Key Definitions

Descriptive Statistics

Population - collection of things under study Sample - a portion of the population Parameter - a number computed to describe a feature of the population Statistic - a number computed to describe a feature of the sample

Population vs Sample

Types of Data
Data

Population

Sample Use statistics to summarize features

Categorical (Qualitative)

Numerical (Quantitative)

Use parameters to summarize features

Discrete

Continuous

Inference on the population from the sample

Descriptive Statistics for Numeric Data

Summary Measures

Measures of Central Tendency

Central Tendency

Central Tendency Mean Median Mode

Variation Range Interquartile Range Variance Standard Deviation

Mean

Median

Mode

Mean
Mean of data values
Sample mean

Mean

(continued)

X=

X
i =1

Sample Size
i

Population mean

X1 + X 2 + n

+ Xn

The most common measure of central tendency Easily affected by outliers

X
i =1

Population Size
i

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14

X + X2 + = 1 N

+ XN

Mean = 5

Mean = 6

Median
Not easily affected by outliers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14

Mode
A measure of central tendency Value(s) that occur most often Not easily affected by outliers Used for both numerical and categorical data There may be no/several modes

Median = 5

Median = 5

In an ordered array, the median is the middle number

If n or N is odd, the median is the middle number If n or N is even, the median is the average of the two middle numbers
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Mode = 9,12

No Mode

Measures of Variation
Variation

Range
Difference between the largest and the smallest observations:

Range = X Largest X Smallest

Range Interquartile Range Variance Sensitive to outliers Ignores the distribution Range = 12 - 7 = 5 Range = 12 - 7 = 5

Standard Deviation

10

11

12

10

11

12

Quartiles
Quartiles split the ranked data into 4 segments with an equal number of values per segment 25% Q1 25% Q2 25% Q3 25%

Quartile Formulas
Find a quartile by determining the value in the appropriate position in the ranked data, where
Q1 position = (n+1)/4 Q2 position = (n+1)/2 Q3 position = 3(n+1)/4

The first quartile, Q1, is the value for which 25% of the observations are smaller and 75% are larger Q2 is the same as the median (50% are smaller, 50% are larger) Only 25% of the observations are greater than the third quartile

where n is the number of observed values

Quartiles : Example
Sample Data in Ordered Array: 11 12 13 16 16 17 18 21 22

Interquartile Range
A measure of dispersion that avoids outliers
Interquartile range = 3rd quartile 1st quartile = Q3 Q1

(n = 9) Q1 is in the (9+1)/4 = 2.5 position of the ranked data, so Q1 = 12.5 Q2 is in the (9+1)/2 = 5th position of the ranked data, so Q2 = 16 Q3 is in the 3(9+1)/4 = 7.5 position of the ranked data, so Q3 = 19.5

Variance
Important measure of variation Shows variation about the mean
Sample variance:

Standard Deviation
Another important measure of variation Shows variation about the mean Has the same units as the original data
2

S =
2

( Xi X )
i =1

Sample standard deviation:

Population variance:
N

n 1

S=
Population standard deviation:
2

( X
i =1

X)

n 1

2 =

( X
i =1

( X
i =1

Comparing Data Sets

Data A
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Shape of a Distribution
Mean = 15.5 s = 3.338

Symmetric or skewed

Data B Mean = 15.5

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

s = .9258
Mean = 15.5 s = 4.57

Left-Skewed

Symmetric

Right-Skewed

Data C
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Box-and-Whisker Plot (Boxplot)

A graphical display of data using 5-number summary:
Minimum -- Q1 -- Median -- Q3 -- Maximum Min Q1

Boxplot : Example

Q2

Q3

Max

10

27

Minimum Minimum

1st 1st Quartile Quartile

Median Median

3rd 3rd Quartile Quartile

Maximum Maximum

00

2 3 2 3 55

2 27 7

Distribution Shape and Boxplot

Left-Skewed Symmetric Right-Skewed

Descriptive Statistics using SPSS

Q1

Q2 Q3

Q1 Q2 Q3

Q1 Q2 Q3

Descriptive Statistics using SPSS