What is Statistics?

It is the

• Science concerned with developing and studying methods for collecting, analyzing, interpreting and presenting empirical data.
• A highly interdisciplinary field; research in statistics finds applicability in virtually all scientific fields and research questions in the various scientific fields motivate the development of new statistical methods and theory.
• Classifieds facts representing the conditions of the people in a state. Especially those facts which can be stated in numbers or in tables of numbers or in any tabular or Classified arrangement
• Aggregate of facts affected to a marked extent by multiplicity of causes, numerically expressed enumerated or estimated according to reasonable standards of accuracy, collected in a systematic manner for a predetermined purpose and placed in relation to each other.

From the above definitions, we can highlight the major characteristics of statistics as follows:

1. Statistics are the aggregates of facts – Single and isolated figures are not statistics for the sample reason that such figures are unrelated and cannot be compared. For example, national income of a country for a single year is not statistics but the same for two or more years is statistics.
2. Statistics are affected to a marked extent by Multiplicity of Causes – Generally speaking facts and figures are affected to a considerable extent by a number of forces operating together, For example, statistics of production of rice are affected by the rainfall, quality of soil, seeds and manure, method of cultivation etc.
3. Statistics are numerically expressed – All statistics are numerical statements of facts, i.e. expressed in numbers. Qualitative statements such as the population of India are rapidly increasing or the production of wheat is not sufficient. The reason is that such statement is vague and one cannot make out anything from them.
4. Statistics are Enumerated or Estimated – Facts and figures about any phenomenon can be derived in two ways, viz, by actual counting and measurement or by estimate. Estimate cannot be as precise and accurate as actual counts or measurements. For example, an estimate that 5 lakh people witnessed the Republic day parade does not mean exactly 5 lakh; it may be a few hundreds or thousands more or less.
5. Statistics are collected in a systematic manner – Before statistics a suitable plan of data collections should be prepared and the work carried out in a systematic manner. Data collected in a haphazard manner would very likely lead to fallacious conclusions.
6. Statistics are collected for a pre-determined purpose – the purpose of collecting data must be decided in advance. The purpose should be specific and well defined. A general statement of purpose is not enough. For example, if the objective is to collect data on price, it would not serve any useful purpose unless one knows whether he wants to collect data on wholesale or retail prices and what are the relevant commodities in view.
7. Statistics should be placed in relation to each other – If numerical facts are to be called statistics, they should be comparable. Statistical data are often compared period wise or region wise. For instance, the population of India at a particular point of time may be compared with that or earlier years or with the population of other countries like USA, UK. In the absence of the above characteristics, numerical data cannot be called statistics and hence “all statistics are numerical statement of facts but all numerical statements of facts are not statistics”.

Advantages of statistics

• they can be analyzed relatively quickly
• information is collected in a standardized way
• they are usually straightforward to analyze
• they overcome the difficulties of encouraging participation by users
• they are often required and respected by decision-makers within the institution and beyond eg funders, government
• they support qualitative data obtained from questionnaires, interviews etc with ‘hard facts’
• They are useful for benchmarking purposes.

Disadvantages of statistics

• they are not an appropriate method to understand issues in great depth and identify ways to solve problems highlighted
• they are not suitable to evaluate user opinions, needs or satisfaction with services
• it may be time-consuming to arrange methods of data collection eg contacting vendors, liaising with IT departments
• Statistics provided from different sources, eg by different vendors, may not be comparable requires technical expertise because the field is changing so rapidly, statistics may not be comparable year-on-year
• Statistics has to be used for comparison
• Statistics is used for misrepresentation / misused / manipulation
• Statistics can’t be Qualitative
• Statistics results are always approximated