United States. The correlation coefficients provided an inferential analysis of movements in the unemployment rate in the United States.
Descriptive statistics describe the performance or activity of one group or class, without attempting to make generalizations about other groups or classes (Pfaffenberger & Patterson, 1987). Inferential statistics permit the findings with respect to one set of relationships to be extended to other relationships, and to generalize findings and conclusions on the basis of statistical inference (Levin, 1984).
The basic theoretical principle upon which inferential statistics are based is that of probability (Levin, 1984). Probability is "a number expressing the likelihood of occurrence of a specific event" (Shao, 1986, p. 217). For use in inferential statistics, this probability must be statistically independent (Levin, 1984).
Perhaps the most important use of statistics and statistical procedures to the manager and the administrator is that of testing hypotheses. This procedure is one which permits the making of inferences (Levin, 1984).
There are several statistical procedures which are used in the testing of hypotheses. Three procedures which are widely used by managers and administrators are (a) analysis of variance (ANOVA), (b) regression analysis, and (c) correlation analysis (Pfaffenberger & Patterson, 1987).
Analysis of variance is a "statistical technique that assesses the effects of one or more categorical independ
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