What is statistics?

You may have listened to sports commentaries when the commentator says "and now for some statistics". The word 'statistics' here refers to things such as how many times these teams have played in the past, what the results were, details of how many goals a particular player has scored and when, and so on. Sometimes, as in football and basketball, the figures can be very detailed. This does NOT give a good idea of what statistics is about. It sounds boring, and often is. Statistics is NOT just collecting a lot of numbers - it is collecting numbers for a purpose.

Statistics changes numbers into information. Statistics is the art and science of deciding what are the appropriate data to collect, deciding how to collect them efficiently and then using them to give information, answer questions, draw inferences and make decisions.

Statistics uses samples to get insight into different populations.

Statistics is making decisions when there is uncertainty. We have to make decisions all the time in everyday life and as part of our jobs. Statistics helps us make better decisions.

For example statistical thinking is used in:

• measuring changes in the environment to assess effects of global warming
• measuring changes in population patterns to assess what type of housing is needed and where
• analysing experiments on using fertilisers to maximise crop yield
• measuring the effectiveness of different medicines to find the best and to identify side effects
• calculating how likely it is that two people have the same DNA profile.