Organization and

Presentation of the Data

Measurement levels
In the process of scientific studies, data are gathered on
the different characteristics or traits of the units under
investigation
To facilitate the analysis of these characteristics or traits
a numerical value is assigned to them
This process is called measurement.
Different types of measurement can be used in statistics.
These types can range from assigning numbers as
symbols to having a numerical value
Ex.
Gender
Solid colors
Cloth size
Income data

There are four levels of

measurements

Nominal data:
The data can be only classified and
counted. No natural order and
numbers have no meaning
Categories should be
mutually exclusive means that an
individual, object or measurement
should be included in one category only
exhaustive means that each individual,
object or measurement must appear in
a category

Ordinal data
The data are ranked or ordered according to the
particular trait they possess.
differences in the characteristics are not reflected in
the differences in measurements.
Example
Educational attainment
Illiterate 1
Primary 2
Preparatory 3
Secondary 4
University
5
Graduate studies 6

Interval data:
The data are scaled according to the amount of
characteristics they possess.
Equal differences in the characteristics are represented by
equal differences in measurements.
Zero is an arbitrary value. It has no zero point meaning zero
does not corresponding to the absence of the characteristic
Examples: shoe size, Height above sea level, Temperature
Ratio data:
The data are scaled according to the amount of
characteristics they possess. Equal differences in the
characteristics are represented by equal differences in
measurements. Zero point is the absence of the
characteristics

Example
The following table presents the main
characteristics of 5 families , what is
the level of measurement for each
characteristic
Satisfacti
Floor in
Place of
Age of the
Serial
on with
the
current
residence

which the residence

family
live

head of the
family

Very
satisfied

Cairo

45

Unsatisfied 6

Alexandria

30

Neutral

Cairo

25

Satisfied

Gharbia

44

Very

Fayoum

36

Statistical Variable
A variable is a characteristic of a
statistical unit being observed that may
assume more than one of a set of values
to which a numerical measure or a
category from a classification can be
assigned.
The main objective of statistical analysis is
to describe the pattern of change in
behavior of this variable from one unit to
the other

In describing any unit, we usually

use

Qualitative variables

Characteristics Quality (nominal/ ordinal )

Quantitative variables
Numbers Quantity
Discrete (Counts)
Continuous (can take any value between two
numbers)

Continuous variables usually suffer from

errors whether in measuring or in rounding
BE CAREFULL

Data Organization
Tabulation
Frequency tables:
It aims to arrange the data into groups
and show the number of occurrence
(frequency) of each group.
The structure of the table depends on
Objective of the study,
Number of observations or data points
Type of variables
For qualitative variables
For quantitative variables (discrete/ Continuous)

Main Attributes of Frequency Tables

Has a simple clear title
Simple is a key attribute
Clear and brief titles for columns and
rows
Source of data is written under the
table
In case of having a number of tables,
each table should have a number to
use it to refer to the table