Introduction to the Practice of Statistics

Intro to Stats!

Statistics

The science of collecting, organizing, summarizing, and analyzing information to draw conclusions or answer questions, providing a measure of confidence in any conclusions.

Data

Facts or propositions used to draw conclusions or make decisions, describing the characteristics of an individual and varying among individuals.

Population

The entire group of individuals to be studied.

Sample

A subset of the population being studied, used to make numerical summaries based on it (statistic).

Parameter

A numerical summary of a population, while a statistic is based on a sample.

Descriptive Statistics

Consists of organizing and summarizing data through numerical summaries, tables, and graphs.

Qualitative Variables

Allow the classification of individuals based on attributes or characteristics.

Quantitative Variables

Provide numerical measures of individuals that can be added or subtracted for meaningful results.

Discrete Variables

Quantitative variables with a finite or countable number of possible values.

Continuous Variables

Quantitative variables with an infinite number of possible values that are not countable.

Data

The list of observations a variable assumes, with qualitative, quantitative, discrete, and continuous data types.