NCERT Textbook - Use of Statistical Tools | Economics Class 11 - Commerce PDF Download

 Page 1


Use of Statistical Tools
Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should
enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to:
• be familiar with steps in
designing a project;
• apply various statistical tools in
analysing a problem.
1. INTRODUCTION
You have studied about the various
statistical tools. These tools are
important for us in daily life and are
used in the analysis of data pertaining
to economic activities such as
production, consumption, distribution,
banking and insurance, trade,
transport, etc. In this chapter, you will
learn the method of developing a
project. This will help in understanding
how statistical tools and methods can
be used for various types of analysis.
For example, you may have to collect
information about a product from the
consumer or about a new product or
service to be launched in the market by
the producer or analyse the spread of
information technology in schools and
so on. Developing a project by
conducting a survey and preparing a
report will help in analysing relevant
information and suggesting
improvements in a product or system.
Steps Towards Making a Project
Identifying a problem or an area of
study
At the outset, you should be clear about
what you want to study. On the  basis
CHAPTER
2024-25
Page 2


Use of Statistical Tools
Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should
enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to:
• be familiar with steps in
designing a project;
• apply various statistical tools in
analysing a problem.
1. INTRODUCTION
You have studied about the various
statistical tools. These tools are
important for us in daily life and are
used in the analysis of data pertaining
to economic activities such as
production, consumption, distribution,
banking and insurance, trade,
transport, etc. In this chapter, you will
learn the method of developing a
project. This will help in understanding
how statistical tools and methods can
be used for various types of analysis.
For example, you may have to collect
information about a product from the
consumer or about a new product or
service to be launched in the market by
the producer or analyse the spread of
information technology in schools and
so on. Developing a project by
conducting a survey and preparing a
report will help in analysing relevant
information and suggesting
improvements in a product or system.
Steps Towards Making a Project
Identifying a problem or an area of
study
At the outset, you should be clear about
what you want to study. On the  basis
CHAPTER
2024-25
106 STATISTICS FOR ECONOMICS
of your objective, you will proceed with
the collection and processing of the
data. For example, production or sale
of a product like car, mobile phone,
shoe polish, bathing soap or a
detergent, may be an area of interest to
you. You may like to address certain
water or electricity problems relating to
households of a particular area. You
may like to study about consumer
awareness among households, i.e.,
awareness about rights of consumers.
Choice of Target Group
The choice or identification of the target
group is important for framing
appropriate questions for your
questionnaire. If your project relates
to cars, then your target group will
mainly be the middle income and the
higher income groups. For the project
studies relating to consumer products
like soap, you will target all rural and
urban consumers. For the availability
of safe drinking water your target
group can be both urban and rural
population. Therefore, the choice of
target groups, to identify those
persons on whom you  focus your
attention, is very important while
preparing the project report.
Collection of Data
The objective of the survey will help you
to determine whether the data
collection should be undertaken by
using primary method, secondary
method or both the methods. As you
have read in Chapter 2, a first hand
collection of data by using primary
method can be done by using a
questionnaire or an interview schedule,
which may be obtained by personal
interviews, mailing/postal surveys,
phone, email, etc. Postal questionnaire
must have a covering  letter giving
details about the purpose of inquiry.
Your objective will be to determine the
size and characteristics of your target
group. For example, in a study
pertaining to the primary and
secondary level female literacy or
consumption of a particular brand or
soap, you will have to go to each and
every family or household to collect the
information i.e. you have to collect
primary data. If sampling is used in
your method of data collection, then
care has to be taken about the
suitability of the method of sampling.
Secondary data can also be used
provided it suits your requirement.
Secondary data are usually used when
there is paucity of time, money and
manpower resources and the
information is easily available.
Organisation and Presentation of
Data
After collecting the data, you need
to process the information so
received, by organising and
presenting them with the help of
tabulation and suitable diagrams,
e.g. bar diagrams, pie diagrams, etc.
about which you have studied in
chapter 3 and 4.
2024-25
Page 3


Use of Statistical Tools
Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should
enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to:
• be familiar with steps in
designing a project;
• apply various statistical tools in
analysing a problem.
