WHAT IS STATISTICS?

• That science which enables us to draw conclusions about various phenomena on the basis of real datacollected on sample-basis
• A tool for data-based research
• Also known as Quantitative Analysis
• A lot of application in a wide variety of disciplines Agriculture, Anthropology, Astronomy, Biology,Economic, Engineering, Environment, Geology, Genetics, Medicine, Physics, Psychology, Sociology,Zoology …. Virtually every single subject from Anthropology to Zoology …. A to Z!
• Any scientific enquiry in which you would like to base your conclusions and decisions on real-life data, youneed to employ statistical techniques!
• Now a day, in the developed countries of the world, there is an active movement for of Statistical Literacy.
  

THE NATURE OF THIS DISCIPLINE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
PROBABILITY INFERENTIAL STATISTICS 

MEANINGS OF ‘STATISTICS’:

The word “Statistics” which comes from the Latin words status, meaning a political state, originally meant information useful to the state, for example, information about the sizes of population sand armed forces. But this word has now acquired different meanings.

• In the first place, the word statistics refers to “numerical facts systematically arranged”. In this sense, the word statistics is always used in plural. We have, for instance, statistics of prices, statistics of road accidents,statistics of crimes, statistics of births, statistics of educational institutions, etc. In all these examples, the word statistics denotes a set of numerical data in the respective fields. This is the meaning the man in the street gives to the word Statistics and most people usually use the word data instead.
• In the second place, the word statistics is defined as a discipline that includes procedures and techniques used to collect process and analyze numerical data to make inferences and to research decisions in the face of uncertainty. It should of course be borne in mind that uncertainty does not imply ignorance but it refers to the incompleteness and the instability of data available. In this sense, the word statistics is used in the singular. As it embodies more of less all stages of the general process of learning, sometimes called scientific method, statistics is characterized as a science. Thus the word statistics used in the plural refers to a set of numerical information and in the singular, denotes the science of basing decision on numerical data. It should be noted that statistics as a subject is mathematical in character.
•  Thirdly, the word statistics are numerical quantities calculated from sample observations; a single quantity that has been so collected is called a statistic. The mean of a sample for instance is a statistic. The word statistics is plural when used in this sense.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCIENCE OF STATISTICS

Statistics is a discipline in its own right. It would therefore be desirable to know the characteristic features of statistics
in order to appreciate and understand its general nature. Some of its important characteristics are given below:

•  Statistics deals with the behaviour of aggregates or large groups of data. It has nothing to do with what is happening to a particular individual or object of the aggregate.
• Statistics deals with aggregates of observations of the same kind rather than isolated figures.
• Statistics deals with variability that obscures underlying patterns. No two objects in this universe are exactly alike. If they were, there would have been no statistical problem.
• Statistics deals with uncertainties as every process of getting observations whether controlled or uncontrolled, involves deficiencies or chance variation. That is why we have to talk in terms of probability.
• Statistics deals with those characteristics or aspects of things which can be described numerically either by counts or by measurements.
• Statistics deals with those aggregates which are subject to a number of random causes, e.g. the heights of persons are subject to a number of causes such as race, ancestry, age, diet, habits, climate and so forth.
• Statistical laws are valid on the average or in the long run. There is n guarantee that a certain law will hold in all cases. Statistical inference is therefore made in the face of uncertainty.
• Statistical results might be misleading the incorrect if sufficient care in collecting, processing and interpreting the data is not exercised or if the statistical data are handled by a person who is not well versed in the subject mater of statistics.