ECON 221 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Data Set
1 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Population: set of elements where we wish to draw conclusions. Sample: selected smaller units of a population. Too expensive and nearly impossible to gather information on an entire population: sample statistic: calculated from sample data and is used to make conclusions about a population. Data: facts and figures from which we can draw conclusions. Data set: data that is collected for a study. Variable: the characteristic that is being observed. Cross sectional: data collected by recording a characteristic of many subjects at some point in time without worrying about differences in time: subjects usually include individuals, households, firms, regions, etc. Time series: data collected by recording a characteristic of a subject over many time periods: can include weekly, daily, monthly, annual. Scales of measurement: nominal (qualitative): least sophisticated. No certain order: ordinal (qualitative): categorized and ranked with respect to some other trait. Usually an order of high to low.
