Chapter 2

Steps in Conducting a
Statistical Inquiry

Conducting a statistical inquiry is essential

making conclusions and recommendations in
any field of human activities.

At the end of this chapter, the students will

be able to: (1) define statistical inquiry and
(2) enumerate the steps in conducting
statistical inquiry.

A statistical inquiry is a method or

process of transforming raw data into
useful information. The information
will tell us more about a subject and
will allow us to make
recommendations and possibly make
predictions of future outcomes.

Statistical inquiry consists of six steps:

1. raising questions
2. collecting data
3. organizing data
4. summarizing and displaying data
5. analyzing data and drawing
conclusions
6. writing a report

Raising Questions
The first stage is to identify the final
information that will be needed in order to be
able to draw a conclusion. This involves
coming up with questions that, if answered,
would guide to meaningful information that
would allow us to draw a conclusion and to
make recommendations.

The following are the sample questions:

1. What is the relationship between

study time and exam scores amongst
university students?
2. What is the relationship of career
prospects, salary and benefits, and
physical working conditions on job
satisfaction between managers and
non-managers?

Collecting Data

Once we have raised questions, we need to

collect data to answer them. Before we do
the actual collecting, we have to decide on
how we will collect the data, the type of data
we will collect and the sources from which
we will collect them.

The sources can be either primary or

secondary. Collecting from a primary
source involves collecting the data directly
yourself by interviewing or observing others
or even conducting experiments. When
collecting data using any such methods, it is
important to ensure that the data to be
collected can be organized easily. For
example, when creating a questionnaire, it
would be better to include questions that are
not open-ended, but rather have a limited
number of options from which participants
can choose their answers.

Using a secondary source involves

gathering data that has already been
collected or generated by others. This could
involve gathering data from books or the
internet. It is important that the data to be
collected are from a reliable source and not
from some obscure website or outdated
book, otherwise the data may not be
accurate.

Some data can be taken from government

agencies and private institutions.

Organizing Data

In the third stage, we arrange the data we

have collected into a form that gives
structure and order to the data. A common
way of accomplishing this is to use a table
e.g. a frequency table. How this data will be
organized will vary as a function of the
nature of the statistical investigation.

The following is a frequency table:

Table 2.1

Frequency Table
Summarizing and Displaying Data

Once we have organized the data, we need

to present the data in a form that will be
easy to read, understand and analyze. Most
often this will be accomplished by using a
graph such as a column graph, bar graph,
pie chart, dot plot or line chart. The
particular type of graph to be used will
depend on the purpose of the investigation.

The following are the types of data display:

1. Bar Charts
2. Histograms
3. Scatter Graphs
4. Box Plots
5. Pie Charts
6. Comparative Pie Charts
7. Pictograms
8. Line Graphs
9. Frequency Polygon

The following is a bar chart:

 Figure 2.1 Bar Chart
The following is a histogram:

Figure 2.2 Pie Chart

Analyzing Data

After we have finished summarizing and

displaying the data, it is time to examine and
interpret the data, to decide on what it
means and to ultimately draw conclusions
from it. This may involve identifying trends
and patterns from the graph, and identifying
how those trends and patterns change over
time or across categories (such as across
different populations). From these trends, we
can then draw conclusions and possibly
make predictions about future outcomes.

Writing a Report

Once we have finished analyzing the data, it

is time to put everything together in a
written report. Any report should address the
background and aim of the statistical inquiry
and the questions it sought to answer, detail
the data collection method (including
sources and type of data), involve a thorough
discussion of the findings, list and explain
the reasoning behind the conclusions, and, if
appropriate, include recommendations for
the future. It should also include the tables
and graphs from steps 2 and 3 of the inquiry
(even if only as part of the appendix).
 Chapter Quiz

I. Define statistical inquiry.

II. Enumerate the six steps of statistical
inquiry.

III. How do you present statistical data?

IV. Analyze and interpret the following pie

chart.