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Outline of Statistics: Main Article

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18 views

Outline of Statistics: Main Article

Uploaded by

chandrasekhar hazra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction[edit]

Main article: Outline of statistics


Statistics is a mathematical body of science that pertains to the collection, analysis,
interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data,[7] or as a branch of mathematics.[8] Some
consider statistics to be a distinct mathematical science rather than a branch of mathematics.
While many scientific investigations make use of data, statistics is concerned with the use of
data in the context of uncertainty and decision making in the face of uncertainty.[9][10]
In applying statistics to a problem, it is common practice to start with a population or process to
be studied. Populations can be diverse topics such as "all people living in a country" or "every
atom composing a crystal". Ideally, statisticians compile data about the entire population (an
operation called census). This may be organized by governmental statistical
institutes. Descriptive statistics can be used to summarize the population data. Numerical
descriptors include mean and standard deviation for continuous data (like income), while
frequency and percentage are more useful in terms of describing categorical data (like
education).
When a census is not feasible, a chosen subset of the population called a sample is studied.
Once a sample that is representative of the population is determined, data is collected for the
sample members in an observational or experimental setting. Again, descriptive statistics can
be used to summarize the sample data. However, drawing the sample contains an element of
randomness; hence, the numerical descriptors from the sample are also prone to uncertainty.
To draw meaningful conclusions about the entire population, inferential statistics is needed. It
uses patterns in the sample data to draw inferences about the population represented while
accounting for randomness. These inferences may take the form of answering yes/no questions
about the data (hypothesis testing), estimating numerical characteristics of the data (estimation),
describing associations within the data (correlation), and modeling relationships within the data
(for example, using regression analysis). Inference can extend to forecasting, prediction, and
estimation of unobserved values either in or associated with the population being studied. It can
include extrapolation and interpolation of time series or spatial data, and data mining.

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