1. INTRODUCTION
You have studied about the various
statistical tools. These tools are
important for us in daily life and are
used in the analysis of data pertaining
to economic activities such as
production, consumption, distribution,
banking and insurance, trade,
transport, etc. In this chapter, you will
learn the method of developing a
project. This will help in understanding
how statistical tools and methods can
be used for various types of analysis.
For example, you may have to collect
information about a product from the
consumer or about a new product or
service to be launched in the market by
the producer or analyse the spread of
information technology in schools and
so on. Developing a project by
conducting a survey and preparing a
report will help in analysing relevant
information and suggesting
improvements in a product or system.
Steps Towards Making a Project
Identifying a problem or an area of
study
At the outset, you should be clear about
what you want to study. On the  basis
CHAPTER
2024-25
106 STATISTICS FOR ECONOMICS
of your objective, you will proceed with
the collection and processing of the
data. For example, production or sale
of a product like car, mobile phone,
shoe polish, bathing soap or a
detergent, may be an area of interest to
you. You may like to address certain
water or electricity problems relating to
households of a particular area. You
may like to study about consumer
awareness among households, i.e.,
awareness about rights of consumers.
Choice of Target Group
The choice or identification of the target
group is important for framing
appropriate questions for your
questionnaire. If your project relates
to cars, then your target group will
mainly be the middle income and the
higher income groups. For the project
studies relating to consumer products
like soap, you will target all rural and
urban consumers. For the availability
of safe drinking water your target
group can be both urban and rural
population. Therefore, the choice of
target groups, to identify those
persons on whom you  focus your
attention, is very important while
preparing the project report.
Collection of Data
The objective of the survey will help you
to determine whether the data
collection should be undertaken by
using primary method, secondary
method or both the methods. As you
have read in Chapter 2, a first hand
collection of data by using primary
method can be done by using a
questionnaire or an interview schedule,
which may be obtained by personal
interviews, mailing/postal surveys,
phone, email, etc. Postal questionnaire
must have a covering  letter giving
details about the purpose of inquiry.
Your objective will be to determine the
size and characteristics of your target
group. For example, in a study
pertaining to the primary and
secondary level female literacy or
consumption of a particular brand or
soap, you will have to go to each and
every family or household to collect the
information i.e. you have to collect
primary data. If sampling is used in
your method of data collection, then
care has to be taken about the
suitability of the method of sampling.
Secondary data can also be used
provided it suits your requirement.
Secondary data are usually used when
there is paucity of time, money and
manpower resources and the
information is easily available.
Organisation and Presentation of
Data
After collecting the data, you need
to process the information so
received, by organising and
presenting them with the help of
tabulation and suitable diagrams,
e.g. bar diagrams, pie diagrams, etc.
about which you have studied in
chapter 3 and 4.
2024-25
USE OF STATISTICAL TOOLS 107
Analysis and Interpretation
Measures of Central Tendency (e.g.
mean), Measures of Dispersion (e.g.
Standard deviation), and Correlation
will enable you to calculate the average,
variability and relationship, if it exists
among the variables. You have acquired
the knowledge related to above-
mentioned measures in chapters 5
and 6.
Conclusion
The last step will be to draw meaningful
conclusions after analysing and
interpreting the results. If possible you
must try to predict the future prospects
and suggestions relating to growth and
government policies, etc. on the basis
of the information collected.
Bibliography
In this section, you need to mention the
details of all the secondary sources, i.e.,
magazines, newspapers, research
reports used for developing the project.
2. SUGGESTED LIST OF PROJECTS
These are a few suggested projects. You
are free to choose any topic that deals
with an economic issue.
1. Consider yourself as an advisor to
Transport Minister who aims to
bring about a better and coordinated
system of transportation. Prepare a
project report.
2. You may be working in a village
cottage industry. It could be a unit
manufacturing dhoop, agarbatti,
candles, jute products, etc. You
want to start a new unit of your
own. Prepare a project proposal for
getting a bank loan.
3. Suppose you are a marketing
manager in a company and recently
you have put up advertisements
about your consumer product.
Prepare a report on the effect of
advertisements on the sale of your
product.
