The basic purpose of statistics
Written by on November 13th, 2008
The basic purpose of statistics as a scientific methodology is to make probability statements about samples of scores. Before we jump into that, we need some quick definitions to get us rolling, both to understand and to lay a foundation for other statistics hacks.
Samples are numeric values that you have gathered together and can see in front of you that represent some larger population of scores that you have not gathered together and cannot see in front of you. Because these values are almost always numbers that indicate the presence or level of some characteristic, measurement folks call these values scores. A probability statement is a statement about the likelihood of some event occurring.
Probability is the heart and soul of statistics. A common perception of statisticians, in fact, is that they mainly calculate the exact likelihood that certain events of interest will occur, such as winning the lottery or being struck by lightning. Historically, the person who had the tools to calculate the likely outcome of a dice game was the same person who had the tools to describe a large group of people using only a few summary statistics.
Tags: Statistics