What are the two main categories of statistics?
- Descriptive statistics
- Inferential Statistics
What are the two main categories of data?
- Qualitative Data (Categorical)
- Quantitative Data (Numerical)
What are the two main types of numerical data?
- Discrete data
- Continuous data
What are the two main types of categorical data?
- Nominal data
- Ordinal data
What is nominal data?
Give an example.
- Data used to measure exclusive attributes
- Labelled responses and no ranking
Ex: Do you have a valid driver’s licence? (Yes or no)
What is meant by ordinal data?
Give an example.
- Used for measuring rank-ordered data
- Labelled responses
Ex: What was your final grade in the Microeconomics exam? (First, 2:1, 2:2, Pass, Fail)
What is meant by discrete data?
Give an example.
- Quantitative data
- Each interval is the same
- Steps/intervals are whole numbers, not fractions
Ex: The number of cans of coke sold in the UK last year
What is meant by continuous data?
Give an example
- Quantitative data
- Each step up/interval is the same
- Steps can be in fractions
Ex: How tall an individual is. (They could be 5ft 7 1/2in)
What is meant by sampling?
Refers to the selection of a subset of individuals who are part of the larger target population
What is meant by the population?
The total number of individuals who possess the characteristic that is being researched
What is meant by a census?
A census is a method of gathering information about every unit in a population, such as people or households
What is meant by a sample?
A sample is a subset of participants drawn from the target population
What are the 7 different types of sampling?
- Random Sampling
- Non-random Sampling
- Stratified Sampling
- Systematic Sampling
- Quota Sampling
- Volunteer Sampling
- Cluster Sampling
What is meant by random sampling?
Random sampling refers to when every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected to participate
What is meant by non-random sampling?
Non-random sampling refers to when samples are chosen selectively based on convenience or cost
What is another name for non-random sampling?
Non-probabilistic sampling
What is meant by quota sampling?
Refers to when the population is segmented into groups - A non-random amount of individuals are then chosen from each group to meet a predefined quota
What is another name for random sampling?
Probabilistic sampling