4. You are a District Education Officer,
who wants to assess the literacy
levels and the reasons for dropping
out of school children. Prepare a
report.
5. Suppose you are a Vigilance Officer
of an area and you receive
complaints about overcharging of
goods by traders i.e., charging a
higher price than the Maximum
Retail Price (MRP). Visit a few shops
and prepare a report on the
complaint.
6. Consider yourself to be the  head of
Gram Panchayat of a particular
village who wants to improve
amenities like safe drinking water
to your people. Address your issues
in a report form.
7. As a representative of a local
government, you want to assess the
participation of women in various
employment schemes in your area.
Prepare a project report.
8. You are the Chief Health Officer of a
rural block. Identify the issues to
be addressed through a project
study. This may include health and
sanitation problems in the area.
9. As the Chief Inspector of Food and
Civil Supplies department, you
have received a complaint about
2024-25
Page 4


Use of Statistical Tools
Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should
enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to:
• be familiar with steps in
designing a project;
• apply various statistical tools in
analysing a problem.
1. INTRODUCTION
You have studied about the various
statistical tools. These tools are
important for us in daily life and are
used in the analysis of data pertaining
to economic activities such as
production, consumption, distribution,
banking and insurance, trade,
transport, etc. In this chapter, you will
learn the method of developing a
project. This will help in understanding
how statistical tools and methods can
be used for various types of analysis.
For example, you may have to collect
information about a product from the
consumer or about a new product or
service to be launched in the market by
the producer or analyse the spread of
information technology in schools and
so on. Developing a project by
conducting a survey and preparing a
report will help in analysing relevant
information and suggesting
improvements in a product or system.
Steps Towards Making a Project
Identifying a problem or an area of
study
At the outset, you should be clear about
what you want to study. On the  basis
CHAPTER
2024-25
106 STATISTICS FOR ECONOMICS
of your objective, you will proceed with
the collection and processing of the
data. For example, production or sale
of a product like car, mobile phone,
shoe polish, bathing soap or a
detergent, may be an area of interest to
you. You may like to address certain
water or electricity problems relating to
households of a particular area. You
may like to study about consumer
awareness among households, i.e.,
awareness about rights of consumers.
Choice of Target Group
The choice or identification of the target
group is important for framing
appropriate questions for your
questionnaire. If your project relates
to cars, then your target group will
mainly be the middle income and the
higher income groups. For the project
studies relating to consumer products
like soap, you will target all rural and
urban consumers. For the availability
of safe drinking water your target
group can be both urban and rural
population. Therefore, the choice of
target groups, to identify those
persons on whom you  focus your
attention, is very important while
preparing the project report.
Collection of Data
The objective of the survey will help you
to determine whether the data
collection should be undertaken by
using primary method, secondary
method or both the methods. As you
have read in Chapter 2, a first hand
collection of data by using primary
method can be done by using a
questionnaire or an interview schedule,
which may be obtained by personal
interviews, mailing/postal surveys,
phone, email, etc. Postal questionnaire
must have a covering  letter giving
details about the purpose of inquiry.
Your objective will be to determine the
size and characteristics of your target
group. For example, in a study
pertaining to the primary and
secondary level female literacy or
consumption of a particular brand or
soap, you will have to go to each and
every family or household to collect the
information i.e. you have to collect
primary data. If sampling is used in
your method of data collection, then
care has to be taken about the
suitability of the method of sampling.
Secondary data can also be used
provided it suits your requirement.
Secondary data are usually used when
there is paucity of time, money and
manpower resources and the
information is easily available.
Organisation and Presentation of
Data
After collecting the data, you need
to process the information so
received, by organising and
presenting them with the help of
tabulation and suitable diagrams,
e.g. bar diagrams, pie diagrams, etc.
about which you have studied in
chapter 3 and 4.
2024-25
USE OF STATISTICAL TOOLS 107
Analysis and Interpretation
Measures of Central Tendency (e.g.
mean), Measures of Dispersion (e.g.
Standard deviation), and Correlation
will enable you to calculate the average,
variability and relationship, if it exists
among the variables. You have acquired
the knowledge related to above-
mentioned measures in chapters 5
and 6.
