BASIC TERMS USED IN STATISTICS

By -

INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS AND TERMS USED
WHAT IS STATISTICS ;
·         It is the science of data
·         It involves the collection, classification, summarization, organization and interpretation of numerical information and also entails the ability to effectively communicate and present the results and inference drawn from the data
POPULATION AND SAMPLE; A population is a chosen body of measurement or data, while the sample is a specified number of measurement or data. The sample is a subset of the population.
DESCRIPTIVE AND INFERENTIAL STATISTICS;
·         Descriptive statistics is a branch of statistics that deals with the description of a data set or measurement body, while inferential statistics is a branch of statistics that deals with the drawing of conclusions from a data set or measurement body based on a sample
·         Descriptive statistics consists of procedures used to summarize and describe important characteristics of a set of measurements, while inferential statistics consists of procedures used to draw inferences about the characteristics of a population based on a sample drawn from the population
·         Descriptive statistics makes use of NUMERICAL and GRAPHICAL methods to * describe patterns,* summarize information and * present information gotten from a data set, while inferential statistics makes use of SAMPLE DATA to make estimations, decisions, predictions and generalizations about a lager population
MEASUREMENT AND VARIABLE; Measurement is the process used to assign numbers to variables of a population unit, while a variable is a characteristic of a population unit. Variables changes over time for a population and or for different individuals or object under consideration.
          Variables can be grouped into
1.       Qualitative variables; they measure the quality or characteristic on each experimental unit. The data produced here can be used to categorise the variables based on similarities or differences and so can be called  categorical data. Eg; gender, year, department, political affiliation, performance level, color of a sweet
2.       Quantitative variables; they measure numerical quantity or amount on each experimental unit. They are of two types
DISCRETE; Which carry a finite value x= 0,1,2…..these are variables that can only assume a finite or countable number of values
CONTINUOUS; Which carry an infinite value 0<x infinity…..these are variables that can assume an infinite number of values corresponding to the points on a line interval.


GRAPHS USED FOR QUALITATIVE AND QUATITATIVE DATA (VARIABLE)
Since the qualitative variables deals with categorizing, then before chosing a graphical format of presentation there has to be a way of representing how often certain categories occur on the graph or statistical table. This is done by either using
·         The frequency or number of measurements in that category
·         The relative frequency or proportion of measurements in that category
·         The percentage of measurements in that category
FOR QUALITATIVE DATA; we usually use a pie chart and a bar chart
FOR QUANTITATIVE DATA; we usually use a pie chart, bar chart, histogram, line charts, dot charts

FEEL FREE TO ASK QUESTIONS OR MAKE CONTIBUTIONS BY POSTING IN THE COMMENT BOX. THANKS!!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PICK YOURSELF UP AND START ALL OVER !

By -
Image
PICK YOURSELF UP AND START ALL OVER!!! Have you ever failed before?...well, I have...and these failures are lesser known stories....you see, we have all failed and we will all fail at some point...especially as medical students. I remember my first 'failure' in preclinicals. It was in my first anatomy dissection practical...I was excited, I always was then and in came the brilliant Dr Ashaolu  to introduce us to anatomy dissection. Several human bones were placed in front of us that day and we all watched in amazement how these contoured brown sticks were from actual people that lived. Dr Ashaolu beckoned to my class rep (Titilola) and asked her to point out the best 'student' in class and for some reason, she called two (2) of us and up we stood. He turned to me, and briskly said- "describe the bone in front of you!"...I went into shock. All I could see was some 'fan shaped bone with a weirdly shaped handle and uneven lines'. I was dumbstr
Read more

ANTI - FOOTBALL???

By -
Image
Anti – Football (Football without its beauty)         The just concluded UEFA EURO 2016 will be remembered for many occurrences like the violence between English and Russian fans, the surprising display of Iceland, the handball-like displays of two German footballers in the knockout stages of the competition and Cristiano Ronaldo’s theatrics from the touchline in the final match between Portugal and France. However, one disturbing part of the competition that would always be noted in the record books was Portugal’s display of Anti – Football in the final match of the competition. They were just so defensive and lacking flair in the final third especially after Ronaldo’s injury. Other teams like Iceland were also thought to have deployed negative football tactics with Ronaldo’s tongue lashing towards the little country termed unnecessary and an act of arrogance. Fernando Santos’ Portugal team were singled out for criticism because they played uninteresting football throughou
Read more

Guide To Picking A Good Physiology Textbook

By -
Image
GUIDE TO PICKING A SUITABLE  PHYSIOLOGY TEXTBOOK           Choosing a textbook that suits your reading and assimilation style is one of the most basic things for a freshman in college to do and at the same time could be one of the hardest. The volume of information to be assimilated is voluminous, and you have to get acquainted with a large number of terms and vocabularies. Some have wasted time only to realise after many mistakes that certain textbooks would have suit their reading style. Whatever book you choose to follow in physiology, must be the book that best suits you, your pattern of reading, and what you look to get at the end of the day. Each book differs in organization and content, and can also be better at explaining a system than another. It is advisable though to follow the textbook most frequently referenced by your lecturer. Whatever book you follow, use the following hints to cover topics before the examination days. Choose any book that best suits you and
Read more