Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data.

[1][2] It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments.[1] A statistician is someone who is particularly well versed in the ways of thinking necessary for the successful application of statistical analysis. Such people have often gained this experience through working in any of a wide number of fields. There is also a discipline called mathematical statistics that studies statistics mathematically. The word statistics, when referring to the scientific discipline, is singular, as in "Statistics is an art."[3] This should not be confused with the word statistic, referring to a quantity (such as mean or median) calculated from a set of data,[4] whose plural is statistics ("this statistic seems wrong" or "these statistics are misleading"). POPULATION VS SAMPLE Population "The term "population" is used in statistics to represent all possible measurements or outcomes that are of interest to us in a particular study." Examples: Cedar Crest students; trees in North America; automobiles with four wheels; people who consume olive oil Sample "The term "sample" refers to a portion of the population that is representative of the population from which it was selected." Examples assuming the populations stated above: 47 Cedar Crest students chosen randomly; 8463 trees randomly selected in North America; 20 sample autos from each make (e.g., GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc.); 1% of the oil consuming population per country

such as mean and median, and dispersion, such as range and standard deviation, are the main descriptive statistics. Displays of data, such as histograms and box-plots, are also considered techniques of descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics, or statistical induction, means the use of statistics to make inferences concerning some unknown aspect of a population from a sample of that population. A common method used in inferential statistics is estimation. In estimation, the sample is used to estimate a parameter, and a confidence interval about the estimate is constructed. Other examples of inferential statistics methods include hypothesis testing, linear regression, and principle components analysis. DEPENDENT VS INDEPENDENT VARIABLE The dependent variable is the variable that is simply measured by the researcher. It is the variable that reflects the influence of the independent variable. For example, the dependent variable would be the variable that is influenced by being randomly assigned to either an experimental condition or a control condition. The independent variable is the variable that is manipulated by the researcher. The independent variable is something that is hypothesized to influence the dependent variable. The researcher determines for the participant what level or condition of the independent variable that the participant in the experiment receives. For example, each participant in the experiment may be randomly assigned to either an experimental condition or the control condition. DISCRETE VS continuous variable Discrete variables describe a finite set of conditions and take values from a finite, usually small, set of states. An example of a discrete variable is Success of the venture, defined in our tutorial on Bayesian networks. This variable can take two values: Success and Failure. Another example might be a variable Hepatitis-B, assuming values True and False. Yet another is Financial gain assuming three values: $10K, $20K, and $50K. Continuous variables can assume an infinite number of values. An example of a continuous variable is Body temperature, assuming any value between 30 and 45 degrees Celsius. Another might be Financial gain, assuming any monetary value between zero and $50K. Qualitative vs. Quantitative Variables Variables can be classified as qualitative (aka, categorical) or quantitative (aka, numeric).

Qualitative. Qualitative variables take on values that are names or labels. The color of a ball (e.g., red, green, blue) or the breed of a dog (e.g., collie, shepherd, terrier) would be examples of qualitative or categorical variables. Quantitative. Quantitative variables are numeric. They represent a measurable quantity. For example, when we speak of the population of a city, we are talking about the number of people in the city - a measurable attribute of the city. Therefore, population would be a quantitative variable.

In algebraic equations, quantitative variables are represented by symbols (e.g., x, y, or z). Measurement scales are used to categorize and/or quantify variables. This lesson describes the four scales of measurement that are commonly used in statistical analysis: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales. Properties of Measurement Scales Each scale of measurement satisfies one or more of the following properties of measurement.

Identity. Each value on the measurement scale has a unique meaning. Magnitude. Values on the measurement scale have an ordered relationship to one another. That is, some values are larger and some are smaller. Equal intervals. Scale units along the scale are equal to one another. This means, for example, that the difference between 1 and 2 would be equal to the difference between 19 and 20. Absolute zero. The scale has a true zero point, below which no values exist.

CONSTANT VS VARIABLE a variable is a value that may change within the scope of a given problem or set of operations. In contrast, a constant is a value that remains unchanged, though often unknown or undetermined.[1] The concepts of constants and variables are fundamental to many areas of mathematics and its applications. A "constant" in this context should not be confused with a mathematical constant which is a specific number independent of the scope of the given problem. Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics Descriptive statistics refers to statistical techniques used to summarise and describe a data set, and also to the statistics (measures) used in such summaries. Measures of central tendency,

Nominal Scale of Measurement The nominal scale of measurement only satisfies the identity property of measurement. Values assigned to variables represent a descriptive category, but have no inherent numerical value with respect to magnitude. Gender is an example of a variable that is measured on a nominal scale. Individuals

may be classified as "male" or "female", but neither value represents more or less "gender" than the other. Religion and political affiliation are other examples of variables that are normally measured on a nominal scale. Ordinal Scale of Measurement The ordinal scale has the property of both identity and magnitude. Each value on the ordinal scale has a unique meaning, and it has an ordered relationship to every other value on the scale. An example of an ordinal scale in action would be the results of a horse race, reported as "win", "place", and "show". We know the rank order in which horses finished the race. The horse that won finished ahead of the horse that placed, and the horse that placed finished ahead of the horse that showed. However, we cannot tell from this ordinal scale whether it was a close race or whether the winning horse won by a mile. Interval Scale of Measurement The interval scale of measurement has the properties of identity, magnitude, and equal intervals. A perfect example of an interval scale is the Fahrenheit scale to measure temperature. The scale is made up of equal temperature units, so that the difference between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit is equal to the difference between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. With an interval scale, you know not only whether different values are bigger or smaller, you also know how much bigger or smaller they are. For example, suppose it is 60 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday and 70 degrees on Tuesday. You know not only that it was hotter on Tuesday, you also know that it was 10 degrees hotter. Ratio Scale of Measurement The ratio scale of measurement satisfies all four of the properties of measurement: identity, magnitude, equal intervals, and an absolute zero. The weight of an object would be an example of a ratio scale. Each value on the weight scale has a unique meaning, weights can be rank ordered, units along the weight scale are equal to one another, and there is an absolute zero. Absolute zero is a property of the weight scale because objects at rest can be weightless, but they cannot have negative weight.

From Ode to a Nightingale John Keats (1795-1821) My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: 'Tis not through envy of the happy lot, But being too happy in thy happiness, That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees, In some melodious plot Of beechen green, and shadows numberless, Singest of summer in full-throated ease. O for a draught of vintage, that hath been Cooled a long age in the deep-delved earth, Tasting of Flora and the country green, Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth! O for a beaker full of the warm South, Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, And purple-stained mouth; That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, And with thee fade away into the forest dim: Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget What thou among the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs, Where youth grows pale, and spectrethin, and dies; Where but to think is to be full of sorrow And leaden-eyed despairs; Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, Or new love pine at them beyond tomorrow.