Conclusion
The last step will be to draw meaningful
conclusions after analysing and
interpreting the results. If possible you
must try to predict the future prospects
and suggestions relating to growth and
government policies, etc. on the basis
of the information collected.
Bibliography
In this section, you need to mention the
details of all the secondary sources, i.e.,
magazines, newspapers, research
reports used for developing the project.
2. SUGGESTED LIST OF PROJECTS
These are a few suggested projects. You
are free to choose any topic that deals
with an economic issue.
1. Consider yourself as an advisor to
Transport Minister who aims to
bring about a better and coordinated
system of transportation. Prepare a
project report.
2. You may be working in a village
cottage industry. It could be a unit
manufacturing dhoop, agarbatti,
candles, jute products, etc. You
want to start a new unit of your
own. Prepare a project proposal for
getting a bank loan.
3. Suppose you are a marketing
manager in a company and recently
you have put up advertisements
about your consumer product.
Prepare a report on the effect of
advertisements on the sale of your
product.
4. You are a District Education Officer,
who wants to assess the literacy
levels and the reasons for dropping
out of school children. Prepare a
report.
5. Suppose you are a Vigilance Officer
of an area and you receive
complaints about overcharging of
goods by traders i.e., charging a
higher price than the Maximum
Retail Price (MRP). Visit a few shops
and prepare a report on the
complaint.
6. Consider yourself to be the  head of
Gram Panchayat of a particular
village who wants to improve
amenities like safe drinking water
to your people. Address your issues
in a report form.
7. As a representative of a local
government, you want to assess the
participation of women in various
employment schemes in your area.
Prepare a project report.
8. You are the Chief Health Officer of a
rural block. Identify the issues to
be addressed through a project
study. This may include health and
sanitation problems in the area.
9. As the Chief Inspector of Food and
Civil Supplies department, you
have received a complaint about
2024-25
108 STATISTICS FOR ECONOMICS
food adulteration in the area of
your duty. Conduct a survey to find
the magnitude of the problem.
10.Prepare a report on Polio
immunisation programme in a
particular area.
11. You are a Bank Officer and want to
survey the saving habits of the
people by taking into consideration
income and expenditure of the
people. Prepare a report.
12. Suppose you are part of a group of
students who wants to study
farming practices and the problems
facing farmers in a village. Prepare
a project report.
3. SAMPLE PROJECT
This is a sample project for your
guidance. Depending on the subject of
your study the method used will
obviously be different from the one
used here.
Project
X is a young entrepreneur who wants
to set up a factory to produce
toothpaste. You are asked to advise X
about  how he should proceed.
One of the first things you could do
would be to study people’s tastes with
regard to toothpastes, their monthly
expenses on toothpaste and other
relevant facts. For this, you may decide
to collect primary data.
The data is to be collected with the
help of a questionnaire. Whatever
questionnaire you use must be capable
of generating the information which
you need for your study. Suppose you
decide that the most important
information that you need for your
study is:
• The average monthly expenditure
on toothpaste
• The brands of toothpaste that are
currently in demand
• The attitude of the customers
towards these brands
• Customers’ preferences in regard to
ingredients in the toothpaste
• The major media influences on
consumers’ demand for toothpaste
• The relation between income and all
the above factors.
If you can get hold of a questionnaire
that has already been tried out and
tested (perhaps for some similar study),
you could use it after suitably
modifying it to suit your requirements.
Otherwise, you may need to prepare the
questionnaire yourself, making sure
that all the required information has
been asked for.
2024-25
Page 5


Use of Statistical Tools
Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should Studying this chapter should
enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to: enable you to:
• be familiar with steps in
designing a project;
• apply various statistical tools in
analysing a problem.
1. INTRODUCTION
You have studied about the various
statistical tools. These tools are
important for us in daily life and are
used in the analysis of data pertaining
to economic activities such as
production, consumption, distribution,
banking and insurance, trade,
transport, etc. In this chapter, you will
learn the method of developing a
project. This will help in understanding
how statistical tools and methods can
be used for various types of analysis.
