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8/31/2023
Mr Seydou Sylla
 INTRODUCTION
 Statistics, according to University of California,
Irvine, statistics is the science concerned with
developing and studying methods for collecting,
analyzing , interpreting and presenting empirical
data.
 What is business statistics?
“Business statistics are statistics applied to the
business world in an effort to improve people’s
decision making in field such as marketing,
operations, finance, and human resources, to
name a few”. Donnelly, R. A. JR., Business
statistics, 2nd edition, 2015
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 INTRODUCTION
 Statistics is a highly interdisciplinary field,
research in statistics finds applicability in all
scientific fields.

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 INTRODUCTION
 The branches of statistics
We generally divide the study of statistics into
two branches: Descriptive statistics and
Inferential statistics.
 Descriptive statistics:
Refers to the summary of important aspects of a
data set. This includes collecting data,
organizing the data, and then presenting the
data in the form of charts and tables.
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 INTRODUCTION
In addition to that, we often calculate
numerical measures that summarize, for
instance, the data’s typical value (e.g., mean,
median, mode) and the data’s variability (e.g.,
range, variance, standard deviation), and the
shape of the distribution (e.g., skewness,
kurtosis).
Despite the familiarity with the descriptive
statistics, these methods represent only a minor
portion of the body of statistical applications.
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 INTRODUCTION
The phenomenal growth in statistics is mainly
in the field called inferential statistics.
 Inferential statistics:
Generally, inferential statistics refers to drawing
conclusions about a large set of data called
population based on a smaller set of sample
data.

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 INTRODUCTION
 We use the term population in statistics to
represent all possible subjects that are of
interest to us in a particular study. Whereas,
the term sample refers to a portion (a
subset) of the population that is
representative of the population from which
it was selected.

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 INTRODUCTION
 Many population are large or inaccessible to
measure completely, so looking at a sample
of the population of interest is the only
feasible way to estimate it.

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 INTRODUCTION
Population vs sample

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 INTRODUCTION
 For instance, it would not be practical to
measure the average life span of the mosquito
population in Seychelles. We would need to
measure the life span of a random sample of
mosquitoes and use these data to estimate the
average life span of the entire population.

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 INTRODUCTION
 Example:
Suppose I would like to estimate the average weight per packet of STC
milk powder (400g) in the population. For STC sake, I hope the
average is very close to the target weight of 400g per packet. Filling
packets with less than 400g could result in dissatisfaction of
customers, whereas, overfilling packets is giving free milk and will
reduce profit. To accomplish the task, I would randomly select a
sample of packets and measure their average weight. Lets say the
average weight is 400.2 g. with inferential statistics, I could determine
the likelihood that the average weight of the population of milk
packets is actually 400g if my sample average were 400.2 g. I would
still have to conclude that the average weight of milk packets is more
than 400g. I would then proceed to check the filling process to see
why the company is giving away free milk.
This example demonstrates the usefulness of statistics in quality
control programs
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 INTRODUCTION
 In summary, descriptive statistics reports only on
the observations at hand and nothing more.
Inferential statistics makes a statement about the
a population based solely on results from a
sample taken from that population.
 Two more terms need to be mentioned here
regarding populations and samples.
Data used to describe something of interest about
a population are known as parameters.
Data that describe a sample from that population
ae known as statistics.
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 INTRODUCTION
When we conduct a statistical investigation, we
invariably focus on people, objects, or events
with particular characteristics. When a
characteristic of interest differs in kind of
degree among various observations, then the
characteristic can be termed as variable. We
further categorize a variable as either qualitative
of quantitative.

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 INTRODUCTION
 Qualitative variable:
Qualitative variables produce responses that
belong to groups or categories. We use labels or
names to identify the distinguishing
characteristics of each observation. For example,
responses to yes/no questions are qualitative. Do
you own a car? Other examples of qualitative
variables include questions on gender, marital
status, race, profession, type of business and so on.
Sometimes qualitative variables include a range of
choices, such as “strongly disagree” to “strongly
agree”.
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 INTRODUCTION
 Quantitative variables
A variable that assumes meaningful numerical values
is called a quantitative variable. Quantitative variables
include both discrete and continuous variables.
 A discrete variable may (but does not necessarily)
have to be finite number of values. However, the
most common type of discrete numerical variable
produces a response that comes from a counting
process.
 Example: the number of students enrolled in a class.
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 INTRODUCTION
 A continuous variable:
A continuous variable may take on any value
within a given range of real numbers and
usually arises from a measurement (not a
counting) process. Examples include the weight
of a cereal box, the time to run a race, the
distance between two cities… In each case, the
value could deviate within a certain amount,
depending on the precision of the
measurement instrument used.
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 INTRODUCTION
 Measurement levels
In order to choose the appropriate statistical
methods for summarizing and analyzing data,
we need to distinguish between different
measurement scales. All data measurements
can be classified into one of four major
categories: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.

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 INTRODUCTION
 Nominal scale:
Nominal variables are considered the lowest or
the weakest type of data, all we can do is to
categorize of group the data. The numerical
identification is chosen strictly for convenience
and does not imply ranking of responses.
1 = Male; 2 = Female

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 INTRODUCTION
 Ordinal scale:
Ordinal variables indicate the rank ordering the
items, and similar to nominal variables, the
values are words that describe responses.
1 = poor, 2 = average, 3 = good

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 INTRODUCTION
 Interval scale:
Interval variables indicate rank and distance
from an arbitrary zero measured in unit
intervals. That is, data are provided relative to
an arbitrary determined benchmark.
Temperature is a classic example of this level of
measuremen.

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 INTRODUCTION
 Ratio scale:
Ratio variables indicate both rank and distance
from a natural zero, with ratios of two measures
having meaning.
A person who weighs 100 kg is twice the weight
of a person who weighs 50 kg.

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 INTRODUCTION
 Data:
Data are the foundation of the field of statistics and can
be defined as the values assigned to a specific
observations or measurements.
Let assume you want to collect data about your love one
snoring behavior, you can do in different ways.
- You can measure how many time he or she snores over
a given period of time, or
- The length of each snore in seconds, or
- How loud each snore is by using descriptive words.

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 INTRODUCTION
In each instance, you would be recording data
on the same event but in different form.
However, data all by themselves are not
particularly useful. By definition, data are just
the raw facts and figures that pertain to a
measurement of interest. Information, on the
other hand, is derived from the facts for the
purpose of making decisions. One of the major
reason to use statistics is to transform data into
information.
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 The sources of data:
We classify the sources of data into two broad categories:
primary and secondary data.
• Secondary data: are data somebody else collected and
made available for others to use.
The main drawback of using secondary data is that you
have no control over how the data were collected. People
tend to believe anything that is in print, even if it’s not
true. Some of it is wrong and some are deliberately
biased.
The advantage of secondary data is that they are cheap
and immediately available.
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 INTRODUCTION
 Primary data: are data collected by the person
or the organization that eventually uses the
data. This type of data can be expensive to
acquire, but the main advantage is that
primary data are your data, and you have
nobody to blame but yourself if you make a
mess of it.
You can obtain primary data in many ways,
such as by direct observation, via experiment,
and through surveys.
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 INTRODUCTION
 Direct observation: is a method of gathering
data while the subjects of interest are in their
natural environment, often unaware they are
being watched.
Observing wild animals stalking their prey in
the forest is one example. The advantage of this
method is that the subjects will unlikely be
influenced by the data collection process.

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 INTRODUCTION
 A focus group
Is a direct observational technique whereby
individuals are often paid to discuss their
attitudes toward products or services in a group
setting controlled by a moderator. For example,
Fisher Price heavily relies on focus groups of
both adults and children to obtain valuable
feedback on new toy ideas. The participants are
aware of they are being observed.
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 INTRODUCTION
 In an experiment:
Subjects are exposed to certain treatments and the
data of interest are recorded. An experiment that
tests the use of a new medical drug is an example.
The benefit of experiments is that they allow
statisticians to control factors that could influence
the results, such as the gender, age, and education
of a participant. One major concern is that the
response of the subjects might be influenced by
the fact they are participating in a study.
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 INTRODUCTION
 A survey:
Involves directly asking people a series of
questions. Surveys can be administered by e-mail,
via the Web, through snail mail, face to face, or
over the telephone. The questionnaire needs to be
carefully designed to avoid any bias that could
affect participants’ responses or confuse them. Bias
can occur when a question is stated in a way that
encourages or leads a respondent to a particular
answer. For example, “wouldn’t you agree that all
drivers should wear a seat bell?” is a biased
question.
8/31/2023 Mr Seydou Sylla
 THANK YOU

8/31/2023 Mr Seydou Sylla