CHAPTER 5

Overview of Statistics/Basic Vocabulary

IN THIS CHAPTER

Summary: Statistics is the science of data analysis. This involves activities such as the collection of
data, the organization and analysis of data, and drawing inferences from data. Statistical methods and
statistical thinking can be thought of as using common sense and statistical tools to analyze and draw
conclusions from data.
Statistics has been developing as a field of study since the sixteenth century. Historical figures, some
of whom you may have heard of, such as Isaac Newton, Abraham De Moivre, Carl Friedrich Gauss,
Adolphe Quetelet, Florence Nightingale (yes, Florence Nightingale!), Sir Francis Galton, Karl Pearson,
Sir Ronald Fisher, and John Tukey have been major contributors to what we know today as the science of
statistics.
Statistics is one of the most practical subjects studied in school. A mathematics teacher may have
some trouble justifying the everyday use of algebra for the average citizen, but no statistics teacher ever
has that problem. We are bombarded constantly with statistical arguments in the media and, through real-
life examples, we can develop the skills to become intelligent consumers of numerical-based knowledge
claims.

Key Ideas

The Meaning of  Statistics

Quantitative    versus  Qualitative Data

Descriptive versus  Inferential Statistics

Collecting  Data

Experiments versus  Observational   Studies

Random  Variables