Statistical methods involve the mathematical analysis of raw research data to extract useful information. Descriptive statistics describe the basic features of data like averages and distributions. Inferential statistics allow statisticians to draw conclusions about entire populations based on samples, such as estimating consumer demand from a survey sample or predicting future events based on past data. Common inferential methods include regression analysis, which determines the relationship between dependent and independent variables and can assess the statistical significance of results.
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Statistical Method
Statistical methods involve the mathematical analysis of raw research data to extract useful information. Descriptive statistics describe the basic features of data like averages and distributions. Inferential statistics allow statisticians to draw conclusions about entire populations based on samples, such as estimating consumer demand from a survey sample or predicting future events based on past data. Common inferential methods include regression analysis, which determines the relationship between dependent and independent variables and can assess the statistical significance of results.
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Statistical methods
Statistical methods are mathematical formulas, models,
and techniques that are used in statistical analysis of raw research data. The application of statistical methods extracts information from research data and provides different ways to assess the robustness of research outputs.
Statistics is a branch of applied mathematics that involves the collection,
description, analysis, and inference of conclusions from quantitative data. The mathematical theories behind statistics rely heavily on differential and integral calculus, linear algebra, and probability theory. Statisticians, people who do statistics, are particularly concerned with determining how to draw reliable conclusions about large groups and general phenomena from the observable characteristics of small samples that represent only a small portion of the large group or a limited number of instances of a general phenomenon.
Two types of statistical methods are used in analyzing data:
descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Statisticians measure and gather data about the individuals or elements of a sample, then analyze this data to generate descriptive statistics.
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics mostly focus on the central tendency, variability, and
distribution of sample data. Central tendency means the estimate of the characteristics, a typical element of a sample or population, and includes descriptive statistics such as mean, median, and mode. Variability refers to a set of statistics that show how much difference there is among the elements of a sample or population along the characteristics measured, and includes metrics such as range, variance, and standard deviation.
The distribution refers to the overall "shape" of the data, which can be
depicted on a chart such as a histogram or dot plot, and includes properties such as the probability distribution function, skewness, and kurtosis. Descriptive statistics can also describe differences between observed characteristics of the elements of a data set. Descriptive statistics help us understand the collective properties of the elements of a data sample and form the basis for testing hypotheses and making predictions using inferential statistics.
Inferential Statistics
Inferential statistics are tools that statisticians use to draw conclusions
about the characteristics of a population from the characteristics of a sample and to decide how certain they can be of the reliability of those conclusions. Based on the sample size and distribution of the sample data statisticians can calculate the probability that statistics, which measure the central tendency, variability, distribution, and relationships between characteristics within a data sample, provide an accurate picture of the corresponding parameters of the whole population from which the sample is drawn.
Inferential statistics are used to make generalizations about large groups,
such as estimating average demand for a product by surveying a sample of consumers' buying habits, or to attempt to predict future events, such as projecting the future return of a security or asset class based on returns in a sample period.
Regression analysis is a common method of statistical inference that
attempts to determine the strength and character of the relationship (or correlation) between one dependent variable (usually denoted by Y) and a series of other variables (known as independent variables). The output of a regression model can be analyzed for statistical significance, which refers to the claim that a result from findings generated by testing or experimentation is not likely to have occurred randomly or by chance but are instead likely to be attributable to a specific cause elucidated by the data. Having statistical significance is important for academic disciplines or practitioners that rely heavily on analyzing data and research.