Different type of data ...Statistics in education

DATA TYPES / MASUREMENT

       Variable can take on many different forms and levels sophistication.      

         The relationship between what is being measured and the number that represent what is being measured known as the levels measurement. Broadly speaking, variable can be categorical or continuous, and  can have different levels of measurement.

    I.            Categorical variable:

A categorical variable is made up categories.

The entities are different categories this known as categorical variables which includes,

• Ø         Binary variable
• Ø         Nominal variable
• Ø       Ordinal variable         

Ø Binary :  A categorical variable is one that name distinct entities. In its simplest form it name just two distinct types things, and this is known as Binary variables.

eg: male or female, alive or dead, pregnant or not, and responding “Yes” or” No” to a question.

Ø  Nominal :  When two things that are equivalent in some sense are given the same name (or number),but there are more than two possibilities ,the variable is said to be a nominal variables.

It should be obvious that if the variable is made up of names , it is pointless to do arithmetic on them(if you multiply a human by a cat,  you do not get a hat ). However, sometimes numbers are used to denote categories.

Eg: The numbers worn by players in a football team. In football, the numbers of shifts denote specific field positions, so the number 10 is always worn by the fly-half and the number 1 is always the hooker. These numbers do not tell us anything other than what position the player plays. We could equally have shirts with FH and H instead of 10 and 1.A number 10 players is not necessarily better than a number 1 .It is equally as daft to try to do arithmetic with nominal scales.

Ø  Ordinal :  When categories are ordered, the variables is known as ordinal variable. However, these data tell us nothing about the differences between values. Ordinal scale, numbers reflect their rank order or merits position within their own group or class with respect to some quality, property or performance.

 The ordinal scale places events in order .The defect in such scale lice in the fact that the units along the scale are unequal in size.

The difference in the achievement scores between the first and the second merit position holder is not necessarily equal to the difference between the second and third.

      Eg: The beauty contest winners are three. The names of the winners don’t    provide any information about where they came in the contest; however labeling them according to their performance does-first, second and third. These categories are ordered. In using ordered categories we now know that the woman who won was better than the women who came second and third. Ordinal data, therefore, tell us more than normal data but they still do not tell us about the difference between points on a scale.



   

            II.            Continuous Variables :

      A continuous variable is one that gives us a score for each person and can take on any value on the measurement scale that we are using. Continuous variables which includes,

Ø        Interval variable

Ø        Ratio variable

Ø   Interval variable :  Interval data are considerably the statistical tests in this book rely on having data measured at this level. To say that data are interval, we must be certain that equal intervals on the scale represent equal differences in the property being measured.  Interval scales can have an arbitrary zero but it is not possible to determine for them what may be called on absolute zero or the unique origin. The primary limitation of the interval scale is the lack of a true zero. It does not have the capacity to measure the complete absence of a trait or characteristic.

         Eg: On www.ratemyprofessors.com students are encouraged to rate their lecturers on several dimension (some of the lectures’ rebuttals of their negative evaluations are worth a look). Each dimension(i.e helpfulness,clarity,etc.)is evaluated using a 5-point scale. For this scale to be interval it must be the case that the difference between helpfulness ratings of 1 & 2 is the same as the difference between say 3 & 4, or 4 & 5. Similarly, the difference in helpfulness between ratings of 1 & 3 should be  identical to the difference between ratings of 3  & 5. Variables like this that look interval (and are treated as interval) are often ordinary.

Ø  Ratio variable :  It constitutes the find and highest type of scale in terms of measurement. Ratio scales have a absolute or true zero of measurement. So the Ratios value of values along the scale should be meaningful. Here measures are not only expressed in equal units but are also taken from a true zero. The zero on such scales essentially means an absence of quality or attributes being assessed.

Eg; All physical measurement are example of ratio scale, such as length, width, weight, capacity etc… temperature

 In the measurement of all these attributes all the concerned measuring scales start from a true zero.  These scales easily permit statements regarding the comparative ratio in relation to some quality or property existing among the different individual or objects.

CONCLUSION       

 

    These proceding from the nominal scale (the least precise type of scale) to ratio scale (the most precise) relevant information is obtained increasingly. If the nature of the variables permits, the researcher should use the scale that provides the most precise description.  Researchers in physical science have the advantage to describe variables in ratio scale form but the behavioral science are generally limited to describe variable in interval scale form a less precise type of measurement.

