The term "descriptive statistics" generally refers to such information as the mean (average), median (midpoint), mode (most frequently occurring value), standard deviation, highest value, lowest value, range, and etc. of a given data set. It is a loosely used term, and not always meant to contrast with inferential statistics as the question implies. But in the context of the question, descriptive statistics would be information that pertains only to the data that has actually been collected. In the case of an instructor calculating an average grade for a class, for example, the collected data would most likely be the only point of interest. Thus, descriptive statistics would be enough. However, it is more common for a researcher to use a sample of collected data to make inferences and draw conclusions about a larger group (or "population") that the sample represents. For example, if you wanted to know the average age of users of this site, it would be unrealistic to question every singe user. So you might question a small sample and then extend that information to all users. But if you found the average age in your sample to be 40, you could not immediately assume that 40 is the average for all users. You would need to use inferential statistics to calculate an estimate of how accurately your data represents the larger group. The most common way to do this is to calculate a standard error, which will produce a range within which the population average most likely (but not definitively) lies. Therefore, in the simplest description (inferential statistics are also a part of much more powerful tests outside of this answer), descriptive statistics refer only to a sample while inferential statistics refer to the larger population from which the sample was drawn.
The Branches of StatisticsTwo branches, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, comprise the field of statistics.Descriptive StatisticsCONCEPT The branch of statistics that focuses on collecting, summarizing, and presenting a set of data.EXAMPLES The average age of citizens who voted for the winning candidate in the last presidential election, the average length of all books about statistics, the variation in the weight of 100 boxes of cereal selected from a factory's production line.INTERPRETATION You are most likely to be familiar with this branch of statistics, because many examples arise in everyday life. Descriptive statistics forms the basis for analysis and discussion in such diverse fields as securities trading, the social sciences, government, the health sciences, and professional sports. A general familiarity and widespread availability of descriptive methods in many calculating devices and business software can often make using this branch of statistics seem deceptively easy. (Chapters 2 and 3 warn you of the common pitfalls of using descriptive methods.)Inferential StatisticsCONCEPT The branch of statistics that analyzes sample data to draw conclusions about a population.EXAMPLE A survey that sampled 2,001 full-or part-time workers ages 50 to 70, conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), discovered that 70% of those polled planned to work past the traditional mid-60s retirement age. By using methods discussed in Section 6.4, this statistic could be used to draw conclusions about the population of all workers ages 50 to 70.INTERPRETATION When you use inferential statistics, you start with a hypothesis and look to see whether the data are consistent with that hypothesis. Inferential statistical methods can be easily misapplied or misconstrued, and many inferential methods require the use of a calculator or computer. (A full explanation of common inferential methods appears in Chapters 6 through 9.)
By the time you get to the analysis of your data, most of the really difficult work has been done. It's much more difficult to: define the research problem; develop and implement a sampling plan; conceptualize, operationalize and test your measures; and develop a design structure. If you have done this work well, the analysis of the data is usually a fairly straightforward affair.In most social research the data analysis involves three major steps, done in roughly this order:Cleaning and organizing the data for analysis (Data Preparation)Describing the data (Descriptive Statistics)Testing Hypotheses and Models (Inferential Statistics)Data Preparation involves checking or logging the data in; checking the data for accuracy; entering the data into the computer; transforming the data; and developing and documenting a database structure that integrates the various measures.Descriptive Statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data in a study. They provide simple summaries about the sample and the measures. Together with simple graphics analysis, they form the basis of virtually every quantitative analysis of data. With descriptive statistics you are simply describing what is, what the data shows.Inferential Statistics investigate questions, models and hypotheses. In many cases, the conclusions from inferential statistics extend beyond the immediate data alone. For instance, we use inferential statistics to try to infer from the sample data what the population thinks. Or, we use inferential statistics to make judgments of the probability that an observed difference between groups is a dependable one or one that might have happened by chance in this study. Thus, we use inferential statistics to make inferences from our data to more general conditions; we use descriptive statistics simply to describe what's going on in our data.In most research studies, the analysis section follows these three phases of analysis. Descriptions of how the data were prepared tend to be brief and to focus on only the more unique aspects to your study, such as specific data transformations that are performed. The descriptive statistics that you actually look at can be voluminous. In most write-ups, these are carefully selected and organized into summary tables and graphs that only show the most relevant or important information. Usually, the researcher links each of the inferential analyses to specific research questions or hypotheses that were raised in the introduction, or notes any models that were tested that emerged as part of the analysis. In most analysis write-ups it's especially critical to not "miss the forest for the trees." If you present too much detail, the reader may not be able to follow the central line of the results. Often extensive analysis details are appropriately relegated to appendices, reserving only the most critical analysis summaries for the body of the report itself.
Mean.
It is very frequently used in statistics. First of all, multiplying a Chi-square random variable by a constant you obtain a Gamma random variable. So, for example, most estimates of variance obtained in inferential statistics have a Gamma distribution. The Gamma distribution can also be obtained by summing exponential random variables. So, the Gamma distribution pops out in models where the exponential distribution is used (e.g. reliability, credit risk). It is also used for Internet traffic modeling. See the StatLect entry (link below) for an introduction.
