Most
of us associate 'statistics' with the bits of data that appear in news reports:
Cricket batting
averages, imported car sales, average high temperature on a particular day etc. Advertisements
often claim that data show the superiority of the advertiser's product. The
word statistics, which is derived from the word 'state', entered the English vocabulary
in the eighteenth century. It was used then, and still is used, to mean one or more
sets of numerical data on various items like population, taxes, wealth,
exports, imports,
crop production, etc., which are of interest to state officials. There are two ways
to use the word statistics. If we say 'statistics is', we are generally
referring to the science
of statistics. If we say 'the statistics are', we are refemng to numbers such
as batting
averages, the number of unemployed during the month of October, or the number
of deaths from malaria during a given year. It is hard to come up with a
concise definition
of statistics because it is a broad subject that has many facets. Commonly, it is
believed that statistics involves the collection, organisation, analysis, and interpretation
of data.
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