Statistical Methods MT361

October 2024
Overall Course Objectives
 Upon completing this course, students will be able to:

 Explain the basic concepts of Statistics;

 Collect and organize statistical data;

 Identify the different types of sampling techniques;

 Analyse data and make valid conclusions based on the results;

 Understand the concepts of central tendency, variation, probability theory and

distributions;

 Know the various types of parameter estimation and hypothesis tests

 1.1 Introduction
Definition of Statistics
 Plural form
 numerical facts and figures collected for a certain purposes

 aggregates of numerical expressed facts (figures) collected in a systematic

manner for a predetermined purpose

 Singular form
 systematic collection and interpretation of numerical data to make a decision

 the science of collecting, organizing, presenting, analyzing and interpreting

numerical data to make decision on the bases of such analysis

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 Classification of Statistics
 Descriptive Statistics
 Mainly concerned with the methods and techniques used in collection,

organization, presentation, and analysis of a set of data without making

any conclusions or inferences.
 Gathering data

 Editing and classifying them

 Presenting data in tables

 drawing diagrams and graphs for them

 Calculating averages and measures of dispersions.

Remark: Descriptive statistics doesn’t go beyond describing the data

themselves.
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 Classification of Statistics …
 Descriptive Statistics (Example)
 The average age of students in this class is 21.

 The sample shows 40% of year I students have positive attitude toward the

delivery of lectures.

 Drawing graphs that show the difference in the ‘scores’ of fourth year

Maths males and females students.

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 Classification of Statistics …
 Inferential Statistics
 Deals with the method of inferring or drawing conclusion about the

characteristics of the population based upon the results of a sample

 Utilizes sample data to make decision for entire data set based on sample

 Inferential Statistic (Example)

 There is a definitive relationship between smoking and lung cancer

 Drinking decaffeinated coffee can raise cholesterol levels by 7%.

 Forward soccer players have a better performance than midfielders

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 Definition of Some Basic Statistical Terms
 Data
 a collection of related facts and figures from which conclusions may be

drawn

 a scientific term for facts, figures, information and measurement

 Population/target population
 a totality of things, objects, peoples, etc about which information is being

collected

 Often too large to sample in its entirety

 Example: population of athletes fed a certain type of diet

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 Definition of Some Basic Statistical Terms
 Sample
 part of a population selected to draw conclusions about the population

 Subset of a population

Population

Sample
 Census
 a complete enumeration of the population. But in most real problems it
cannot be realized, hence we take sample.

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 Definition of Some Basic Statistical Terms
 Statistic
 A value computed from the sample, used to describe the sample.

 Parameter
 A descriptive measure (value) computed from the population.

 Variable
 is a characteristic or attribute that can assume different values.

 Sampling frame
 A list of people, items or units from which the sample is taken.

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 Statistical Data Properties

 Statistical data must possess the following properties

 The data must be aggregate of facts

 They must be affected to a marked extent by a multiplicity of causes

 They must be estimated according to reasonable standards of accuracy

 The data must be collected in a systematic manner for predefined purpose

 The data should be placed in relation to each other

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 Stages in Statistical Investigation
1. Data Collection
 The processes of measuring, assembling and gathering data

 Data may be collected by the investigator directly using interview,

questionnaire, and observation or may be available from published or

unpublished sources.

 Data gathering is the basis (foundation) of any statistical work.

 Valid conclusions can only result from properly collected data.

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 Stages in Statistical Investigation …
2. Data Organization
 It is a stage where we edit our data

 The collected data involve irrelevant figures, incorrect facts, omission and

mistakes

 classify (arrange) according to their common characteristics

3. Data Presentation
 The organized data can now be presented in the form of tables, diagram and

graphs.

