Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis

INTRODUCTION Statistics is concerned with numerical facts about a problem or issue – the facts themselves, and with methods of analyzing these facts in order to solve or shed light on the problem or issue. The numerical facts with which statistics are concerned are commonly called data. We therefore talk about the collection and analysis of data in respect of a particular problem.

DATA FOR STATISTICS Exact definition of the problem Definition of the units Scope of the enquiry Accuracy of the data Types of Data Primary and secondary data Quantitative and qualitative data Continuous and discrete data

METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA Published Statistics Personal Investigation/Interview Delegated Personal Investigation/Interview Questionnaire

Simple Tabulation

Complex Tabulation

Secondary Statistical Tabulation

Rules for Tabulation

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS A frequency distribution is a tabulation which shows the number of times (i.e. the frequency) each different value occurs.

Simple Frequency Distributions

Grouped Frequency Distributions

Cumulative Frequency Distributions

Relative Frequency Distributions

Example

Solution