Statistics
hideStatistics is a mathematical science pertaining to the collection, analysis, interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data. Statisticians improve the quality of data with the design of experiments and survey sampling. Statistics also provides tools for prediction and forecasting using data and statistical models. Statistics is applicable to a wide variety of academic disciplines, including natural and social sciences, government, and business.
Statistical methods can be used to summarize or describe a collection of data; this is called descriptive statistics. This is useful in research, when communicating the results of experiments. In addition, patterns in the data may be modeled in a way that accounts for randomness and uncertainty in the observations, and are then used to draw inferences about the process or population being studied; this is called inferential statistics. Inference is a vital element of scientific advance, since it provides a prediction (based in data) for where a theory logically leads. To further prove the guiding theory, these predictions are tested as well, as part of the scientific method. If the inference holds true, then the descriptive statistics of the new data increase the soundness of that hypothesis. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (a.k.a., predictive statistics) together comprise applied statistics.
There is also a discipline called mathematical statistics, which is concerned with the theoretical basis of the subject.
The word statistics can either be singular or plural. In its singular form, statistics refers to the mathematical science discussed in this article. In its plural form, statistics is the plural of the word statistic, which refers to a quantity (such as a mean) calculated from a set of data.
For more information about Statistics, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with statistical analysis
Coed college housing connected to frequent binge drinking
Nov 17, 2009 |
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A new study in the Journal of American College Health finds that students placed by their universities in coed housing are 2.5 times more likely to binge drink each week than students placed in all-male or all-female housin ...
Evaluation of standard liver volume formula for Chinese adults
Sep 16, 2009 |
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Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been used to alleviate the shortage of available liver donors. Accurate estimation of the standard liver volume (SLV) of the living donor and recipient is crucial. Scholars of ...
Nonprofit nursing homes provide better care, major study finds
Aug 19, 2009 |
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A major new statistical review of 82 individual research studies has revealed that nonprofit nursing homes deliver, on average, higher quality care than for-profit nursing homes. The findings could have a bearing on the present ...
XMM-Newton takes astronomers to a black hole's edge
May 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Using new data from ESA's XMM-Newton spaceborne observatory, astronomers have probed closer than ever to a supermassive black hole lying deep at the core of a distant active galaxy.
Statistical analysis could yield new drug target for MS
Feb 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An elaborate statistical analysis of genes from more than 7,000 individuals has identified an amino acid that appears to be a major risk factor for multiple sclerosis, a devastating autoimmune disorder that ...
Driving under the influence (of stress): Regional effects of 9/11 attacks on driving
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Feb 02, 2009 |
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The September 11 terrorist attacks had a profound impact on this country's psyche. Eight years after the attacks, we are still learning how those terrible events affected us. A number of studies have shown that people who ...
Global warming link to amphibian declines in doubt
Nov 12, 2008 |
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Evidence that global warming is causing the worldwide declines of amphibians may not be as conclusive as previously thought, according to biologists. The findings, which contradict two widely held views, could help reveal ...