 The main purpose of data presentation is to facilitate statistical analysis

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 Stages in Statistical Investigation …
4. Data Analysis
 Study the data to draw conclusions about the population parameter

 Dig out information useful for decision making

 Calculations of averages, the computation of measures of dispersion,

regression and correlation analysis

5. Data Interpretation
 Draw valid conclusions from the results obtained through data analysis

 Making inference about general population from sample results

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 Uses and Limitations of Statistics
 Uses of Statistics
 Condenses and summarizes complex data

 Facilitates comparison of data

 Helps to measure variability in data

 Used to create relationship between variables

 Helps in predicting future trends

 Influences the policies of government

 Helpful in formulating and testing hypothesis and to develop new theories

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 Uses and Limitations of Statistics …
 Limitations of Statistics
 Statistics doesn’t deal with single (individual) values rather it deals with

aggregate values

 Statistics can’t deal with qualitative characteristics

 Statistical conclusions are not universally true

 Statistical interpretations require a high degree of skill and understanding of

the subject

 Statistics can be misused

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 Scales of Measurment
 A variable in statistics is any characteristic, which can take on different
values for different elements when data are collected

 Variable can be qualitative or quantitative

 Qualitative Variables are nonnumeric variables and can't be measured,

example (gender, blood type, etc.).

 Quantitative variables are numeric variables and can be quantified

 Quantitative variables can be discrete (takes always whole number values)

or continuous (assume or take any decimal value )

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 Scales of Measurement
 Measurement “is assigning numbers to objects, events, or abstract
concepts according to a known set of rules”

 This permits data to be categorised, quantified and/or analysed in order

that meaningful conclusions can be drawn.

 Four scales of measurement are identified

 Nominal Scale Lowest Level

 Ordinal Scale

 Interval Scale

 Ratio Scale Highest Level

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 Scales of Measurement
 Nominal Scales of Measurement
 A measure of identity or category into mutually exclusive classes
 Useful for quantifying qualitative data
 Provides no information regarding either order or magnitude
 Arithmetic operations (+, -, *, ÷) are not applicable, comparison (<, >, ≠, etc) is
impossible
 Example: Blood type (A, B, AB and O) , Name of A student, Identification number
 Ordinal Scales of Measurement
 A measure of order or rank
 Used to arrange data into series
 Provides no information regarding magnitude
 Arithmetic operations (+, -, *, ÷) are impossible, comparison (<, >, ≠, etc) is
possible.
 Example: Ratings (good, v.good & excellent), economic status (low, medium & high)

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 Scales of Measurement …
 Interval Scales of Measurement
 A measure of order and quantity
 Difference between values can be calculated.
 Possible to add and subtract.
 Multiplication and division are not possible
 Example: Temperature (10oC (50oF) and 20oC (68OF) as between 25oc (77oF) and 35oc
(95oF))

 Ratio Scales of Measurement

 Highest level of measurement
 An interval scale with an absolute zero point
 Example: weight, height, income, etc.

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 1.2. Methods of Data Collection and Presentation
Sources of Data
 Primary data
 data measured or collect by the investigator or the user directly from the source

 the data you collect is unique to you and your research and, until you publish, no one

else has access to it

 The primary sources of data are objects or persons from which we collect the

figures used for first hand information.

 Secondary data
 second-hand information and data or information that was either gathered by

someone else

 The secondary sources are either published or unpublished materials or records.

 Few of sources of secondary data are

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 Sources of Data


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 Methods of Data Collection
 Planning to data collection requires
 Identify source and elements of the data

 Decide whether to consider sample or census

 If sampling is preferred, decide on sample size, selection method, etc

 Decide measurement procedure

 Set up the necessary organizational structure

 Collect data using different (appropriate) techniques

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 Methods of Data Collection
 There are three major methods of data collection.
1) Observational or measurement.
2) Interview with questionnaires.
a. Face to face interview.
b. Telephone interview.
c. Self administered questionnaires returned by mail (mailed
questionnaire).
3) The use of documentary sources
Observational or measurement ( direct personal observation)
 In this case data can be obtained through direct observation or
measurement. This requires training and monitoring of the measurer to
ensure the use of standard procedure.
 Provides accurate information but it is expensive and inconvenient.
 Example: laboratory tests, clinical measurements and physical
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examination etc.
 Interview with questionnaires: Hear one drafts a detailed
questionnaire. These questionnaires can either be mailed to
the respondent for filling and returning, or can put in charge
of the enumerators who go around and fill them after
obtaining the desired information.
 Questionnaires: are written documents which instruct the
reader or listener to answer the questions written on it.
 Respondents (Interviewees): are individuals those who are
answered the questions on the questionnaire.
 Interviewers: are individuals those who are recorded the
responses given by the respondents.

