Statistic

Statistic

A Statistic is a single measure of some attribute of a sample (e.g., its arithmetic mean value). It is calculated by applying a function (statistical algorithm) to the values of the items of the sample, which are known together as a set of data. More formally, statistical theory defines a statistic as a function of a sample where the function itself is independent of the sample’s distribution.

Definition

In applied statistics, a statistic is any quantity computed from values in a sample that is part of a collection of statistics. A statistic is a random variable that is a function of the random sample, but not a function of unknown parameters. The probability distribution of the statistic, though, may depend on the unknown parameters.

Types of statistics

There are two types of statistics in data analysis:

1. Descriptive statistics: This type of statistics involves methods of organizing, picturing and summarizing information from data. Descriptive statistics are merely used to describe what's going on in the data.

1. Inferential statistics: Inferential statistics involves methods to generalize and make decisions or predictions about a population based on a sample of data taken from the population in question.

Statistical theory

Statistical theory comprises the body of principles underlying the collection and analysis of data. In it, the term "statistical" is used to mean "pertaining to data sets."

See also

• Data
• Data analysis
• Data collection
• Data set
• Sample (statistics)
• Population (statistics)