Questions
1. What is Statistics?
2. Why study Statistics?
3. What is data?
Answers
1. Statistics is a branch of pure mathematics that deals with
a) collecting data
b) organizing data
c) summarizing data
d) drawing conclusions (make inferences)
2. The reason to study statistics is to learn more about a specific area (topic, subject, problem, survey, etc.) in order to gain insight into what is actually occurring in this area (topic, subject, problem, survey, etc.).
3. Data is facts or figures from which conclusions can be inferred. An example
a) What does number 10 mean?
b) What does $10 mean?
Answer
In part (a) the number 10 has no specific meaning; it could mean 10 pies, 10 cakes, 10 birds, 10 buildings, 10 flowers, 10 people, 10 computers, 10 cents, 10 shirts, etc. In part (b) the 10 mentioned has a specific value, meaning 10 dollars. This cannot be mistaken for any of the above possibilities.