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a) Face to Face Interviews (questionnaires in charge of enumerators)
 The interviewer knows exactly who is responding to the questionnaire.
 Advantages
 The interviewer can help the respondent if he/she has difficulty in
understanding the questions. The difficulty could be due to language,
concentration or limited intellectual capacity.
 There is more flexibility in presenting the items; they can range from closed
to open.
 There is the ability to use the method of skip patterns.
 Skip patterns means skipping a questions or a group of questions which are
not applicable.
Disadvantages
 It costs much in terms of time and money.
 Attribute of the interviewer may affect the responses due to:
a) Bias of the interviewer and
b) his/her social or ethnic characteristics.
 Untrained interviewer may distort the meaning of the questions.
b. Telephone Interviews
Advantages
• It is less expensive in time and money compared with face
to face interviews.
• The interviewer is able to help the respondent if he/she
doesn’t understand the question (as seen with face to face
interview)
• Broad representative samples can be obtained for those
who have telephone lines.
Disadvantage
 Under representation of those groups which do not have
telephones.
 Respondent may be substituted by another.
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 Problem with unlisted telephone number in the directory.
c. Self administered questionnaires returned by
mail (mailed questionnaire)
Here the questionnaire is mailed to the respondents to be filled.
Sometimes it is known as self enumeration.
Advantages
 These are the cheapest.
 There is no need for trained interviewer.
 There is no interviewer bias.
Disadvantage
• Low response rate
• Uncompleted questionnaires due to omission or invalid
responses.
• No assurance that the questionnaire was answered by the right
person
• Needs intense follow up to get a high response rate. 27
3. The use of documentary sources
 Extracting information from existing sources (e.g. Hospital
records) is much less expensive than the other two methods. It
can be an important source of data.
Advantage of secondary data
 Secondary data may help to clarify or redefine the definition of the
problem as part of the exploratory research process.
 Provides a larger database as compared to primary data
 Time saving
 Does not involve collection of data
Disadvantages of secondary data
 It is difficult to get information needed, when records are
compiled in unstandardized manner.
 Lack of availability  Inaccurate data
 Lack of relevance  Insufficient data
 Methods of Data Presentation
 The major objectives of data presentation are
 To presenting data in visual display and more understandable

 To have great attraction about the data

 To facilitate quick comparisons using measures of location and dispersion.

 To enable the reader to determine the shape and nature of distribution to

make statistical inference, and to facilitate further statistical analysis.

 There are three methods of data presentation
 Tables,

 Diagrams, and

 Graphs

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Tabular presentation of data
 Tables are important to summarize large volume of data in more

understandable way.

 Tables can be

 Simple (one way table): table which present one characteristics for example age
distribution.

 Two way table: it presents two characteristics in columns and rows for example
age versus sex.

 A higher order table: table which presents two or more characteristics in one
table.

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Frequency Distribution
 It is the organization of raw data in table form, using classes and frequencies.

 Frequency is the number of values in a specific class of the distribution.

 There are three basic types of frequency distributions

 Categorical frequency distribution

 Ungrouped frequency distribution

 Grouped frequency distribution

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Categorical Frequency Distribution
 The categorical frequency distribution is used for data which can be placed

in specific categories such as nominal or ordinal level data

 The major components of categorical frequency distribution are class, tally and

frequency (or proportion).

 Percentages are also usable

 Forms of a categorical distribution

A B C D
Class Tally Frequency Percent

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Example: Data on smoking status by gender of a sample of 20 health workers in
Jimma Hospital 1986 E.C was given. Construct categorical frequency
distribution.

Observation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Gender M F M M F F F M M M F F F F M F M F M M
Smoking Y N N Y N N Y N N N N N N Y Y Y N N Y Y
status
Characteristics Tally Frequency
Gender
Male //// //// 10
Female //// //// 10
Smoking status
No //// //// // 12
Yes //// /// 8

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
 It is the distribution that use individual data values along with their

frequencies.

 often constructed for small set of data on discrete variable (when data are

numerical), and when the range of the data is small.

 sometimes it is complicated to use ungrouped frequency distribution for

large mass of data, as result we use grouped frequency distribution.

