Contents
Meaning of Statistics
Statistics is a mathematics discipline that involves the collection of data, organizing, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting it fairly for drawing conclusions. It is the one that uses various quantitative tools for gathering and evaluating large sets of data. Statistics is an efficient tool that helps businesses in making efficient and well-informed decisions. It is used in various fields such as economics, science, medicine, marketing, psychology, and politics.
Statistics helps in converting the acquired raw data into key information which is helpful for developing a better understanding and sound decision making. Business with the application of statistical tools is able to make a better plan by making accurate assumptions and predictions. They are able to handle future uncertainties in a better way by predicting cyclical and general economic fluctuations. Statistics is classified into two categories that are descriptive and inferential statistics.
Types of Statistics
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics is the first stage in statistical analysis. It is concerned with acquiring data and presenting it. Descriptive statistics involves the use of charts, tables, graphs, or other statistical tools for summarizing a given set of data. Various calculations included under this are measures of central tendency and variability.
Inferential Statistics
It is one that checks the validity of generalizations made by descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics enable the statisticians to draw conclusions and make decisions and predictions by evaluating the collected information. It is used for reading the data and making the right estimates from a sample of information collected. This uses various techniques such as regression analysis, correlation analysis, analysis of variance, and covariance.
Importance of Statistics
Business
Statistics plays an efficient role in the successful functioning of business enterprises. It supports businesses in taking the right decision at right time by proper estimation of cost, demand, sales, and price. They are able to efficiently plan their production activities in accordance with the needs of market needs.
Accounting and Auditing
Both accounting and auditing use statistical techniques for their successful working. Sampling method are used in auditing process wherein the auditor selects sample size and read it for detecting out the errors. Whereas in accounting, the concept of approximation is used for making various decisions. Currents assets valuation is made in accordance with its current value or purchasing power of money.
Banking
It has a lead role in the banking sector. Banks earn mainly by lending funds to the public out of the deposits received by them. Money deposited by the public is not withdrawn at the same time. Banking firms use the concept of probability to decide the frequency of deposits and withdrawals in a day.
Research Work
Researchers use various statistical tools for conducting their research work. They use statistical methods to study the effect of a particular variable on a certain problem under different conditions. Statistics skills and knowledge are termed as basic to activities of research programs.
Trade
Statistics support trading activities by assisting traders in making sound decisions. Business is always surrounded by a lot of future uncertainties and risks. Statistical methods enable the successful forecast of future activities and anticipate demand and supply aspects.
Natural and Social Science
Different natural and social science branches are dependent upon statistics. They use statistical tools and methods for conducting the experiments and testing their results.
Limitations of Statistics
Ignores qualitative aspects
Statistics considers only the quantitative aspects for analysis purposes. It takes into account those units which can be measured or numerically expressed. Qualitative aspects like intelligence, efficiency, poverty, and honesty are ignored and not studied under it.
No exact statistical laws
There are no exact laws for statistics, unlike physical sciences and mathematics. Statistical laws are only the appropriations and conclusions drawn by statistical methods are true only on an average under particular conditions.
Requires statistics expert
Another major drawback is that it requires an expert possessing high knowledge of statistics for using statistical methods. Employing an inefficient or untrained person may be quite dangerous and lead to false conclusions.
Not applicable to heterogeneous data
Statistics tools evaluate and analyses only the homogeneous set of data. It cannot be used to study and find relationships between varied patterns of data.
Reveal only average results
Results yielded by statistical methods are not universally true and only provide the average behavior. They came out to be true on an average under certain conditions.
