Descriptive statistics
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics (/dɪˈskrɪptɪv/ /stəˈtɪstɪks/) is a branch of statistics that involves the organization, summarization, and presentation of data.
Etymology
The term "descriptive statistics" is derived from its basic purpose of describing, summarizing, and organizing data. The term "statistics" is derived from the Latin word "statisticum collegium" which means a group of numbers or states.
Definition
Descriptive statistics provides simple summaries about the sample and the measures. These summaries may either form the basis of the initial description of the data as part of a more extensive statistical analysis, or they may be sufficient in and of themselves for a particular investigation.
Types
There are two main types of descriptive statistics:
1. Measures of Central Tendency: These are ways of describing the central position of a frequency distribution for a group of data. They include the mean, median, and mode.
2. Measures of Dispersion: These are ways of summarizing a group of data by describing how spread out the numbers are. Examples include the range, variance, and standard deviation.
Related Terms
- Inferential Statistics: This is a branch of statistics that involves drawing the right conclusions from the statistical analysis that has been performed using descriptive statistics.
- Data Analysis: This is the process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision-making.
- Data Visualization: This is the representation of data or information in a graph, chart, or other visual format. It communicates relationships of the data with images.
- Statistical Population: This is a set of similar items or events which is of interest for some question or experiment.
- Sample (statistics): This is a subset of a statistical population that accurately reflects the members of the entire population.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Descriptive statistics
- Wikipedia's article - Descriptive statistics
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