 The major components of this type of frequency distributions are class, tally,

frequency, and cumulative frequency (less than/more than).

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
Example: Age in year of 20 women who attended health education at Jimma
Health center in 1986 are given as follows. Construct ungrouped frequency
distribution
30 25 23 41 39 27 41 24 32 29 29 35 31 36 33 36 42
35 37 41

Age(xj) 23 24 25 27 29 30 31 32 33 35 36 37 39 41 42

Tally / / / / // / / / / // // / / /// /

Frequency(f) 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 3 1

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 Methods of Data Presentation …

 Grouped Frequency Distribution

 It is a frequency distribution when several numbers are grouped in one class

 the data must be grouped in which each class has more than one unit in

width.

 We use when the range of the data is large, and for data from continuous

variable.

 Sometimes used for large volume of discrete data

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Guidelines for classes
 There should be 5 to 20 classes. Determine using Sturge’s rule

K  1 3.32 log n
 Classes should be continuous.

 Classes must be mutually exclusive.

 Classes should be exhaustive.

 Classes should have same width (except open ended classes)

Range R
W 
Number of classes K

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Class limit (CL)
 It separates one class from another.

 The limits could actually appear in the data

 have gaps between the upper limits of one class and the lower limit of the next class.

 Class boundary(CB)
 Separate one class in a grouped frequency distribution from the other.

 The boundary has one more decimal place than the raw data.

 There is no gap between the upper boundaries of one class and the lower boundaries

of the succeeding class.

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Unit of measurement (U)
 This is the possible difference between successive values. E.g. 1, 0.1, 0.01 …

 Class width (W)

 The difference between the upper and lower boundaries of any consecutive class.

 The class width is also the difference between the lower limit or upper limits of two

consecutive classes.

 Class mark (Midpoint)

 It is found by adding the lower and upper class limit (Boundaries) and divided the

sum by two.

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Steps to construct grouped frequency distribution
 Find smallest (S) and largest (L) values in your data

 Compute difference between L and S, R

 Determine the number of class using Sturge’s rule, round up!

 determine class width, ratio of R and K, round up!

 Take the smallest value as the first class lower class limit, and add class width to get consecutive
lower class limits

 To get upper class limit subtract unit of measurement from second class lower class limit, and add
class width to get remaining upper class limits

 Subtract half of unit of measurement from lower class limit to get class boundary, and add half of
unit of measurement to upper class limit to get upper class boundary

 Tally data

 Find cumulative frequency

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
Example: Age in year of 20 women who attended health education at Jimma
Health center in 1986 are given as follows. Construct grouped frequency
distribution

30 25 23 41 39 27 41 24 32 29 29 35 31 36 33 36 42
35 37 41
n=20
k=1+3.322(log20) =1+3.322(1.3010) = 5.196  k=6
w= (42-23)/6 =4
The grouped frequency table using Sturges formula

Class 23-26 27-30 31-34 35-38 39-42

Frequency (f) 3 4 3 5 5

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 Consider the following data
 30 40 41 33 70 51 37 10 31 21 60 44 63 72 23 37 65
14 25 28 64 39 17 74 53 34 51 27 43 45 33 16 23 68
47 32 36 19 48 49 67 60 45 54 44 30 15 38 22 46 61
25 29 55 48 49 35 13 37 36
 Prepare i) absolute frequency distribution;
ii) relative frequency distribution;
iii) less than and more than cumulative
frequency distributions.
R = 74 – 10 = 64 , n = 60
Using Sturges’ Rule:
K=1+3.322(log10 60) = K=1+3.322( 1.778151 ) =
6.9070  7
W = 64/ 7 = 9.14  10
Class Frequency RF LCF MCF
10-19 7 0.116 7 60
20-29 9 0.15 16 53
30-39 15 0.25 31 44
40-49 13 0.216 44 29
50-59 5 0.083 49 16
60-69 8 0.133 57 11
70 - 79 3 0.05 60 3
Total 60 1.00
 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Diagrammatic and Graphic presentation of the data
 One of the most effective and interesting alternative way in which a

statistical data may be presented is through diagrams and graphs.

