Topic 1 Flashcards
What are statistics?
The methods that help transform data into useful information for decision makers.
Define descriptive statistics.
They refer to methods that primarily help summarize and present data.
Define inferential statistics.
They refer to methods that use data collected from a small group to reach conclusions about a larger group.
What is a population?
The collection of things under consideration.
What is a sample?
A portion of the population selected for analysis.
What is a parameter?
A summary measure computed to describe a characteristic of the population.
What is a statistic?
A summary measure computed to describe a characteristic of the sample.
What is a variable?
A characteristic of an item or individual.
What is data?
- the information we gather about the sample or the population
- the different values associated with the variable
- the information to be analysed
What are the two classification types of data?
- Categorical Data
- Numerical data
Data can also be classified based on its level of measurement.
These are:
- Nominal
- Ordinal
- Interval
- Ratio
Why is it important to know the classification distinctions of data?
- Nominal
- Ordinal
- Interval
- Ratio
Because the type of data often governs the choice of methodology used in subsequent analysis.
What is meant by the property of central tendency?
- the extent to which the data values are grouped around a central value
- a number that represents the ‘middle’ of the sample data
- a value around which the observations ‘cluster’
What is the sample mean?
The sum of the values in a sample divided by the number of values in the sample.
Advantage:
It is the only measure in which all the values play an equal role.
What is the median?
The middle value in an ordered array of data that has been ranked from smallest to largest.
Half the values are smaller or equal than the median and half the values are larger of equal to the median value.
Advantage:
It is not affected by extreme values, so it can be used when extreme values are present.
What is the mode?
The value in a set that appears most frequently.
Advantage:
The mode is the only average that can be used if the data set is not in numbers, for instance the colours of cars in a car park.
What does variation measure?
The spread and dispersion of values in a data set.
Define range.
The difference between the largest and smallest value.
Define sample variance.
An average of the squared differences in a data set from their sample mean.
(the sum of squares divided by the sample size minus 1)
What is the sample standard deviation?
An average deviation.
The square root of the sample variance.
What does the Z-score measure?
The position of a particular observation from the mean.
It is measured in a “standardized” value, Z.
The magnitude of the Z- score tells us how many sample standard deviations the observation is away from the sample mean.