4.
Exploring data in the package
1
Methods of Data Analysis/ Statistical Methods
Basically, the field of statistics has two aspects (broad
sub-divisions or data analysis method):
1. Descriptive statistics , and
2. Inferential (analytical) statistics.
2
STATISTICAL METHODS
1. Descriptive statistics
It is concerned with the collection, processing,
summarizing and describing important features of the data
with out going beyond (i.e. with out any attempt to infer
from the data).
3
Cont…
For example, in some interval time period, the Ethiopian
Statistics Service (ESS) gathers basic data concerning the
number, age distribution, occupational and educational
composition of the Ethiopian people.
Since the amount of raw data gathered from Ethiopian
people by ESS is immense, it is necessary to condense and
interpret this information to make it useful.
So the data will be summarized and may be presented
using tables, graphs or charts.
4
STATISTICAL METHODS
2. Inferential (Analytical) statistics
It is concerned with the process of using data obtained
from sample to make estimates or test hypotheses
about the characteristics of a population.
Actually, data are sought for a large group of elements
(individuals, households, products, etc). But due to time,
cost and other considerations, data are collected from only
a small portion of the group.
5
Cont…
Thus, economists, managers and other decision makers
draw conclusions, make estimates and test hypotheses
about the characteristics of population from the data for a
small portion of the group. This process is referred to as
statistical inference.
6
Cont…
For instance, Ethiopia Economist Association (EEA) may
want to know the annual income of a household (or
individual) in Ethiopia.
In this case, EEA should collect data regarding the income
level of households in Ethiopia.
This is, however, too costly and time consuming. Hence,
EEA may collect representative sample data from
households and based on this estimates (or make
inference) the annual income of the households.
7
4.1. Summarizing and describing the data
(descriptive statistics)
A. Describing qualitative data
Frequency and Percentage
B. Describing quantitative data
Minimum, Maximum, Mean and Standard deviation
8
A. Descriptive statistics of qualitative variable
Use this dataset for practice:
..\Practice data [Link]
9
Discussion (Interpretation)
The result of the study indicated that out of the total
300 workers in Company ABC, male employees are
187 (62.33%) while female workers are 113 (37.67%).
It indicates that the majority of employees in
Company ABC are male.
10
Class Activity
Based on the Table above:
A. Interpret the result
B. What do you recommend?
11
B. Descriptive statistics of quantitative variable
Use this dataset for practice:
..\Practice [Link]
12
Discussion (Interpretation)
Age of the respondents: The minimum and
maximum age of the respondents were 20 and 82 years,
respectively. The average age of the respondents was
40.99 with standard deviation of 12.16.
Education level of the respondents: Respondents
education level varies from 0 to 12 grades and the
average years of schooling was 2.15 (SD=2.93).
13
Class Activity
Interpret the result presented in the Table above.
14
4.2. Cross tabulation (test of association for nominal
variables)
You can use crosstabs to compare responses among
categories in relation to aggregate responses.
Use this dataset for practice:
..\Data\Food [Link]
15
“Write its interpretation from the board during lecture”
Commands: tab secur
16
“Write its interpretation from the board during lecture”
Commands: tab2 farmsy secur
tab farmsy secur
17
“Write its interpretation from the board during lecture”
Commands: tab farmsy secur, column row
18
“Write its interpretation from the board during lecture”
• Commands: tab farmsy secur, column row chi2 lrchi2 V exact gamma taub
tab farmsy secur, column row nokey chi2 lrchi2 V exact gamma taub
19
4.3. Graphs
1. Pie chart
A pie chart (or a circle graph) is a circular chart divided
into sectors, illustrating numerical proportion.
In a pie chart, the arc length of each sector (and
consequently its central angle and area), is proportional to
the quantity it represents.
20
Cont…
Use this dataset for practice:
..\Data\Food [Link]
21
Cont…
Data for exercise
..\Data\Adoption and [Link]
22
2. Bar chart
A bar chart or bar graph is a chart with rectangular bars
with lengths proportional to the values that they represent.
Bar charts provide a visual presentation of categorical
data.
A bar graph is a chart that uses either horizontal or
vertical bars to show comparisons among categories.
One axis of the chart shows the specific categories being
compared, and the other axis represents a discrete value.
23
Cont…
Use this dataset for practice:
..\Data\Food [Link]
24
Cont…
25
Cont…
Data for exercise
..\Data\Adoption and [Link]
26
3. Box plot
Box plot is one of the methods most commonly used in the
visual inspection of data.
Box plot also termed as whisker’s plot is a method for
graphically depicting groups of numerical data through
their quartiles and interquartiles that helps in defining the
upper limit and lower limit beyond which any data lying is
considered as outliers.
27
Cont…
Thus, any value which is more than the upper limit or
lesser than the lower limit is outliers
Those data are considered as abnormal and should be
discarded from the data set.
Hence, only the data that lies within lower and upper
limits are statistical considered normal and thus can be
used for the analysis.
Whereas, it is also possible to use robust estimator to
capture the potential bias due to outliers.
28
Cont…
Use this dataset for practice:
..\Data\Income data (OLS).dta
29
* Commands: graph box MARKDIST
30
Use this dataset for practice:
..\Data\Food [Link]
Question: How to fix the problem of outliers in
the dataset???
31
4. Histogram
A histogram is a graphical representation of the
distribution of data.
It is an estimate of the probability distribution of a
continuous variable and was first introduced by Karl
Pearson.
A histogram is a representation of tabulated frequencies,
shown as adjacent rectangles, erected over discrete
intervals (bins), with an area equal to the frequency of the
observations in the interval.
32
Cont…
The height of a rectangle is also equal to the frequency
density of the interval, i.e., the frequency divided by the
width of the interval.
Use this dataset for practice:
..\Training for PG\Income data (OLS).dta
Question: How to fix non-normality problem???
33
Next …
Chapter (5):
Basic Data Analysis (Parametric and
Non-Parametric Analysis)
34