Statistical Analysis
the science of collecting, exploring and presenting large amounts of data to discover underlying patterns and trends. Statistics are applied every day – in research, industry and government – to become more scientific about decisions that need to be made. For example:
- Manufacturers use statistics to weave quality into beautiful fabrics, to bring lift to the airline industry and to help guitarists make beautiful music.
- Researchers keep children healthy by using statistics to analyze data from the production of viral vaccines, which ensures consistency and safety.
- Communication companies use statistics to optimize network resources, improve service and reduce customer churn by gaining greater insight into subscriber requirements.
- Government agencies around the world rely on statistics for a clear understanding of their countries, their businesses and their people.[1]
Uses of Statistical Analysis[2]
Statistical Analysis may be used to:
- Summarize the data. For example, make a pie chart.
- Find key measures of location. For example, the mean tells you what the average (or “middling”) number is in a set of data.
- Calculate measures of spread: these tell you if your data is tightly clustered or more spread out. The standard deviation is one of the more commonly used measures of spread; it tells you how spread out your data is about the mean.
- Make future predictions based on past behavior. This is especially useful in retail, manufacturing, banking, sports or for any organization where knowing future trends would be a benefit.
- Test an experiment’s hypothesis. Collecting data from an experiment only tells a story when you analyze the data. This part of statistical analysis is more formally called “Hypothesis Testing,” where the null hypothesis (the commonly accepted theory) is either proved or disproved.
- ↑ Definition - What Does Statistical Analysis Mean? SAS
- ↑ What is Statistical Analysis Used For? Statistics How to