Key statistical concepts
in a user-friendly manner
Workshop title
Location and Date
Session outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Indicators, variables and populations
Proportions and percentages
Ratios
Rates
Practical activity
Skills for understanding statistics
1. Data awareness
2. Ability to understand statistical concepts
3. Ability to analyse, interpret and evaluate
statistical information and
4. Ability to communicate statistical information
counting
is complicated
2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4
Source: Blastland, M. and Dilnot, A. 2007. The Tiger That Isn’t: Seeing Through a World of Numbers. Profile Books.
Statistical
terms
Definition
Examples
Concept
A statistical concept is a characteristic of a time
series or an observation. For example,
‘unemployment’, ‘birth’, and ‘tertiary
enrolment’ are all concepts. To be measured
accurately and consistently, concepts must have
clear definitions.
•
•
•
•
Unemployment
Live births
Children
Marriage
Variable
A variable is a characteristic of a 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
•
•
•
•
•
•
Income
Age
Weight
Occupation
Industry
Cause of death
Population
The set of elements about which information is
wanted and estimates are required
•
•
•
total number of people in a country or town
Youth (aged 15-24)
married/partnered women aged 15-49
Indicator
An indicator is a measure that signals the state
or level of something. It represents statistical
data for a specified time, place, and other
characteristics.
•
Total Fertility Rate (average number of
children per woman)
Percentage of government budget spent on
education
Hourly gender pay gap
Share of women in national parliament
Indicators combine concepts, variables and
populations to create a particular measure.
•
•
•
Gender indicators - identify
Concept(s)
Variable(s)
Population(s)
• Proportion of women/men aged 15‐49 years, subjected to
psychological violence in the past 12 months by the intimate
partner
• Average hours spent in own‐use production work, by sex
• Employment rate of 25‐64 year‐olds, by sector of the
economy and sex
• Share of females among graduates in science, engineering,
manufacturing and construction
Percentages,
rates, ratios, etc.
Some examples
Proportion or percentage
• Number of observations in a
given category, relative to the
total number…
• Most often, proportions are
expressed in percentages
Part-time or full-time status of persons in employment,
Republic of Moldova, 2013
Male
Total
15-24
25-34
Age group
35-44
45-54
Part-time
41,200
5,200
7,800
8,700
10,200
7,400
1,800
Full-time
550,900
56,800
156,300
115,500
127,500
84,800
10,000
Total
592,100
62,000
164,100
124,100
137,700
92,300
11,800
0.07
7.0
0.08
8.4
0.05
4.8
0.07
7.0
0.07
7.4
0.08
8.0
0.15
15.3
Part-time
42,900
3,300
10,400
9,000
12,000
6,100
2,200
Full-time
Total
537,800
580,700
39,000
42,300
124,200
134,600
144,700
153,600
149,100
161,100
70,400
76,500
10,400
12,600
0.07
7.4
0.08
7.8
0.08
7.7
0.06
5.9
0.07
7.4
0.08
8.0
0.17
17.5
Proportion working part-time
Percentage working part-time
Female
Proportion working part-time
Percentage working part-time
Source: Moldova Labour Force Survey 2014
55-64
65+
Gender gap in part-time work most significant at age 25-34
Percentage of employed working part-time, by age group and sex,
Moldova, 2014
Percent (%) of all
employed
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Men
15-24
25-34
Source: Moldova Labour Force Survey 2014
Women
35-44
45-54
Age group
55-64
65+
Ratios
• Relationship of one number to another by division
• Expresses the relative size of two numbers
• How many times one number contains the other
• Common examples
• sex ratio: the number of males per 100 females
• student to teacher ratio: number of students for every
teacher
What is the sex ratio?
European Union-28
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Moldova, Republic of
Russian Federation
Tajikistan
Ukraine
Female
259,339,081
1,573,567
4,679,645
2,349,394
8,691,313
2,837,242
1,847,483
76,936,816
3,909,796
24,443,259
Guide:
100 = same number males as females
Less than 100 = more females
More than 100 = more males
Male
247,291,379
1,450,560
4,616,138
2,141,304
8,100,112
2,770,269
1,712,035
66,264,905
3,987,516
20,969,728
Sex ratio
95
92
99
91
93
98
93
86
102
86
Rates
• Rates are used to study the dynamics of change
• Demographic rates such as fertility rates and
mortality rates
Rates: Infant mortality rate
Probability of a child dying before age 1 (per 1,000 live births)
Azerbaijan Infant Mortality Rate, by sex, 1980-2012
35 32.3
30
Boys
25 28.2
20
Infant
Mortality Rate 15
Girls
10
5
0
Source: UNECE Statistical Database, compiled from national and international (WHO European health for all database, Eurostat and
UNICEF TransMONEE) official sources.
Footnotes: Break in methodology (2000): Change in calculation methodology.
11.1
10.5
Rates: Total fertility rate
Average number of children per woman
Total fertility rate (TFR), selected countries, 2010
3.8
4
3.0
3
Average number
2
of children
2.4
1.4
1.5
1.5
1.6
1.6
1.8
2.0
1
0
Data source: Gapminder.org (http://www.gapminder.org/downloads/documentation/gd008)
2.4
2.5
How to count gender issues?
Standard gender indicators
1. Poverty
2. Education
3. Health
4. Violence
5. Economy
6. Power and decision-making
7. Human rights
8. Media
9. Environment
10. Children and adolescents
11. Demography
How to judge data quality
Timeliness
Accessibility
Interpretability
Credibility
Accuracy
Relevance
Coherence
Data
Quality
Source: OECD (www.oecd.org/dataoecd/26/38/21687665.pdf)
Costefficiency
Activity: practice calculating rates
Activity: practice calculating rates
Employment rates:
• % of female population who are employed
• % of male population who are employed
Training on interpreting and using gender-related data, Transnistria, 5-6 November 2015
Employment rate (%) for population aged 15 and above, by sex, selected countries, year as indicated
Year
Population age 15+
Employment rate
(%)
Employed age 15+
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
58.1
65.4
Azerbaijan
2010
3,616,857
3,405,782
2,102,000
2,227,000
Belarus
2012
4,364,517
3,655,027
2,352,000
2,225,000
Georgia
2010
1,976,206
1,718,460
777,000
851,000
Kazakhstan
2012
6,632,986
5,930,058
4,131,000
4,376,000
Kyrgyzstan
2010
1,952,835
1,850,895
926,000
1,318,000
Moldova, Republic of
2010
1,522,172
1,409,368
570,000
573,000
Russian Federation
2010
66,242,404 54,929,054
34,304,000 35,500,000
Source: UNECE Statistical Database, compiled from national and international (Eurostat) official sources.
Footnotes: Georgia – data do not cover Abkhazia AR and Tskhinvali regions; Republic of Moldova – data exclude the territory of the
Transnistria and municipality of Bender; Russian Federation – data refer to the population aged 15-72 years.
Activity: practice calculating rates
1. Which has the highest employment rate for men?
2. Which country has the highest employment rate
for women?
3. Where are the employment rates the lowest?
4. Where is the gender gap between men and
women the greatest?