Statistics is the branch of mathematics that deals with collecting, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data. It helps in understanding information, making decisions, and drawing meaningful conclusions. Statistics is broadly divided into two main branches: Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics.
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics is the branch of statistics that organizes, summarizes, and presents data using tables, graphs, and numerical measures. It helps describe the main features of a dataset without making predictions.
Inferential Statistics
Inferential statistics is the branch of statistics that uses sample data to draw conclusions or make predictions about a larger population. It helps estimate population characteristics and supports decision-making
Comparison of Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
| Descriptive Statistics | Inferential Statistics |
|---|---|
| It gives information about raw data which describes the data in some manner. | It makes inferences about the population using data drawn from the population. |
| It helps in organizing, analyzing, and to present data in a meaningful manner. | It allows us to compare data, and make hypotheses and predictions. |
| It is used to describe a situation. | It is used to explain the chance of occurrence of an event. |
| It explains already known data and is limited to a sample or population having a small size. | It attempts to reach the conclusion about the population. |
Examples include: mean, median, mode, range, variance, histograms, pie charts. | Examples include: confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, regression models, p-values. |
Limited to presenting and analyzing known data. | Allows predictions and conclusions that go beyond the data at hand. |
Used for describing trends, organizing data for presentation. | Used for predicting trends, testing hypotheses, generalizing data from sample to population. |
| It can be achieved with the help of charts, graphs, tables, etc. | It can be achieved by probability. |