For example, you may have to collect
information about a product from the
consumer or about a new product or
service to be launched in the market by
the producer or analyse the spread of
information technology in schools and
so on. Developing a project by
conducting a survey and preparing a
report will help in analysing relevant
information and suggesting
improvements in a product or system.
Steps Towards Making a Project
Identifying a problem or an area of
study
At the outset, you should be clear about
what you want to study. On the  basis
CHAPTER
2024-25
106 STATISTICS FOR ECONOMICS
of your objective, you will proceed with
the collection and processing of the
data. For example, production or sale
of a product like car, mobile phone,
shoe polish, bathing soap or a
detergent, may be an area of interest to
you. You may like to address certain
water or electricity problems relating to
households of a particular area. You
may like to study about consumer
awareness among households, i.e.,
awareness about rights of consumers.
Choice of Target Group
The choice or identification of the target
group is important for framing
appropriate questions for your
questionnaire. If your project relates
to cars, then your target group will
mainly be the middle income and the
higher income groups. For the project
studies relating to consumer products
like soap, you will target all rural and
urban consumers. For the availability
of safe drinking water your target
group can be both urban and rural
population. Therefore, the choice of
target groups, to identify those
persons on whom you  focus your
attention, is very important while
preparing the project report.
Collection of Data
The objective of the survey will help you
to determine whether the data
collection should be undertaken by
using primary method, secondary
method or both the methods. As you
have read in Chapter 2, a first hand
collection of data by using primary
method can be done by using a
questionnaire or an interview schedule,
which may be obtained by personal
interviews, mailing/postal surveys,
phone, email, etc. Postal questionnaire
must have a covering  letter giving
details about the purpose of inquiry.
Your objective will be to determine the
size and characteristics of your target
group. For example, in a study
pertaining to the primary and
secondary level female literacy or
consumption of a particular brand or
soap, you will have to go to each and
every family or household to collect the
information i.e. you have to collect
primary data. If sampling is used in
your method of data collection, then
care has to be taken about the
suitability of the method of sampling.
Secondary data can also be used
provided it suits your requirement.
Secondary data are usually used when
there is paucity of time, money and
manpower resources and the
information is easily available.
Organisation and Presentation of
Data
After collecting the data, you need
to process the information so
received, by organising and
presenting them with the help of
tabulation and suitable diagrams,
e.g. bar diagrams, pie diagrams, etc.
about which you have studied in
chapter 3 and 4.
2024-25
USE OF STATISTICAL TOOLS 107
Analysis and Interpretation
Measures of Central Tendency (e.g.
mean), Measures of Dispersion (e.g.
Standard deviation), and Correlation
will enable you to calculate the average,
variability and relationship, if it exists
among the variables. You have acquired
the knowledge related to above-
mentioned measures in chapters 5
and 6.
Conclusion
The last step will be to draw meaningful
conclusions after analysing and
interpreting the results. If possible you
must try to predict the future prospects
and suggestions relating to growth and
government policies, etc. on the basis
of the information collected.
Bibliography
In this section, you need to mention the
details of all the secondary sources, i.e.,
magazines, newspapers, research
reports used for developing the project.
2. SUGGESTED LIST OF PROJECTS
These are a few suggested projects. You
are free to choose any topic that deals
with an economic issue.
1. Consider yourself as an advisor to
Transport Minister who aims to
bring about a better and coordinated
system of transportation. Prepare a
project report.
2. You may be working in a village
cottage industry. It could be a unit
manufacturing dhoop, agarbatti,
candles, jute products, etc. You
want to start a new unit of your
own. Prepare a project proposal for
getting a bank loan.
3. Suppose you are a marketing
manager in a company and recently
you have put up advertisements
about your consumer product.
Prepare a report on the effect of
advertisements on the sale of your
product.
4. You are a District Education Officer,
who wants to assess the literacy
levels and the reasons for dropping
out of school children. Prepare a
report.
5. Suppose you are a Vigilance Officer
of an area and you receive
complaints about overcharging of
goods by traders i.e., charging a
higher price than the Maximum
Retail Price (MRP). Visit a few shops
and prepare a report on the
complaint.
6. Consider yourself to be the  head of
Gram Panchayat of a particular
village who wants to improve
amenities like safe drinking water
to your people. Address your issues
in a report form.
