Course Code:

Course Title:Statistics in Criminological Education

MODULE NO. 01

TITLE Introduction to Statistics

OVERVIEW This module deals with the role of Statistics, its

process and the different core terminology in
statistics. It will also include scales of measurement
used in statistics.

INTRODUCTION Most people hear about statistics through radio,

television, newspapers, and magazines. Statistics as
an academic discipline stresses analysis of data to
facilitate the process of decision making . It is used
to analyze the results of surveys, and as a tool in
scientific studies to make decisions based on
controlled experiments.

LEARNING OUTCOMES The students will learn the role of statistics in

research and understand the different statistical
terminology.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES At the end of the discussion, the learners would be

able to:

1. Identify the role of statistics in research.

2. Define statistics and its process.
3. Understand some of the core terminology of
statistics.
4. Understand the relationship between
population and samples in education
research.

Let’s Read

The Role of Statistics

The goal of virtually all quantitative research studies is to identify and describe
relationships among constructs.
Data are collected in a very systematic manner and conclusions are drawn based
on the data.
At a basic level, statistical techniques allow us to aggregate and summarize data
in order for researchers to draw conclusions from their study.

The advantages of using statistics:

Stats allow you to summarize information about large groups of people and to
search for trends and patterns within and between these groups
Stats allow you to generalize your findings to a population if you have looked at
an adequate sample of that population
Stats allow you to create predictive models of complex situations which involve
a lot of information and multiple variables

STATISTICS – is a branch of mathematics that deals with the collection,

organization, analysis and interpretation of quantitative data and such problems as
experiment design and decision making.

Statistics involves the following processes:

1. Collection of data – this is the process of gathering information through direct

or interview, indirect or questionnaire, observation, registration and experiment method.

2. Tabulation or presentation of data – this is a process of organizing data

into text, tables, charts or graphs.

3. Analysis of data – this involves the process of extracting relevant information

from the organized collected data. Statistical techniques are needed in the process.

4. Interpretation of data – this is the process of drawing conclusions from the

analyzed data. It involves the formulation of conclusion about a large group based on
the gathered data from a small group.
Statistical Terminology

Population
 A population is the entire set of individuals that we are interested in studying.
 This is the group that we want to generalize our results to.
 Although populations can vary in size, they are usually quite large.
 Thus, it is usually not feasible to collect data from the entire population.

Sample
 A sample is a subset of individuals selected from the population.
 In the best case, the sample will be representative of the population.
 That is, the characteristics of the individuals in the sample will mirror those in
the population.

Parameters vs. Statistics

 In most studies, we wish to quantify some characteristic of the population.

 Example:

 The retention rate, inquiry rate, average level of self-efficacy, average level of
body image
 This is the population parameter
 Parameters are generally unknown, and must be estimated from a sample
 The sample estimate is called a statistic

Parameter – is defined as a numerical characteristic of the population

Statistics – is defined as a numerical characteristic of the sample.

Example: Identify the parameter and the statistic in the given situation below:

In order to estimate the true proportion of employees of E & A Marketing who

smoke cigarettes, the research department polled a sample of 300 employees and
determined that the proportion of employees from the sample who smoke cigarettes is
15%.

Variables
 A characteristic that takes on different values for different individuals in a sample
is called a variable.
 Examples:
  Retention (yes/no)
 Inquiry about NSU (yes/no)
 Self-efficacy (score on self-efficacy questionnaire)   
Body image (score on body image questionnaire)

Independent Variables (IV)

 The “explanatory” variable
 The variable that attempts to explain or is purported to cause differences in a
second variable.
 In experimental designs, the intervention is the IV.
 Example:
 Does a new curriculum improve body image?
 The curriculum is the IV

Dependent Variables (DV)

 The “outcome” variable
 The variable that is thought to be influenced by the independent variable
 Example:
 Does a new curriculum improve body image?
 Body image is the DV
Examples
 Do students prefer learning statistics online or face to face?
 What is the IV? DV?

 How do students who have never had statistics compare to students who have
previously had statistics in terms
of their anxiety levels?

 What is the IV? DV?

