Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive Statistics Course This course is about descriptive statistics, where numbers are used to summarise information about the world. Look in any newspaper, magazine or journal and you'll see charts, graphs, tables and diagrams being used in an attempt to reduce the vast amount of data that we generate to a digestible whole. Descriptive statistics can help us with this task. Inferential statistics is a related area that uses statistical techniques to help form judgements - to draw inferences, for example, as to whether a particular result or observation could have arisen by chance, or whether it signifies a real process or difference between groups. The most important things about statistics are what they mean and what they can be used for, not how they are calculated. Because of this there is very little maths in this course, and any calculations will be the kind that can be done in your head or on a scrap of paper. Having a calculator handy would save a little effort, but it isn't essential.