Sociology 2205A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Statistical Inference, Descriptive Statistics, Univariate

• School: Western University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: Sociology 2205A/B
• Professor: Jonathan Amoyaw

Document Summary

Statistics are mathematical tools used to organize, summarize, and manipulate data. Cases are the entities from which data are gathered (e. g. , people, business, cities, countries). Variables are traits that can change values from case to case (e. g. , gender, age, religious affiliation): example: gender can be male, female, both, etc. Data are scores on variables, or information expressed as numbers (quantitatively): numerical information that is gathered from individual cases, data sets information that has been gathered from a number of individuals. In a recent survey of university students, statistics canada found that the average age of university students in canada was 21. 7 years. Two main statistical applications: descriptive statistics = a review of basic mathematical concepts and methods used to summarize quantitative data (reduce data) Univariate: descriptive statistics include: percentages, averages, charts, and graphs. Example: students have an average gpa of 3. 1. Summarize the relationship between two variables (bivariate)