Answer to Question #189151 in Statistics and Probability for EUGINE HAWEZA

Question

a) With relevant examples, explain different types of statistics and how they are used in quantitative research.

(b) Which symbols are commonly used in social statistics?

(c) Draw the scatter plot and explain its relevance in quantitative research

Answer 1

(a) The statistical analysis is meant to collect and study the information available in large quantities. Statistics is a branch of mathematics, where computation is done over a bulk of data using charts, tables, graphs, etc. 

Statistics have majorly categorised into two types:

1.Descriptive statistics

2.Inferential statistics

Descriptive Statistics

In this type of statistics, the data is summarised through the given observations. The summarisation is one from a sample of population using parameters such as the mean or standard deviation.

Inferential Statistics

This type of statistics is used to interpret the meaning of Descriptive statistics. That means once the data has been collected, analysed and summarised then we use these stats to describe the meaning of the collected data. Or we can say, it is used to draw conclusions from the data that depends on random variations such as observational errors, sampling variation, etc.

Example:

In a class, the collection of marks obtained by 50 students is the description of data. Now when we take out the mean of the data, the result is the average of marks of 50 students. If the average mark obtained by 50 students is 88 out of 100, then we can reach to a conclusion or give a judgment on the basis of the result.

(b) The symbols commonly used in social statistics are-

(c) Scatter plots are important in statistics because they can show the extent of correlation, if any, between the values of observed quantities or phenomena (called variables). If no correlation exists between the variables, the points appear randomly scattered on the coordinate plane.