Confounding Variables
 Researchers are usually only interested in the relationship between the IV and DV.
 Confounding variables represent unwanted sources of influence on the DV, and are
sometimes referred to as “nuisance”
variables.
 Example:
 Does a new curriculum improve body image?
 Such things as heredity, family background, previous counseling experiences,
etc. can also impact the DV.
Controlling Confounding Variables

 Typically, researchers are interested in excluding, or controlling for, the effects

of confounding variables.
 This is generally not a statistical issue, but is accomplished by the research
design.
 Certain types of designs (e.g., experiments) better control the effects of
confounding variables.
 If an experiment or an equivalent control group is not possible ANCOVA

Scales of Measurement
Variable Measurement Scales
 For any given variable that we are interested in, there may be a variety of
measurement scales that can be
used:
 What is your annual income? _________
 What is your annual income?
a. 10,000-20,000 b. 20,000-30,000 c. 30,000-40,000 d. 40,000-50,000
e. 50,000 or above

 Variable measurement is the second factor that influences the choice of

statistical procedure.

Scales of Measurement
 Nominal
 Ordinal

 Interval

 Ratio

Nominal Scale
 Observations fall into different categories or groups.
 Differences among categories are qualitative, not quantitative.
 Examples:

 Gender
 Ethnicity
 Counseling method (cognitive vs. humanistic)
 Retention (retained vs. not retained)
Ordinal Scale
 Categories can be rank ordered in terms of amount or magnitude.
 Categories possess an inherent order, but the amount of difference between
categories is unknown.
 Examples:
 Class standing
 Letter grades (A,B,C,D,F)
 Likert-scale survey responses (SD, D, N, A, SA)

Interval Scale
 Categories are ordered, but now the intervals for each category are exactly the
same size.
 That is, the distance between measurement points represent equal magnitudes
(e.g., the distance between point A and B is the same as the distance between B
and C).

 Examples:
 Fahrenheit scale of measuring temperature
 Chronological scale of dates (1997 A.D.)
 Standard scores (z-scores)

Ratio Scale
 Same properties as the interval scale, but with an additional feature
 Ratio scale has an absolute 0 point.
 Absolute 0 point permits the use of ratios (e.g., A is “twice as large” as B).

Examples:
 Number of children

 Weight
 Annual income

Categorical vs. Continuous Variables

 In practice, it is not usually necessary to make such fine distinctions between
measurement scales.
 Two distinctions, categorical and continuous are usually sufficient.
 Categorical variables consist of separate, indivisible categories (i.e.,
men/women).
 Continuous variables yield values that fall on a numeric continuum, and can
(theoretically) take on an infinite number of values.
Level of Measurement Summary
  In practice, the four levels of measurement can usually be classified as follows:

Continuous
Categorical Variables
Variables

Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio


 Continuous variables are generally preferable because a wider range of statistical
procedures can be applied

Examples
 What is the level of measurement of

 Temperature OC?

 Color?
 Income of professional baseball players?

 Degree of agree (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 =

Strongly Agree)?

Descriptive Statistics
 Procedures used to summarize, organize, and simplify data (data being a
collection of measurements or observations) taken from a sample (i.e., mean,
median, mode).
 Examples:
 

 The average score on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was 7.5  63% of  

the sample described themselves as Caucasian

Inferential Statistics
Techniques that allow us to make inferences about a population based on
data that we gather from a sample.
 Study results will vary from sample to sample strictly due to random chance
 

(i.e., sampling error).

  Inferential statistics allow us to determine how likely it is to obtain a set of
results from a single sample.
 This is also known as testing for “statistical significance.”
 

Population and Sample

Population – it is the complete set of individuals, objects, places, events and
reactions having some characteristics in common.
In statistical investigation it is defined by naming its unique properties.

It consists of numerical values associated with objects or individuals.

Example: Ages of graduating students, IQ scores of employees, number of houses,

Salaries of private employees in a certain company.

A sample
- It is a representative cross section of elements drawn from a population.

PARAMETER VS. STATISTICS

Parameter – is defined as a numerical characteristic of the population

Statistics – is defined as a numerical characteristic of the sample.

Example: Identify the parameter and the statistic in the given situation below:

In order to estimate the true proportion of employees of E & A Marketing who smoke
cigarettes, the research department polled a sample of 300 employees and determined
that the proportion of employees from the sample who smoke cigarettes is 15%.

ACTIVITY:
Prepared By:

LILIA B. CATULIN, D.P.A.