1.
Statistics: statistics are a set of mathematical procedures for collecting, summarizing,
presenting and interpreting observations. It is of two types:
a. Descriptive: it summarizes and describes a set of observations. It involves summarizing and
presenting the data obtained.
b. Inferential: it interprets or draw inferences about a set of observations. The conclusions
from the inferential statistics are used in generalizing about the population. It involves
interpretation of data.
2. Variable: is a characteristic that can take values that vary from individual to individual or
group to group. The value of a variable is called data. For eg. Let us take example of milk yield of
cow: 4L, 5L, 10L etc. Here, height is variable while 4L,5L are data.
a. Quantitative variable: some variables are easily quantifiable and are expressed in terms of
numerical value. These are quantitative variables. These variables consist of numerical values
on a well-defined scale.
i. Discrete scale: data takes only particular integer values. No fraction or decimal.
ii. Eg. Litter size, age.
iii. Continuous scale: it implies the measurement of continuous scale. Eg. Weight, milk
production etc.
b. Qualitative variable: however, for some variables, we can assign a number to a category
and so create the appearance of numerical scale. These are quantitative variables. Here, the
animal belongs to any one of two or more distinct categories for this variable. We summarize
these information by determining the number and percentage (or proportion) of individuals in
each category in the sample or population.
i. Nominal scale: here, the variables are unordered and each can be assigned a name. eg
breeds of cow.
ii. Ordinal scale: here, variables have some intrinsic order. Eg, body condition score,
parity etc.
3. Population and sample: the entire aggregation of items from which samples can be
drawn is know as population. Suppose, there are 34,000 murrah buffaloes in Bharatpur
municipality. To observe the status of anestrus, we took 100 anestrus buffaloes and observed the
factors affecting anestrus in these buffaloes. Then 34,000 is the population and 100 is sample.
To know the condition of the anestrus, it is accurate to consider all 34,000 buffaloes, but it is time
consuming, costly and difficult to do so. In that case we consider only few numbers scientifically
and summarize, present and interpret the data taken from the sample. This is called statistics. The
mathematical observations taken from the sample is then used in generalizing information about
the population.
4. Sampling: sampling is the process of obtaining the information from a portion of a larger
group or universe. Elements are selected in a manner that the yield almost gives information
about the whole population. Therefore, sampling should be done randomly, unbiasedly with
scientific principles and procedures.
5. Summarizing data: when the data is taken from the small population, we can easily
understand the nature of the data. But, as the quantity of information grows, it becomes
increasingly difficult to obtain an overall picture of what is happening. Therefore, for easy
understanding and interpreting of data, summarization is necessary. Most notably, we can use:
6. Graphical representation of qualitative data
Here, each observation is assigned to a specific category and data are described as proportion of
the total number in that category. Frequency for a certain category is the number of observations
in that category. It is represented as by bar graph and pie
chart
a. Graphical representation of qualitative data
i. Histogram: Widely used graph for presenting quantitative data is a histogram. A
histogram is a frequency distribution of a set of data. In order to present a distribution,
the quantitative data are
partitioned into classes and the
histogram shows the number or
relative frequency of observations
for each class.
ii. stem and leaf: Another well-
known way of presenting
quantitative data is by the use of a
‘Stem and Leaf’ graph. The
construction of a stem and leaf can be shown
in three steps: Each value is divided into two
parts, ‘Stem’ and ‘Leaf’. ‘Stem’ corresponds
to higher decimal places, and ‘Leaf’
corresponds to lower decimal places. For the
example of calf weights, the first two digits of
each weight would represent the stem and the
third digit the leaf. ‘Stems’ are sorted in
ascending order in the first column. The
appropriate ‘Leaf’ for each observation is recorded in the row with the appropriate
‘Stem’.
iii. Dot diagram
iv. Scatter diagram
v. Box and whisker
b. Numerical methods for presenting data
i. Measure of central tendency:
o Arithmetic Mean
o Median
o Mode
o Geometric mean
ii. Measure of variability of dispersion:
o Range
o Interquartile range
o Variance
o Standard deviation
iii. Measure of shape of distribution:
o Skewness
o kurtosis
iv. Measure of relative position:
o Percentile
o Z-values
Probability:
