Business Statistics - Unit 1: Introduction and Evolution of Statistics

Vocabulary flashcards based on Unit 1 Business Statistics lecture notes covering statistical definitions, laws, scope, types, and historical evolution in India.

Statistics (Etymological Meaning)

The term derived from the Latin 'Status', Italian 'Statistics', German 'Statistick', or French 'Statistique', each of which means a political state.

Science of Craft

An early historical concept of statistics when it was used by governments to collect data regarding population, births, deaths, employment, and taxes.

Statistics in Singular Sense

The field of study and body of scientific methods used to systematically collect, organize, present, analyze, and interpret numerical data.

Statistics in Plural Sense

Actual numerical figures, data sets, or systematic collections of numerical statements or facts collected for a predetermined purpose.

Aggregate of Facts

A key characteristic of statistics in the plural sense stating that a single figure is not statistics, whereas a group of comparable figures is.

A.L. Bowley's Definition of Statistics

Defined statistics as 'numerical statement of facts in any department of enquiry placed in relation to each other', focusing primarily on the science of counting.

Horace Secrist's Definition of Statistics

Defined statistics as aggregate of facts, affected by multiplicity of causes, numerically expressed, enumerated or estimated to a reasonable standard of accuracy, systematically collected for a predetermined purpose, and placed in relation to each other.

Yule and Kendall's Definition of Statistics

Defined statistics as 'quantitative data affected to a marked extent by multiplicity of causes'.

Econometrics

A discipline born out of the integration of statistical methods with economic theory and economic planning.

Law of Statistical Regularity

A statistical law stating that if a large sample is taken at random from a population, it is likely to possess the characteristics of that population.

Law of Inertia of Large Numbers

A statistical law stating that larger sample sizes produce more stable, consistent, and accurate results than smaller sample sizes.

Statistical Investigation

The scientific process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting numerical data according to a planned scheme to address a specific research question or problem.

Descriptive Statistics

A branch of statistics dealing with collecting, organizing, classifying, summarizing, and presenting raw data using tables, charts, and measures of central tendency or variability.

Inferential Statistics

A branch of statistics focused on drawing conclusions, predictions, or generalizations about a larger population based on data observed in a sample.

Types of Statistics

A division of statistics into Descriptive Statistics (presenting, organizing, and summarizing data) and Inferential Statistics (drawing conclusions about a population based on sample data).

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis

The Father of Indian Statistics born in 1893 who established the Indian Statistical Institute, devised Mahalanobis Distance, and formulated India's strategy for industrialization in the Second Five-Year Plan (1956-61).

Mahalanobis Distance

A statistical measure of comparison between two data sets, devised by Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.

Ain-i-Akbari

A historical text compiled by Abul Fazl in 1590 under Akbar containing detailed statistical accounts of population, agriculture, and trade in medieval India.

Indian Statistical Institute (ISI)

An institution founded in Kolkata in 1931 by Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis that served as a hub for statistical development in India.

Central Statistical Organization (CSO)

An organization established in 1951 (originally Central Statistical Unit in 1949) to coordinate statistical activities and standards across India.

National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO)

An organization created to gather comprehensive data across India through random sampling, initiated as a Directorate in 1950 and reorganized in 1970.

National Statistical Office (NSO)

The official statistical body created in 2019 by merging the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO).

Kautilya (Chanakya)

A 4th-century BCE scholar who documented early administrative statistics on population, agriculture, trade, taxation, and revenue in the Arthashastra.

Pingala

A 3rd-2nd century BCE scholar who introduced the binary system in Chandashastra and concepts of permutations and combinations in prosody.

Aryabhata

A 476–550 CE mathematician who introduced the place value system, approximations of $\pi$, and methods for square and cube root extraction useful in statistical computations.

Brahmagupta

A 598–668 CE mathematician who formulated rules for operations on zero and negative numbers, quadratic equations, and interpolation methods.

Bhaskara II (Bhaskaracharya)

An 1114–1185 CE mathematician whose work 'Lilavati' covered permutations, combinations, and counting principles foundational to probability.

Madhava of Sangamagrama

A 14th-century CE founder of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics who introduced infinite series expansions and error terms essential for statistical error analysis.

Agrometeorology

The science studying the influence of meteorological conditions upon the growth and development of crops to optimize agricultural biological productivity.