Lecture 1-Introduction to Statistics Flashcards
Where is statistics used?
Statistics in Business: science dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of numerical data.
• Accounting — auditing
and cost estimation
• Economics — regional, national, and international economic
performance
• Finance — investments and portfolio management
• Management — human resources, compensation, and quality
management
What is statistics?
Science of collecting, organizing,
presenting, analyzing, interpreting,
data on various topics.
• Measurement taken on a sample.
• The main objective of statistics is to understand the reality behind the numbers and extract valuable information from these with little loss of information.
What are the 3 types of data?
- Cross-section data
- Time series data
- Panel data
What is cross-section data?
- Looks at different observation e.g. individuals at one point in time
- e.g.GPD for UK, US and France in 2018
What is time series data?
- Looks at one unit e.g individual over a period of time
- E.g. GPD of UK from 2010-2018
What is panel data?
- Looks at different observations e.g. individuals over a period of time
e. g. GDP of UK, US and France from 2016-2018
What are the 2 types of qualitative data (categorical)?
- Nominal
- Ordinal
What is nominal data?
Numbers are used to classify or categorize
– In nominal measurement the numerical values just “name”
the attribute uniquely.
– does not have a natural ordering,
– Example: gender; employment status.
What is ordinal data?
-if ranking is possible for values of the variable.
– For example, a gold medal reflects superior performance to a
silver or bronze medal in the Olympics, or you may prefer
-French toast to waffles, and waffles to oat bran muffin
What are the two types of quantitative data (Numerical)?
- Ratio
- Interval
What is ratio data?
there is always an absolute zero that is meaningful.
– In applied social research most “count” variables are ratio,
for example, the number of clients in past six months.
– Examples: Height, Weight, and Volume
What it interval scale data?
Relative magnitude of numbers is meaningful
– Differences between numbers are comparable
-– Example: Fahrenheit vs. Celsius
What are descriptive statistics?
- Descriptive statistics summarises a mass of information.
* We may use graphical and/or numerical methods.
What are the strengths of graphs?
•Are quick and direct
•Highlight the most
Important facts
- Facilitate understanding of data
- Can convince readers
- Can easily be remembered
What are the strengths of tables?
• Show exact value
• Are more convenient to
compare a large number of variables with each other