The term "descriptive statistics" generally refers to such information as the mean (average), median (midpoint), mode (most frequently occurring value), standard deviation, highest value, lowest value, range, and etc. of a given data set. It is a loosely used term, and not always meant to contrast with inferential statistics as the question implies. But in the context of the question, descriptive statistics would be information that pertains only to the data that has actually been collected. In the case of an instructor calculating an average grade for a class, for example, the collected data would most likely be the only point of interest. Thus, descriptive statistics would be enough. However, it is more common for a researcher to use a sample of collected data to make inferences and draw conclusions about a larger group (or "population") that the sample represents. For example, if you wanted to know the average age of users of this site, it would be unrealistic to question every singe user. So you might question a small sample and then extend that information to all users. But if you found the average age in your sample to be 40, you could not immediately assume that 40 is the average for all users. You would need to use inferential statistics to calculate an estimate of how accurately your data represents the larger group. The most common way to do this is to calculate a standard error, which will produce a range within which the population average most likely (but not definitively) lies. Therefore, in the simplest description (inferential statistics are also a part of much more powerful tests outside of this answer), descriptive statistics refer only to a sample while inferential statistics refer to the larger population from which the sample was drawn.
Populations, parameters, and samples in inferential statistics. Inferential statistics lets you draw conclusions about populations using small samples. Consequently, inferential statistics provide enormous benefits because typically you can not measure and entirepopulation.Roll no: 18-237
The Branches of StatisticsTwo branches, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, comprise the field of statistics.Descriptive StatisticsCONCEPT The branch of statistics that focuses on collecting, summarizing, and presenting a set of data.EXAMPLES The average age of citizens who voted for the winning candidate in the last presidential election, the average length of all books about statistics, the variation in the weight of 100 boxes of cereal selected from a factory's production line.INTERPRETATION You are most likely to be familiar with this branch of statistics, because many examples arise in everyday life. Descriptive statistics forms the basis for analysis and discussion in such diverse fields as securities trading, the social sciences, government, the health sciences, and professional sports. A general familiarity and widespread availability of descriptive methods in many calculating devices and business software can often make using this branch of statistics seem deceptively easy. (Chapters 2 and 3 warn you of the common pitfalls of using descriptive methods.)Inferential StatisticsCONCEPT The branch of statistics that analyzes sample data to draw conclusions about a population.EXAMPLE A survey that sampled 2,001 full-or part-time workers ages 50 to 70, conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), discovered that 70% of those polled planned to work past the traditional mid-60s retirement age. By using methods discussed in Section 6.4, this statistic could be used to draw conclusions about the population of all workers ages 50 to 70.INTERPRETATION When you use inferential statistics, you start with a hypothesis and look to see whether the data are consistent with that hypothesis. Inferential statistical methods can be easily misapplied or misconstrued, and many inferential methods require the use of a calculator or computer. (A full explanation of common inferential methods appears in Chapters 6 through 9.)
A term used in inferential statistics which measures the probability that a population parameter will fall between two set values. The confidence can take any number of probabilities, with most common probabilities being : 95% or 99%.
By the time you get to the analysis of your data, most of the really difficult work has been done. It's much more difficult to: define the research problem; develop and implement a sampling plan; conceptualize, operationalize and test your measures; and develop a design structure. If you have done this work well, the analysis of the data is usually a fairly straightforward affair.In most social research the data analysis involves three major steps, done in roughly this order:Cleaning and organizing the data for analysis (Data Preparation)Describing the data (Descriptive Statistics)Testing Hypotheses and Models (Inferential Statistics)Data Preparation involves checking or logging the data in; checking the data for accuracy; entering the data into the computer; transforming the data; and developing and documenting a database structure that integrates the various measures.Descriptive Statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data in a study. They provide simple summaries about the sample and the measures. Together with simple graphics analysis, they form the basis of virtually every quantitative analysis of data. With descriptive statistics you are simply describing what is, what the data shows.Inferential Statistics investigate questions, models and hypotheses. In many cases, the conclusions from inferential statistics extend beyond the immediate data alone. For instance, we use inferential statistics to try to infer from the sample data what the population thinks. Or, we use inferential statistics to make judgments of the probability that an observed difference between groups is a dependable one or one that might have happened by chance in this study. Thus, we use inferential statistics to make inferences from our data to more general conditions; we use descriptive statistics simply to describe what's going on in our data.In most research studies, the analysis section follows these three phases of analysis. Descriptions of how the data were prepared tend to be brief and to focus on only the more unique aspects to your study, such as specific data transformations that are performed. The descriptive statistics that you actually look at can be voluminous. In most write-ups, these are carefully selected and organized into summary tables and graphs that only show the most relevant or important information. Usually, the researcher links each of the inferential analyses to specific research questions or hypotheses that were raised in the introduction, or notes any models that were tested that emerged as part of the analysis. In most analysis write-ups it's especially critical to not "miss the forest for the trees." If you present too much detail, the reader may not be able to follow the central line of the results. Often extensive analysis details are appropriately relegated to appendices, reserving only the most critical analysis summaries for the body of the report itself.
The engine most NOT be running for accurate motor oil measurement. The most accurate measurement is when the car has not been running for at least a few hours and is sitting on level ground
The most obvious answer runs as follows:Understanding the physical world, from large scale processes (e.g., the orbit of planets around the sun), to small scale processes (e.g., the behavior of sub-atomic particles) involves experimentation. The experiments physicists carry out produce data, and statistics is required to make sense of the data. Usually results are inductive. The physicist can use the observations in the experiment to make general statements about the nature of the universe (this is called "inferential" statistics).-- Dave
At the bachelor's level, it is typically a college algebra and most likely a statistics course.
Most likely discipline to use inferential math would be social sciences (they love to infer) I'm not sure if by correational means correlational, but, if it does, social 'scientists' like that a lot, too
Quantitative results are reported in the form of numbers, and units of measurement, such as, 4.289 grams, 89.37 seconds, 5.3 meters/second, etc.
The answer is we don't. Statistics show that we are the no 1 most stressed out country! Check out the level of education in Malta and the job industry and you'll get your answer.
The most accurate measurement would be 3.27 grams since it provides a higher level of precision compared to the other options provided.