What is Statistics?

Statistics is simply defined as the study and manipulation of data. As we have already
discussed in the introduction that statistics deals with the analysis and computation of
numerical data. Let us see more definitions of statistics given by different authors here.
According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, statistics is defined as “classified facts
representing the conditions of a people in a state – especially the facts that can be stated in
numbers or any other tabular or classified arrangement”.
According to statistician Sir Arthur Lyon Bowley, statistics is defined as “Numerical
statements of facts in any department of inquiry placed in relation to each other”.

Statistics Examples
Some of the real-life examples of statistics are:
 To find the mean of the marks obtained by each student in the class whose strength is
50. The average value here is the statistics of the marks obtained.
 Suppose you need to find how many members are employed in a city. Since the city is
populated with 15 lakh people, hence we will take a survey here for 1000 people
(sample). Based on that, we will create the data, which is the statistic.
Basics of Statistics
The basics of statistics include the measure of central tendency and the measure of
dispersion. The central tendencies are mean, median and mode and dispersions comprise
variance and standard deviation.
Mean is the average of the observations. Median is the central value when observations are
arranged in order. The mode determines the most frequent observations in a data set.
Variation is the measure of spread out of the collection of data. Standard deviation is the
measure of the dispersion of data from the mean. The square of standard deviation is equal to
the variance.
Mathematical Statistics
Mathematical statistics is the application of Mathematics to Statistics, which was initially
conceived as the science of the state — the collection and analysis of facts about a country:
its economy, and, military, population, and so forth.
Mathematical techniques used for different analytics include mathematical analysis, linear
algebra, stochastic analysis, differential equation and measure-theoretic probability theory.
Types of Statistics
Basically, there are two types of statistics.
 Descriptive Statistics
 Inferential Statistics
In the case of descriptive statistics, the data or collection of data is described in summary. But
in the case of inferential stats, it is used to explain the descriptive one. Both these types have
been used on large scale.
Descriptive Statistics
The data is summarised and explained in descriptive statistics. The summarization is done
from a population sample utilising several factors such as mean and standard deviation.
Descriptive statistics is a way of organising, representing, and explaining a set of data using
charts, graphs, and summary measures. Histograms, pie charts, bars, and scatter plots are
common ways to summarise data and present it in tables or graphs. Descriptive statistics are
just that: descriptive. They don’t need to be normalised beyond the data they collect.
Inferential Statistics
We attempt to interpret the meaning of descriptive statistics using inferential statistics. We
utilise inferential statistics to convey the meaning of the collected data after it has been
collected, evaluated, and summarised. The probability principle is used in inferential statistics
to determine if patterns found in a study sample may be extrapolated to the wider population
from which the sample was drawn. Inferential statistics are used to test hypotheses and study
correlations between variables, and they can also be used to predict population sizes.
Inferential statistics are used to derive conclusions and inferences from samples, i.e. to create
accurate generalisations.
Scope of Statistics
Statistics is used in many sectors such as psychology, geology, sociology, weather
forecasting, probability and much more. The goal of statistics is to gain understanding from
the data, it focuses on applications, and hence, it is distinctively considered as a mathematical
science.
Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate data
Univariate data is a collection of information that has only one variable or characteristic. It is
the most basic type of data. Examples of univariate data - Salaries of workers in an industry,
The number of cars sold by a car salesman in one week, The height of people, The weight of
people etc.
Bivariate data If each of a series of observation produces two measurements we say the
collected data is bivariate. For example, suppose both height and weight are recorded for each
person in a study.
Multivariate data consist of individual measurements that are acquired as a function of more
than two variables, for example, kinetics measured at many wavelengths and as a function of
temperature, or as a function of pH, or as a function of initial concentrations etc.
Range – The area of variation between upper and lower limits on a particular scale is called
the range.
Range = Highest score – Lowest score
Frequency Distribution Table – It is a table that summarizes data by showing how often
different values occur. It's a way to organize data so that it's easier to understand
Frequency – In statistics, the frequency or absolute frequency of an event is the number of
times the observation has occurred/been recorded in an experiment or study
Histogram – A histogram is a visual representation of the distribution of quantitative data. To
construct a histogram, the first step is to "bin" the range of values— divide the entire range of
values into a series of intervals—and then count how many values fall into each interval
Frequency Polygon – A frequency polygon is a line graph that shows the frequency of
data. It's a way to represent quantitative data visually. It is used to understand the shape of a
distribution, to compare and contrast results, to give a clear picture of the distribution of data,
to overlay frequency polygons drawn for different data sets.

Relationship between histogram and frequency polygon

Ogive – The Ogive is defined as the frequency distribution graph of a series. The Ogive is a
graph of a cumulative distribution, which explains data values on the horizontal plane axis
and either the cumulative relative frequencies, the cumulative frequencies or cumulative per
cent frequencies on the vertical axis.
Central Tendency
The measures of central tendency enable us to make a statistical summary of the enormous
organized data.
The most common measure of central tendency is the arithmetic mean. The mean of data
indicates an average of the given collection of data. It is equal to the sum of all the values in
the group of data divided by the total number of values.
The middle value of the given data is defined by a median. Exactly 50% of the scores lie
above the median and 50% below it.
In statistics, the mode is the value that is repeatedly occurring in a given set. We can also say
that the value or number in a data set, which has a high frequency or appears most frequently,
is called mode or modal value.
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