMOGOROV SMIRNOV TEST- test for normality of a given data. If

value is less than alpha, then the category is not normally distributed.

1. MEAN - use if wamt to have a single value that represents the whole study,.
2. STANDARD DEVIATION -to determine whether the data in a scatter plot
diagram is compact or scattered. When the data points are compact, the more reliable
the data is. In other words, the lower the standard deviation, the accurate the data is.
3. VARIANCE - it is the square of standard deviation and can be used also to check
how the data variates.
4. Z-TEST - use only if the population/sample are assumed to be normal, and also the
number of samples must be greater than 30.
5. T-TEST - use only if the population/sample are assumed to be normal, and also the
number of samples must be lesser than 30.
6. ANOVA - Analysis of Variance is used to determine if there is significant
difference between two or more groups
7. CORRELATION - use only if the researcher wants to determine the strength of
relationship between two or more variables.
8. REGRETION - use only if the researcher wants to forecast a certain data, out of
the given data.

B. NON-PARAMETRIC TESTS- tests that are usable for nominal and ordinal
data.
1. MANN-WHITNEY U TEST - used if want to determine the significant difference
of two variables into one category(ex. Gender to their preference)
2. SPEARMAN RHO - like the correlation analysis but for rank data.