REFERENCES

v DISCOVERING STATISTICS USING SPSS, ANDY FIELD,III EDITION.

v KOTTARI C.R, RESEARCH METHADOLOGY METHODS AND TECHNIQUES, II EDITION, NEW AGE INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS.

v MANGAL S.K, STATISTICS IN PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION, II EDITION, ASOKE K GHOSH.

Asato Ma Sadgamaya.....................

Education

Education is an important medium of acquiring skills and knowledge. Our education begins at home. Thereafter, as we grow we go to schools, colleges and other educational institutes. Education bring positive changes in human life. It enhances the knowledge, skill, and intelligence of a person and enables him to lead a successful life.

Definitions

1.  Mahatma Gandhi – “By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in man – body, mind and spirit.”

2.  Rabindranath Tagore – “Education enables the mind to find out the ultimate truth, which gives us the wealth of inner light and love and gives significance to life.”

3.  Dr. Zakir Husain – “Education is the process of the individual mind, getting to its full possible development.”

4.  Swami Vivekananda – “Education is the manifestation of divine perfection already existing in man.”

5.   Aristotle – “Education is the creation of sound mind in a sound body.”

6.   Rousseau – “Education is the child’s development from within.”

7.   Herbert Spencer– “Education is complete living.”

8.   Plato – “Education is the capacity to feel pleasure and pain at the right moment.”

9.   Aristotle – “Education is the creation of a sound mind in a sound body.”

10. Pestalozzi – “Education is natural, harmonious and progressive development of man’s innate powers.”

NATURE OF EDUCATION

As is the meaning of education, so is its nature. It is very complex. Let us now discuss the nature of education:

1.     Education is a life-long process-

 Education is a continuous and lifelong process. It starts from the womb of the mother and continues till death. It is the process of development from infancy to maturity. It includes the effect of everything which influences human personality.

2.   Education is a systematic process- 

It refers to transact its activities through a systematic institution and regulation.

3.   Education is development of individual and the society- 

It is called a force for social development, which brings improvement in every aspect in the society.

4.   Education is modification of behaviour- 

Human behaviour is modified and improved through educational process.

5.    Education is purposive: every individual has some goal in his life.         

Education contributes in attainment of that goal. There is a definite purpose underlined all educational activities.

6.   Education is a training- 

Human senses, mind, behaviour, activities; skills are trained in a constructive and socially desirable way.

7.    Education is instruction and direction- 

It directs and instructs an individual to fulfill his desires and needs for exaltation of his whole personality.

8.   Education is life- 

Life without education is meaningless and like the life of a beast. Every aspect and incident needs education for its sound development.

9.   Education is continuous reconstruction of our experiences- 

As per the definition of John Dewey education reconstructs and remodels our experiences towards socially desirable way.

10.                      Education helps in individual adjustment: a man is a social being.

If he is not able to adjust himself in different aspects of life his personality can’t remain balanced. Through the medium of education he learns to adjust himself with the friends, class fellows, parents, relations, neighbours and teachers etc.

Advantages of education

1.   Education makes us humble. Education creates awareness and expands our vision. We become more aware about our-self, about the society, about everything that surrounds and affect our life.

2.   It helps us develop a disciplined life. And, discipline is essential for everything that a person wants to achieve in life.

3.   An educated person commands respect in the society.

4.   Education enables us to earn our livelihood. Education empowers us to get a good job.We need money to make our living. With the advancement of science and technology, our needs have increased. Besides the basic needs of life such as food, shelter and clothing, we also need other comforts such as mobile phones, air-conditioners, car, etc. A fulfilling career ensures a satisfied life.

5.   It is a known fact that an educated person gets better earning opportunities. After completing education, we can consider starting your own business. We can also become a consultant in the area of our expertise.

6.   The study of computer science, software, and information technology will empower us to make a choice in the field of fast growing IT and internet industry.

7.   We can help illiterate adults to learn the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.

Importance

Education is of utmost importance for eradicating the unemployment problem of our country. It is also essential to improve the trade and commerce, and to bring prosperity to our country. However, apart from an improved system of general education, there is a great need for the growth of vocational education.