7. As a representative of a local
government, you want to assess the
participation of women in various
employment schemes in your area.
Prepare a project report.
8. You are the Chief Health Officer of a
rural block. Identify the issues to
be addressed through a project
study. This may include health and
sanitation problems in the area.
9. As the Chief Inspector of Food and
Civil Supplies department, you
have received a complaint about
2024-25
108 STATISTICS FOR ECONOMICS
food adulteration in the area of
your duty. Conduct a survey to find
the magnitude of the problem.
10.Prepare a report on Polio
immunisation programme in a
particular area.
11. You are a Bank Officer and want to
survey the saving habits of the
people by taking into consideration
income and expenditure of the
people. Prepare a report.
12. Suppose you are part of a group of
students who wants to study
farming practices and the problems
facing farmers in a village. Prepare
a project report.
3. SAMPLE PROJECT
This is a sample project for your
guidance. Depending on the subject of
your study the method used will
obviously be different from the one
used here.
Project
X is a young entrepreneur who wants
to set up a factory to produce
toothpaste. You are asked to advise X
about  how he should proceed.
One of the first things you could do
would be to study people’s tastes with
regard to toothpastes, their monthly
expenses on toothpaste and other
relevant facts. For this, you may decide
to collect primary data.
The data is to be collected with the
help of a questionnaire. Whatever
questionnaire you use must be capable
of generating the information which
you need for your study. Suppose you
decide that the most important
information that you need for your
study is:
• The average monthly expenditure
on toothpaste
• The brands of toothpaste that are
currently in demand
• The attitude of the customers
towards these brands
• Customers’ preferences in regard to
ingredients in the toothpaste
• The major media influences on
consumers’ demand for toothpaste
• The relation between income and all
the above factors.
If you can get hold of a questionnaire
that has already been tried out and
tested (perhaps for some similar study),
you could use it after suitably
modifying it to suit your requirements.
Otherwise, you may need to prepare the
questionnaire yourself, making sure
that all the required information has
been asked for.
2024-25
USE OF STATISTICAL TOOLS 109
EXAMPLE OF QUESTIONNAIRE TO BE
USED FOR THIS PROJECT REPORT
1. Name
2. Sex
3. Ages of family members (in years)
............................................................
............................................................
............................................................
............................................................
............................................................
............................................................
4. Total Number of family members:-
5. Monthly family income
6. Location of residence Urban  
      Rural   
7. Major occupation of the main
bread-winner:
(i) Service                               
(ii) Professional                       
(iii) Manufacturer                    
(iv) Trader                               
(v) Any other (please specify) 
8. Does your family use toothpaste to
clean your teeth?
Yes  No 
9. If Yes, then according to you what
should be the essential qualities of
a good toothpaste (you can tick
more than one option):
(i) Plain
(ii) Gel                                     
(iii) Antiseptic                          
(iv) Flavoured                          
(v) Carries Protection              
(vi) Fluoride                             
(vii) Other ———
10. If Yes, which brand of toothpaste
do you use?   ———
11. How many 100 gram packs of this
toothpaste do you use per month?
12.Are you satisfied with this
toothpaste?   Yes  No 
13. Are you prepared to try out a new
toothpaste? Yes  No 
14. If Yes, what are the features you
would like in the new toothpaste?
(you can tick more than one option):
(i) Plain
(ii) Gel                                     
(iii) Antiseptic                          
(iv) Flavoured                          
(v) Carries Protection              
(vi) Fluoride                             
(vii) Other ———
15. What are the main sources of your
information about toothpaste?
(i) Cinema      
(ii) Exhibitions      
(iii) Internet      
(iv) Magazines      
(v) Newspapers      
(vi) Radio      
(vii) Sales Representatives      
(viii) Television      
(ix) Other ———
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
After collecting the required information
you now have to organise and analyse.
The final report may be as follows:
EXAMPLE OF SIMPLIFIED PROJECT
REPORT
1. Total Sample Size: 100 households
2. Location: Urban 67%
Rural 33%
Observation: Majority of users
belonged to urban area.
2024-25