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 Overview
 Descriptive statistics
 The what and why of descriptive statistics

 Types of variables

 Formulas and interpretations of commonly used descriptive

statistics

 Pictorial representations of descriptive statistics

 Examining the relationship between two or more variables

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 Descriptive Statistics
 Used to describe the basic features of the data
in the study
 Types of variables
 Summary statistics
 Distribution of variables
 Pictorial representation

 Allows you to get a feel for the data

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 Purpose of Descriptive Statistics
 Characterize subjects in a study
 Sample size
 Patterns of sampling
 Summary measures
 Distribution

 Finding errors in data collection or data entry

 Impossible, improbable, or inappropriate values
 Values too high or too low
 Outliers
 Strange combinations
 Missing data
 Response rates

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 Purpose (con’t)
 Validity of assumptions
 Distribution
 outliers
 Equal variance
 Linearity

 Hypothesis generating
 Exploring unanticipated effects
 Difference in effects across subgroups
 Characterization of dose response
 Linear
 exponential

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 Types of Descriptive statistics
 Univariate
 Describing one variable

 Bivariate
 Describing two variables simultaneously

 Trivariate
 Describing three variables simultaneously

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Types of variables

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 Definitions
 Variable: a characteristic that changes or
varies over time and/or different subjects
under consideration.

 Changing over time

 Blood pressure, height, weight

 Changing across a population

 gender, race/ethnicity
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 Definitions (con’t)
 Quantitative variables (numeric): measure a
numerical quantity of amount on each
experimental unit

 Qualitative variables (categorical): measure

a non numeric quality or characteristic on each
experimental unity by classifying each subject
into a category

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 Quantitative variables
 Discrete variables: can only take values from
a list of possible values
 Number of co-morbidities

 Continuous variables: can assume the

infinitely many values corresponding to the
points on a line interval
 weight, height

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 Categorical variables
 Nominal: unordered categories
 Race/ethnicity
 Gender

 Ordinal: ordered categories

 likert scales( disagree, neutral, agree )
 Income categories

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 Univariate statistics
(numerical variables)
 Summary measures
 Measures of location
 Measures of spread

 Overall pattern (distribution)

 Unimodal (one major peak) vs. bimodal) (2 peaks)
 Symmetric vs. skewed
 Outliers-an individual value that falls outside the
overall pattern

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 n
   xi
i 1
Summary Statistics:
Measures of central tendency (location)
 Mean: The mean of a data set is the sum of the
observations divided by the number of observation
 Population mean: 1 n Sample mean: 1 n
   xi x   xi
n i 1 n i 1

 Median: The median of a data set is the “middle

value”
 For an odd number of observations, the median is the
observation exactly in the middle of the ordered list
 For an even number of observation, the median is the mean
of the two middle observation is the ordered list

 Mode: The mode is the single most frequently 13

occurring data value
 Skewness
The skewness of a distribution is measured by
comparing the relative positions of the mean, median
and mode.
 Distribution is symmetrical
 Mean = Median = Mode

 Distribution skewed right

 Median lies between mode and mean, and
mode is less than mean

 Distribution skewed left

 Median lies between mode and mean, and
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 Relative positions of the mean and median for (a)
right-skewed, (b) symmetric, and
(c) left-skewed distributions

Note: The mean assumes that the data is normally distributed. If this is not the case it is
better to report the median as the measure of location.

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 Summary statistics
Measures of spread (scale)
 Variance: The average of the squared deviations of
each sample value from the sample mean, except that
instead of dividing the sum of the squared deviations
by the sample size N, the sum is divided by N-1.
1 n
s 
2
 i  x  x  2

n  1 i 1

 Standard deviation: The square root of the sample

variance
n
1
s  x  x
n  1 i 1
i
2

 Range: the difference between the maximum and

minimum values in the sample.
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 Normal curves
same mean but different standard deviation

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 Summary statistics: measures of spread
(scale)
 We can describe the spread of a distribution by using
percentiles.

 The pth percentile of a distribution is the value such that p

percent of the observations fall at or below it.
 Median=50th percentile

 Quartiles divide data into four equal parts.

 First quartile—Q1
 25% of observations are below Q1 and 75% above Q1
 Second quartile—Q2
 50% of observations are below Q2 and 50% above Q2
 Third quartile—Q3
 75% of observations are below Q3 and 25% above Q3
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 Quartiles

Q1 Q2 Q3

25% 25% 25% 25%

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 Five number system
 Maximum
 Minimum
 Median=50th percentile
 Lower quartile Q1=50th percentile
 Upper quartile Q3=75th percentile

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 Graphical display of numerical
variables
(histogram)
Class Interval

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Frequency
20-under 30 6

Frequency
30-under 40 18

10
40-under 50 11
50-under 60 11
60-under 70 3
0

70-under 80 1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Years

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Graphical display of numerical
variables
(stem and leaf plot)
Raw Data Stem Leaf

86 77 91 60 55 2 3
76 92 47 88 67 3 9
4 79
23 59 72 75 83
5 569
77 68 82 97 89 6 07788
7 0245567789
81 75 74 39 67
8 11233689
79 83 70 78 91 9 11247

68 49 56 94 81

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 Graphical display of numerical
variables
(box plot)

Median

Minimum Q1 Q2 Q3 Maximum

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 Graphical display of numerical
variables
(box plot)
S<0 S=0 S>0

Negatively Symmetric Positively

Skewed (Not Skewed) Skewed
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 Univariate statistics
(categorical variables)
 Summary measures
 Count=frequency
 Percent=frequency/total sample