Conclusion

A student must be familiar with the history, geography, religion, culture and tradition, through general education. Therefore, general education should aim at educating all students up to the secondary standard. Thereafter, depending upon the aptitude of the student, he should either opt for advanced academic education or join a vocational training institute for skill-based training.

volcano

                                        VOLCANO                                                     

A volcano is a mountain where lava (hot, liquid rock) comes from a magma chamber under the ground. Most volcanoes have a volcanic crater at the top. When a volcano is active, materials come out of it. The materials include lava, steam, gaseous sulfur compounds, ash and broken rock pieces.When there is enough pressure, the volcano erupts. Some volcanic eruptions blow off the top of the volcano. The magma comes out, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. Some eruptions come out at a side instead of the top.

Volcanoes are found on planets other than Earth. An example is Olympus Mons on Mars

Types of volcanoes

Shield volcanoes are built out of layers of lava from continual eruptions (without explosions). Because the lava is so fluid, it spreads out, often over a wide area. Shield volcanoes do not grow to a great height, and the layers of lava spread out to give the volcano gently sloping sides. Shield volcanoes can produce huge areas of basalt, which is usually what lava is when cooled.

             The base of the volcano increases in size over successive eruptions where solidified lava spreads out and accumulates. Some of the world's largest volcanoes are shield volcanoes.
Even though their sides are not very steep, shield volcanoes can be huge. Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the biggest mountain on Earth if it is measured from its base on the floor of the sea.

Strato volcanoes

                              

Mount Fuji, an active strato volcano in Japan that last erupted in 1707–08

                                 

Tavurvur, an active strato volcano near Rabaul in Papua New Guinea

A strato volcano, also known as a composite volcano is a tall, conical volcano. It is built up of many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash.

Unlike shield volcanoes, strato volcanoes have a steep profile and periodic eruptions. The lava that flows from strato volcanoes cools and hardens before spreading far. It is sticky, that is, it has high viscosity. The magma forming this lava is often felsic, with high-to-intermediate levels of silica, and less mafic magma. Big felsic lava flows are uncommon, but have travelled as far as 15 km (9.3 mi)

Two famous strato volcanoes are Japan's Mount Fuji, and Vesuvius. Both have big bases and steep sides that get steeper and steeper as it goes near the top. Vesuvius is famous for its destruction of the towns Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD, killing thousands.

Shield volcano

When magma is very hot and runny, gases can escape and eruptions are gentle with considerable amounts of magma reaching the surface to form lava flows. Shield volcanoes have a broad, flattened dome-like shape created by layers of runny lava flowing over its surface and cooling. Because the lava flows easily, it can move down gradual slopes over great distances from the volcanic vents. The lava flows are sufficiently slow for humans to outrun or outwalk them. This type of magma has a temperature between 800°C and 1200°C and is called basaltic magma.

Caldera

A caldera is a basin-like feature formed by collapse of land after a volcanic eruption. This happens after a huge strato volcano blows its top off. The base of the crater then sinks, leaving a caldera where the top of the volcano was before. Krakatoa, best known for its catastrophic eruption in 1883, is much smaller now

 

Classification            

 A traditional way to classify or identify volcanoes is by its pattern of eruptions. Those volcanoes which may erupt again at any time are called active. Those that are now quiet called dormant (inactive). Those volcanoes which have not erupted in historical times are called extinct.

    a)    Active :-
                       An active volcano is currently erupting, or it has erupted in the last       10,000 years. An example of an active volcano is Mount St. Helens in the United States (US).

b)   Dormant :-

                        A dormant volcano is "sleeping," but it could awaken in the future. Mount Rainier in the United States is considered dormant.

c)     Extinct  :-

                       An extinct volcano has not erupted in the past 10,000 years. Edinburgh Castle in Scotland is located on top of an extinct volcano.

Types of Volcanoes

Most people have never seen a real volcano but have learned about them through movies or books. So when most people think of a volcano, they usually conjure up the Hollywood version: a huge, menacing conical mountain that explodes and spews out masses of lava which falls on rampaging dinosaurs, screaming cave people, or fleeing mobs of betogaed Romans--depending on their favorite volcano disaster movie. While those types of volcanoes do indeed exist, they represent only one "species" in a veritable zoo of volcano shapes and sizes.

