Where Do Data Come From?

The field of statistics is applicable in every discipline. To give an idea of how widespread its use
is, consider the following examples illustrating the scope of applications:

From ratemyprofessors.com, STAT 110 instructors often get comments about the practice test
looking like the real exam…..should you believe this claim? Here are some interesting stats
from Exam 2 in a recent semester
Summary statistics:
Column n Mean Variance Std. Dev. Std. Err. Median Range Min Max Q1 Q3 •
•
Exam 2 379 78.51715 318.37735 17.843132 0.9165401 82 102 0 102 70 90

Claim found on MedPageToday, Jan. 14, 2013, “Fast Foods Tied to Allergies, Excema in Kids”
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/36848

A claim found on MedPageToday, June 29, 2014, “Run for your Life? Right!”
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Prevention/46982

Another claim found on MedPageToday, July 17, 2012, “IVIG Stops Alzheimer’s in Its Tracks”
http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AAIC/33780

51% of adults age 18 and older are married today – 72% in 1960
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/?src=sdt-carousel
Statistics is the science (or art) of data.

_____________________are the objects described by a set of data. Individuals may be

people, but they may also be animals or things.

A _____________________is any characteristic of an individual. A variable can take different

values for different individuals.

The actual measurements recorded for individuals are called ___________.

Example 1

What are the individuals?

Name Major Points Grade
Advani, Sura Comm 397 B
What are the variables?
Barton, David Hist 323 C
Brown, Annette Lit 446 A
Chiu, Sun Psyc 405 B
Cortez, Maria Psyc 461 A

Example 2

Individuals? Make Vehicle Transmission Cylinders City Highway

and
BMW Type
Subcompact Automatic 6 MPG
19 MPG
27
Model
325CI
BMW Subcompact Manual 6 20 29
Variables?
325CI
Buick Midsize Automatic 6 20 30
Regal
Chevy SUV (2WD) Automatic 6 16 21
Blazer

Chapter 1 Page 2
Example 3

In an agricultural study in Kansas, researchers want to know which of three fertilizer

compounds produces the highest wheat yield (in kg/plot). An experimenter uses 15 plots of
land. Each fertilizer is applied to 5 plots of land. After harvest, the resulting yield is measured.

Individuals?
Fertilizer 1 Fertilizer 2 Fertilizer 3
A. Farmers
64.8 56.5 65.8
B. Fertilizer types
C. Wheat yield 60.5 53.8 73.2
D. Plots of land 63.4 59.4 59.5
Variables? 48.2 61.1 66.3
55.5 58.8 70.2

Ways to Gather Data

1. Observational Study

An observational study observes individuals and measures variables of interest but does
not attempt to influence the responses.

A response variable is a variable that measures an outcome or result of a study.

The purpose of an observational study is to describe some group or situation.

The ____________________ for a statistical study is the entire group of individuals about
which we want information.

A ____________________ is the part of the population from which we actually collect

information and is used to draw conclusions about the whole.

Chapter 1 Page 3
2. Sample Survey

A Sample survey is a type of observational study that surveys a group of individuals by

studying only some of its members (selected because they represent the larger group of
individuals)
It is a survey because the individuals provide their own responses
It is a sample survey because the individuals participating in the survey are
a sample of the population
A census is a sample survey that attempts to include the entire population as the
sample.
The US Census is required by the constitution every 10 years
You can see 2010 Census Data and info here
http://www.census.gov/2010census/
Lots of really cool data can be found here. Let’s take a look at some in class.
We’ll always miss some people in the census count…
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/dozens-us-cities-line-contest-2010-censu
Example 4
The University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey conducted a poll from
July 30 to August 5, 2004. They asked: Do you favor or oppose Federal funding of research on
diseases like Alzheimer’s using stem cells taken from human embryos? The survey reported
that the poll consisted of 1345 randomly selected adults in the United States.

Population?

Sample?

Example 5
The American Community Survey (ACS) contacts 3 million households, including some in every
county in the US. This new Census Bureau survey asks each household questions about their
housing, economic, and social status.

Population?
A. All US Adults
B. All US Counties
C. All US Households
D. All 3 Million Households
Sample?

Chapter 1 Page 4
Example 6
Video adapter cables have pins that plug into slots in a computer monitor. The cable will not
work if pins are bent or broken. A store chooses 5 cables from each lot and inspects the pins.
If any of the cables have bent or broken pins, the entire lot is sent back.

Population?
A. Lot of adapter cables
B. Cable pins
C. 5 Cables

Sample?
A. Lot of adapter cables
B. Cable pins
C. 5 Cables

Example 7
A sociologist wants to know the opinions of employed adult women about government
funding for day care. She obtains a list of the 580 members of a women’s club and mails a
questionnaire to 100 of these women selected at random. Only 41 questionnaires are
returned.

Population?

Sample?

What percentage of the women contacted responded?

3. Experiment

An experiment deliberately imposes some treatment on individuals in order to observe

their responses.

The purpose of an experiment is to study whether the treatment causes a change

in the response.

Virtually all scientific research involves conducting well-designed experiments.

Researchers hope the results from these experiments support a research
hypothesis.
Chapter 1 Page 5
Example 8
Salmonella bacteria are widespread in human and animal populations, and there are over
2,000 known serotypes. The reported incidence of salmonella illnesses in humans is about 17
cases per 100,000 people. A food scientist wants to see how withholding feed from pigs prior
to slaughter can reduce the size of gastrointestinal tract lacerations during the actual
slaughtering process. This is an important issue since pigs infected with salmonella may
contaminate the food supply through these lacerations (among other routes, including fecal
matter and meat juices). He chose 45 pigs from 3 farms.
Individuals =

Population =

Sample =

Three treatments (we’ll give a formal definition of “treatment” in later chapter):

Treatment 1: no food withheld prior to transport
Treatment 2: food withheld 12 hours prior to transport
Treatment 3: food withheld 24 hours prior to transport

Data were measured on many variables: body temperature prior to slaughter, weight prior to
slaughter, treatment assignment, the farm from which each pig originated, number of
lacerations recorded, size of laceration (cm)
How should we assign pigs to one of the three treatments?

Why would one want to use animals from three farms?

Why might body temperature or prior weight be of interest?

Chapter 1 Page 6
Example 9
Classify the Data Collection Type for the following questions of interest:

– Is your school’s football team called for fewer penalties in home games than away
games?

A. Sample survey
B. Observational study
C. Experiment

– Do college students perform better on exams when Mozart is playing softly in the
background than when no music is playing?

A. Sample survey
B. Observational Study
C. Experiment

– Are college students satisfied with the quality of education they are receiving?

A. Sample survey
B. Observational Study
C. Experiment

Word of Caution: Statistical conclusions hold “on average” for groups of individuals. They
don’t tell us much about one individual.

Chapter 1 Page 7