exam 1关键概念定量方法考试.pdfVIP

Data and Data Sets Q Data are the facts and figures collected, summarized, yzed, and interpreted. ◼ The d ollected in a particular study are referred to as the data set. Elements, Variables, and Observations ◼ The elements are the entities on which data are collected. ◼ A variable is a characteristic of interest for the elements. ◼ The set of measurements collected for a particular element is called an observation. ◼ A data set with n elements contains n observations. ◼ The total number of data values in a complete data set is the number of elements multiplied by the number of variables. Scales of Measurement Data Categorical tative Numerical Non-numerical Numerical Nominal Ordinal Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio Cross-Sectional Data Cross-sectional data are collected at the same or approxima y the same point in time. Example: data detailing the number of building permits issued in June 2010 in each of the counties of Michigan Time Series Data Time series data are collected over several time periods. Example: data detailing the number of building permits issued in Wayne County, MI in each of the last 36 months Introduction An element is the entity on which data are collected. A population is the set of all the elements of interest. A sample is a subset of the population. A frame is a list of the elements that the sample will be selected from. The reason we sele ample is to collect data to answer a research question about a population. Introduction The sample results pro nly estimates of the values of the