Statistics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article is
about the discipline. For other uses, see Statistics (disambiguation). Statistics is the study of the
collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data.[1][2] It deals with all
aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and
experiments.[1] A statistician is someone who is particularly well-versed in the ways of thinking
necessary for the successful application of statistical analysis. Such people have often gained
experience through working in any of a wide number of fields. There is also a discipline called
mathematical statistics that studies statistics mathematically. The word statistics, when referring
to the scientific discipline, is singular, as in \"Statistics is an art.\"[3] This should not be confused
with the word statistic, referring to a quantity (such as mean or median) calculated from a set of
data,[4] whose plural is statistics (\"this statistic seems wrong\" or \"these statistics are
misleading\"). More probability density will be found the closer one gets to the expected (mean)
value in a normal distribution. Statistics used in standardized testing assessment are shown. The
scales include standard deviations, cumulative percentages, percentile equivalents, Z-scores, T-
scores, standard nines, and percentages in standard nines. Contents 1 Scope 2 History 3
Overview 4 Statistical methods 4.1 Experimental and observational studies 4.2 Levels of
measurement 4.3 Key terms used in statistics 4.4 Examples 5 Specialized disciplines 6 Statistical
computing 7 Misuse 8 Statistics applied to mathematics or the arts 9 See also 10 References
Scope Some consider statistics to be a mathematical body of science pertaining to the collection,
analysis, interpretation or explanation, and presentation of data,[5] while others consider it a
branch of mathematics[6] concerned with collecting and interpreting data. Because of its
empirical roots and its focus on applications, statistics is usually considered to be a distinct
mathematical science rather than a branch of mathematics.[7][8] Much of statistics is non-
mathematical: ensuring that data collection is undertaken in a way that allows valid conclusions
to be drawn; coding and archiving of data so that information is retained and made useful for
international comparisons of official statistics; reporting of results and summarised data (tables
and graphs) in ways that are comprehensible to those who need to make use of them;
implementing procedures that ensure the privacy of census information. Statisticians improve
the quality of data by coming up with a specific design of experiments and survey sampling.
Statistics itself also provides tools for prediction and forecasting the use of data and statistical
models. Statistics is applicable to a wide variety of academic disciplines, including natural and
social sciences, government.