Getting to know data
Population and sample, cases and variables, data types, measurement scales, and working with datasets.
Study sections
Follow the order or choose a sectionStart here: what this course helps you do
Statistics helps us learn from data. You do not need advanced maths to begin. Start with a question, collect useful information, organi…
02What is statistics? Population and sample
Statistics is the process of collecting, describing and analyzing data so we can learn something. Data are the recorded facts and figur…
03Data tables: cases, variables and context
A dataset is a collection of related observations. Before calculating anything, find out what one row means and what each column record…
04Types of data: labels, amounts and time
Data can be classified in more than one way. First ask whether a value is a label or an amount. Separately ask whether the observations…
05Scales of measurement: nominal to ratio
A measurement scale tells us which comparisons make sense. A label, an ordered label and a measured amount give us different kinds of i…
06Try it: build and explore a small dataset
This guided activity turns the Week 1 learning objectives into a practical routine. The dataset below is a small teaching example, not…