Statistics Data Analysis Science College University Notes Tests

Statistics is a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and organization of data

Statistics is the science of collecting, analyzing and making inference from data. Statistics is a particularly useful branch of mathematics that is not only studied theoretically by advanced mathematicians but one that is used by researchers in many fields to organize, analyze, and summarize data. Statistical methods and analyses are often used to communicate research findings and to support hypotheses and give credibility to research methodology and conclusions. It is important for researchers and also consumers of research to understand statistics so that they can be informed, evaluate the credibility and usefulness of information, and make appropriate decisions.

Statistics, the science of collecting, analyzing, presenting, and interpreting data. Governmental needs for census data as well as information about a variety of economic activities provided much of the early impetus for the field of statistics. Currently the need to turn the large amounts of data available in many applied fields into useful information has stimulated both theoretical and practical developments in statistics.

Data are the facts and figures that are collected, analyzed, and summarized for presentation and interpretation. Data may be classified as either quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data measure either how much or how many of something, and qualitative data provide labels, or names, for categories of like items. For example, suppose that a particular study is interested in characteristics such as age, gender, marital status, and annual income for a sample of 100 individuals.

These characteristics would be called the variables of the study, and data values for each of the variables would be associated with each individual. Thus, the data values of 28, male, single, and $30,000 would be recorded for a 28-year-old single male with an annual income of $30,000. With 100 individuals and 4 variables, the data set would have 100 × 4 = 400 items. In this example, age and annual income are quantitative variables; the corresponding data values indicate how many years and how much money for each individual. Gender and marital status are qualitative variables. The labels male and female provide the qualitative data for gender, and the labels single, married, divorced, and widowed indicate marital status.

Statistics, like many other sciences, is a developing discipline; it is not static. It has gradually developed during the last few centuries. Throughout history it has been defined in different manners. Some definitions from the past seem very strange today, but those definitions had their place in their own time. Defining a subject has always been a difficult task. A good definition from today may be discarded in the future. It is difficult to define statistics, and some of the definitions are discussed here.

The kings and rulers in ancient times were interested in their manpower. They conducted censuses of populations to gather data.

Statistical analysis is used extensively in science, from physics to the social sciences. As well as testing hypotheses, statistics can provide an approximation for an unknown that is difficult or impossible to measure. For example, the field of quantum field theory, while providing success in the theoretical side of things, has proved challenging for empirical experimentation and measurement. Some social science topics, like the study of consciousness or choice, are practically impossible to measure; statistical analysis can shed light on what would be the most likely or the least likely scenario.