Some types of volcanoes are easily recognizable and some are not. The "Hollywood" types are easily recognized. Many are located in populated areas and have well-known names: Vesuvius, Krakatoa, Fujiyama, and Mount St. Helens. These volcanoes are typically tens of miles across and ten thousand or more feet in height. As illustrated in the figure above, they have moderately steep sides and sometimes have small craters in their summits. Volcanologists call these "strato-" or composite volcanoes because they consist of layers of solid lava flows mixed with layers of sand- or gravel-like volcanic rock called cinders or volcanic ash.

Another easily recognized type of volcano (seen at right) is the "cinder cone." As you might expect from the name, these volcanoes consist almost entirely of loose, grainy cinders and almost no lava. They are small volcanoes, usually only about a mile across and up to about a thousand feet high. They have very steep sides and usually have a small crater on top.

A third easily recognized volcano may be familiar to you from news reports from Hawaii: the "shield" volcano. This type of volcano can be hundreds of miles across and many tens of thousands of feet high. The individual islands of the state of Hawaii are simply large shield volcanoes. Mauna Loa, a shield volcano on the "big" island of Hawaii, is the largest single mountain in the world, rising over 30,000 feet above the ocean floor and reaching almost 100 miles across at its base. Shield volcanoes havelow slopes and consist almost entirely of frozen lavas. They almost always have large craters at their summits.

Geophysical hazards: volcanic eruptions

 

 

 

 

 

Definition and characteristics

volcanic eruptions happen when lava and gas are discharged from a volcanic vent. The most common consequences of this are population movements as large numbers of people are often forced to flee the moving lava flow. Volcanic eruptions often cause temporary food shortages and volcanic ash landslides called Lahar.
The most dangerous type of volcanic eruption is referred to as a 'glowing avalanche'. This is when freshly erupted magma forms hot pyroclastic flow which has temperatures of up to 1,200 degrees. The pyroclastic flow is formed from rock fragments following a volcanic explosion, the flow surges down the flanks of the volcano at speeds of up to several hundred kilometres per hour, to distances often up to 10km and occasionally as far as 40 km from the original disaster site.

The International Federation response adjusts to meet the needs of each specific circumstance. As population movement is often a consequence, the provision of safe areas, shelter, water, food and health supplies are primordial. In general response prioritizes temporary shelter materials; safe water and basic sanitation; food supplies; and the short term provision of basic health services and supplies.

Effects of Volcanoes

 

Volcanic hazards

Volcanic hazards include explosions, lava flows, bombs or ballistics, ash or tephra, pyroclastic flows, pyroclastic surges, mudflows or lahars, landslides, earthquakes, ground deformation, tsunami, air shocks, lightning, poisonous gas and glacial outburst flooding known as jökulhlaups. Each hazard has a different consequence, although not all occur in all eruptions or in association with all volcanoes.

                            Volcanic eruptions are measured using a simple descriptive index known as the Volcano Explosivity Index which ranges from zero to eight. The index combines the volume of material ejected with the height of an eruption column and the duration of the eruption.

                          Interesting fact: Volcanic ash clouds can damage aircraft engines but ash is not visible by radar, the main navigation aid for aircraft. There are nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres around the world which use satellites to help track volcanic ash clouds and provide warnings for aircraft.

 Volcano Safety Tips

 volcanic eruption can be an awesome and destructive event. Here are some tips on how to avoid danger and what to do if you're caught near an eruption.

Safety Tips

• Stay away from active volcanoes.

• If you live near an active volcano, keep goggles and a mask in an emergency kit, along with a flashlight and a working, battery-operated radio.

• Know your evacuation route. Keep gas in your car.

If a volcano erupts in your area

• Evacuate only as recommended by authorities to stay clear of lava, mud flows, and flying rocks and debris.

• Avoid river areas and low-lying regions.
• Before you leave the house, change into long-sleeved shirts and long pants and use goggles or eyeglasses, not contacts. Wear an emergency mask or hold a damp cloth over your face.

• If you are not evacuating, close windows and doors and block chimneys and other vents, to prevent ash from coming into the house.

• Be aware that ash may put excess weight on your roof and need to be swept away. Wear protection during cleanups.

• Ash can damage engines and metal parts, so avoid driving. If you must drive, stay below 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour.