Statistics are mathematical branches associated with collecting, analysis, interpretations and data presenting. In practice, statistics divide into two major categories, which is descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. They both have important roles in different fields, from business, scientific research, to decision-making in everyday life.
Decryptive statistics It focuses on techniques to describe and summarize data. The data collected from the population or samples can be represented in the form of tables, graphs, or numeric sizes to give a general picture of the dataset.
The process size describes the middle value of the dataset and gives a sense of the general location of the data. The three types of mush used is:
For example, if we had income data from a group of individuals, mean would give you an idea of average income, the medians would show income in the middle of distribution, and the mode would show the income most frequently accepted by individuals in that group.
In addition to the solution, it's important to understand how data spreads or varies. Some of the size of the spread is often used to include:
The dispersal size helps understand whether data is widely distributed or centralized around certain values. For example, in daily measurement, low deviation standards suggest that daily temperatures tend to be stable, while high standard deviations show enormous variations.
The graph is a visual way of showing data and connections between variables. Some types of graphs are commonly used in descriptive statistics include:
The graph helps provide a quick and intuitive understanding of patterns in data, such as distribution, trends, and aberrations.
Unlike descriptive statistics, inferential statistics It involves making conclusions or predictions about the population based on data samples. Its primary goal is to generalization The findings from samples to larger populations. Infinential statistics are used when it's impossible to collect data from the entire population, so we use smaller samples and try to draw conclusions from there.
Inferential statistics rely heavily on probability theories to make an estimate. There are two types of estimate that are commonly used:
A hypothesis test is another method in inferential statistics used to test statements or assumptions about population parameters. This process involves two hypotheses:
A hypothesis test helps make decisions based on sample data. The practical example of a hypothesis test is a test of effectiveness of a drug in a clinical study, where researchers are testing whether it has significant effects or not compared to placebo.
Regression and correlation is a technique used to analyze relationships between two or more variables. Correlation measures the strength and direction of the relationship between the two variables, while regression tries to model that relationship and make predictions.
For example, in business, linear regression can be used to predict sales based on the marketing budget. Correlation helps determine whether there's a significant relationship between budget and sale.
Decryptive and inferential statistics have extensive applications in many fields, including:
Good descriptive statistics or inferential statistics has an important role in data analysis. The descriptive statistics provide a way to summarize and visualize data in an easy way, while inferential statistics allow us to make generalization and conclusions based on data samples. Both are required in research and decision-making in different areas.
source: McClave, J. T., & Sincich, T. Statistics. Pearson.