 The distribution of a categorical variable lists

the categories and gives either a count or a
percent of individuals who fall in each
category
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 Displaying categorical variables
Rank Cause of Frequency
Death (%)
1 Heart 710,760
Disease (43%)
2 Cancer 553,091
(33%)
heart cancer stroke CLRD accident
3 Stroke 167,661
(11%)
60
4 CLRD 122,009
( 7%) 40
5 Accidents 97,900 20
( 6%)
0
Total All five 1,651,421 heart cancer stroke CLRD accident
causes
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27
 Bivariate relationships
 An extension of univariate descriptive
statistics

 Used to detect evidence of association in the

sample
 Two variables are said to be associated if the
distribution of one variable differs across groups or
values defined by the other variable

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 Bivariate Relationships
 Two quantitative variables
 Scatter plot
 Side by side stem and leaf plots

 Two qualitative variables

 Tables
 Bar charts

 One quantitative and one qualitative variable

 Side by side box plots
 Bar chart
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Response and explanatory variables
 Response variable: the variable which we
intend to model.
 we intend to explain through statistical modeling

 Explanatory variable: the variable or variables

which may be used to model the response
variable
 values may be related to the response variable

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 Two quantitative variables
Correlation
A relationship between two variables.

Explanatory Response
(Independent)Variable (Dependent)Variable
x y
Hours of Training Number of Accidents
Shoe Size Height
Cigarettes smoked per day Lung Capacity
Score on SAT Grade Point Average
Height IQ
What type of relationship exists between the two variables
and is the correlation significant?
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 Scatter Plots and Types of Correlation

x = hours of training
Accidents y = number of accidents
60

50
A ccid e n ts

40

30

20

10

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Hours of Training

Negative Correlation as x increases, y decreases

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 Scatter Plots and Types of Correlation
x = SAT score
GPA
4.00
y = GPA
3.75
3.50
3.25
3.00
2.75
2.50
2.25
2.00
1.75
1.50

300 350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800
Math SAT

Positive Correlation as x increases y increases

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 Scatter Plots and Types of Correlation
IQ
x = height y = IQ
160

150

140

130
IQ

120

110

100

90

80

60 64 68 72 76 80
Height

No linear correlation 34
 Correlation Coefficient
A measure of the strength and direction of a linear relationship
between two variables
nxy  xy
r
nx 2   x 
2
ny 2  (y ) 2

The range of r is from -1 to 1.

-1 0 1
If r is close to -1 If r is close to If r is close to 1
there is a strong 0 there is no there is a strong
negative linear positive
correlation correlation correlation

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Positive and negative correlation
1 If two variables x and y are positively correlated this means
that:
 large values of x are associated with large values of y, and
 small values of x are associated with small values of y

2 If two variables x and y are negatively correlated this means

that:
 large values of x are associated with small values of y, and
 small values of x are associated with large values of y

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Positive correlation

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Negative correlation

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 Two qualitative variables
(Contingency Tables)

 Categorical data is usually displayed using a

contingency table, which shows the frequency
of each combination of categories observed in
the data value
 The rows correspond to the categories of the
explanatory variable

 The columns correspond the categories of the

response variable
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 Example
 Aspirin and Heart Attacks
 Explanatory variable=drug received
 placebo
 Aspirin

 Response variable=heart attach status

 yes
 no

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 Contingency table:
heart attack example
Heart Attack No Heart Total
Attack

Aspirin 104 10,933 11,037

placebo 189 10,845 11,034

Total 293 21,778 22,071

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 Two qualitative variables
Marijuana Use in College: x=parental use, y=student use
Both Neither One 60

50
Never 17 141 68 226
40

Occasional 11 54 44 109 30

20
Regular 19 40 51 110 10

0
47 235 163 445 Both N either One

N ever Occasional Regular

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 Case Study #1
Mean birth weight by race
3200
3103.74
3100
3000
2900
2804.01
2800
2719.69
2700
2600
2500
white black other

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 One quantitative, One qualitative
Box plot of age by low birth weight
Mean age by low birth weight

50

24
23.66
40 23.5

23
a
g 30

22.5 22.31
e

20
22

21.5
yes no
10

0 1 low birth weight

l b w

low birth weight

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 Case Study #1
Birth weight and age
b wt
5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

10 20 30 40 50

a ge

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r=.09
 Trivariate Relationships
 An extension of bivariate descriptive statistics

 We focus on description that helps us decide

about the role variables might play in the
ultimate statistical analyses

 Identify variables that can increase the

precision of the data analysis used to answer
associations between two other variables

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Confounding and effect modification
 A factor, Z, is said to confound a relationship
between a risk factor, X, and an outcome, Y, if it is
not an effect modifier and the unadjusted strength of
the relationship between X and Y differs from the
common strength of the relationship between X and Y
for each level of Z.

 A factor, Z, is said to be an effect modifier of a

relationship between a risk factor, X, and an outcome
measure, Y, if the strength of the relationship between
the risk factor, X, and the outcome, Y, varies among
the levels of Z.
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 Example: confounding
 In our low birth weight data suppose we wish
to investigate the association between race and
low birth weight.

 Our ability to detect this association might be

affected by:
 Smoking status being associated with low birth
weight
 Smoking status being associated with race

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 Case study #1
Race and smoking status
90
82.09
80
70
61.54
60 54.17
50 45.83
yes
40 38.46
no
30
20 17.91

10
0
white black other

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 Case Study #1
Race, smoking status, LBW
70
63.46
60 58.33
60
smokers
50
40 41.67
40 36.54
yes
30 no
20

10

0
white black other

100
90.91
90
80
Non-smokers 70 68.75
63.64
60
50 yes
40 36.36 no
31.25
30
20
9.09
10
0
white black other 50
 Multivariate Statistics
 Allows one to calculated the association
between and response and outcome of interest,
after controlling for potential confounders.

 Allows for one to assess the association

between an outcome and multiple response
variables of interest.
Statistical Models

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