 There are several ways in which statistical data may be displayed pictorially

such as different types of graphs and diagrams.

 Pie chart

 Bar chart

 Histogram

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Pie Chart
 Pie chart is a circular diagram and the area of the sector of a circle is used in

pie chart.

 To construct a pie chart (sector diagram), draw a circle (measures 3600)

 The angles of each component are calculated by the formula

Component part
Angle of sec tor   3600
Total

 These angles are made in the circle by mean of a protractor to show different

components.

 The arrangement of the sectors is usually anti-clock wise.

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Pie Chart (Example)
 The following table gives the details of quarterly sale of a Sport Wear

company’s profit (in millions of dollar) in four quarters of a year.

Month Profit($,000,000)
1st quarter 100
2nd quarter 300
3rd quarter 500
4th quarter 600
Total 1500
 Construct a pie chart

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Pie Chart (Example)
Quarter Angle of sector Percen
Profit($,000,000)
(in degrees) t (%)

1st quarter 100 24 7

2nd quarter 300 72 20
3rd quarter 500 120 33
4th quarter 600 144 40
Total 1500 360 100

1st quarter
7%
2nd quarter

20% 3rd quarter

40%
4th quarter

33%

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Bar Chart
 Use vertical or horizontal bins to represent the frequencies of a distribution.

 While we draw bar chart, we have to consider the following two points.

 Make the bars the same width

 Make the units on the axis that are used for the frequency equal in size

 Bar charts can be

 Simple bar chart,

 Multiple bar charts,

 Stratified or stacked bar chart

 Deviation bar chart

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Simple Bar Chart
 Used to represents data involving only one variable classified on spatial,

quantitative or temporal basis

 Make bars of equal width but variable length

 Example (Sports Wear company quarterly sales)

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Multiple Bar Chart
 When two or more interrelated series of data are depicted by a bar diagram

 Make bars of equal width but variable length

 Example: Suppose we have export and import (in million) figures for a

company working on mineral for few years.

80
60
40 Export

20 Import

0
2010 2011 2012

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Stratified/Stacked Bar Chart
 used to represent data in which the total magnitude is divided into
different or components.

 First make simple bars for each class taking total magnitude in that class
and then divide these simple bars into parts in the ratio of various
components

 Shows the variation in different components within each class as well as

between different classes.

 Stratified bar diagram is also known as component bar chart.

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Stratified/Stacked Bar Chart
 The table below shows the profit of a company ($ Millions) from different

item sales in 1st quarter of the year. Draw stratified/stacked bar chart
Company Shoe T-shirt Ball Total
X 30 50 40 120
Y 33 16 27 76
Z 37 13 37 87

140 Ball
120 T-shirt
Sales in $,000,000

100 40 Shoe
80
37
60 27
50
40 16 13

20 30 33 37
0
X Y Z
Company 53
 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Deviation Bar Chart
 Used when the data contains both positive and negative values such as data

on net profit, net expense, percent change etc

 Suppose we have the following data relating to net profit (percent) of

commodity.
Commodity Net profit
Soap 80
Sugar -95 Net profit
Coffee 125 150
100
50 Soap
0 Sugar
Soap Sugar Coffee
-50 Coffee
-100
-150

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Histogram
 Histogram is a special type of bar graph in which the horizontal scale

represents classes of data values and the vertical scale represents frequencies.

 The height of the bars correspond to the frequency values, and the drawn

adjacent to each other (without gaps).

 A graph which displays data by using vertical bars of various heights to

represent frequencies.

 Class boundaries are placed along the horizontal axes.

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 Methods of Data Presentation …
 Histogram
 A histogram shows the shape of continuous data, checks for homogeneity, and

suggests possible outliers.

 To construct a histogram, we split the range of data into equal intervals, “bins,”

and count how many observations fall into each bin.

Histogram for the age in years of

20 women

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