Descriptive statistics
Descriptive statistics is a branch of statistics that involves collecting, organizing, summarizing, and presenting data in order to describe and understand important characteristics or patterns within the data set
Descriptive statistics is a branch of statistics that involves collecting, organizing, summarizing, and presenting data in order to describe and understand important characteristics or patterns within the data set. It provides us with tools and techniques to effectively analyze and interpret data in a meaningful way.
Descriptive statistics can be divided into two main categories: measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion.
Measures of central tendency, also known as averages, provide information about the middle or center of a data set. The most commonly used measures of central tendency are:
1. Mean: It is calculated by summing all the values in the data set and dividing the sum by the number of values. The mean is sensitive to extreme values or outliers within the data set.
2. Median: It is the middle value of a data set when arranged in ascending or descending order. If the data set has an odd number of values, the median is the middle value. If it has an even number of values, the median is the average of the two middle values.
3. Mode: It is the value or values that appear most frequently in a data set. A data set can have multiple modes or no mode at all.
Measures of dispersion, also known as measures of variability, provide information about the spread or variability within the data set. The most commonly used measures of dispersion are:
1. Range: It is the difference between the maximum and minimum values in a data set. While easy to compute, it is sensitive to extreme values and may not give a representative measure of dispersion.
2. Variance: It quantifies the average squared deviation of each value from the mean. A higher variance indicates greater variability within the data set.
3. Standard Deviation: It is the square root of the variance and is a widely used measure of dispersion. It provides a measure of how closely the data points are clustered around the mean.
In addition to these measures, descriptive statistics can also include other measures such as percentiles, quartiles, and graphical representations like histograms, box plots, and scatter plots to visualize and summarize the data.
Descriptive statistics is an important tool in various fields such as economics, psychology, sociology, and market research. It helps in summarizing and interpreting data, making comparisons, identifying trends, and making informed decisions based on the data analysis.
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