Topic One Nature and Scope of Statistics: Objectives
Topic One Nature and Scope of Statistics: Objectives
Topic One Nature and Scope of Statistics: Objectives
TOPIC ONE
NATURE AND SCOPE OF STATISTICS
Objectives
1.1 Introduction
Statistics refers to variety of methods and techniques that are used for organizing summarizing,
analyzing and interpreting data. Statistics is a very useful tool which helps one to describe and
make sense of the data collected.
Statistics is broadly categorized into two branches.
(i) Descriptive statistics – This is a group of methods and techniques that attempts to
summarize and describe the data that have been collected e.g calculating the mean,
standards deviation producing a histogram or frequency polygon to describe the
distribution. The aim of descriptive statistics is to describe the data one has collected
from the field so as to make it understood by anybody reading the work. Some examples
of descriptive statistics are measures of central tendency (ie mode, median and mean),
measures of dispersion or variability (ie. Range, mean deviation, variance and standard
deviation), Table (e.g frequency distribution tables, table of raw scores, tables of
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summary scores and tables of ranked scores) Bar graphs, Pie charts and diagrams such as
Histogram, Frequency Polygons and Scatter diagrams etc.
(ii) Inferential statistics – These refers to group of methods or techniques that allows one to
infer characteristics of a larger group (population) from the data collected from a smaller
group (sample).
They help a researcher to make inferences about the data collected in a study.
Inferential statistics are broadly categorized into two: -
(a) Parametric techniques – These are based on the following assumptions.
(1) The data is either at interval or ratio level
(2) There is homogeneity of variance. That is to say the spread of variability of scores
need to be approximately similar.
(3) That the distribution of the population is approximately normal
(b) Non Parametric Techniques – There are no assumptions that are made about the
population.
NB. Parametric techniques are more powerful than non parametric techniques when
making inferences.
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(3) Provides conceptual frameworks (structured ways of thinking) and practical skills to better
equip the learners and managers of organizations to future lives in the fast changing world
(i.e helps them to focus more on looking forward and looking backward so as to plunder on
history’s storehouse of wisdom to better chart pathways into the future (making
recommendations for future).
(4) Defines the ends it pursues rather than the means statisticians have often used in the past.
(5) Helps human beings to learn more about the world they operate using data and all the
while acknowledging sources and levels of uncertainty.
(6) Facilitates development of new methodologies in the context of substantive problem buy
looking backwards and integrating what has been learnt into a more general framework using
statistical principles and thinking.
(7) Statistics is a meta discipline in that it thinks about how to think about turning data into real
world insights. It therefore advances when methodological lessons and principles from
particular piece of work are abstracted and incorporated into theoretical scaffold that enable
them to be used on many other problems in many other place.
(8) Statistics is multidisciplinary which integrates methodologies from many disciplines such as
mathematics, economics, engineering, management psychology among others.
(9) Focuses on taking actions to either reduce the problem facing the same by such as
unemployment or eradicating the problem completely for instance eradicating the current
global health crisis of COVID 19
(10) Uses various systematic scientific methods of collecting editing, classifying, tabulating
and presenting facts using graphs and diagrams.
(11) Statistics is an art because it applies scientific methods by taking group of actions which
can solve the identified problem and in this it offers better understanding and solutions to real
life situations.
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Self-Test
References
1. Freund, R.J, Wilson W.J. Mohr, D.L (2010). Statistical methods 3rd edition.
2. Filed, A.P (2009) Discovering Statistics using SPSS 2nd Edition, London Sage
3. Agarwal, B.L (2013) Basic Statistic 6th edition, New age international publishers.
4. Cooper, D.R & Schindler P.S (2011) Business Research Methods 9th Ed. Tata M.C Graw
Hill New Dechi.
5. Cohen, J. West S.G & Aiken, L.S (2003) Applied Multiple Regression and Correlation
Analysis for Behavioural Science 3rd Edition.
6. Chritensen, B.L. and Stoup, C.M. Introduction to statistics for Social Sciences. Belmont:
Brooks Cole 1991.
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