WHAT IS STATISTICS?

Statistics may be defined as the science which deals with collecting numerical
facts or data to be used for analysis and interpretation, from which conclusions
are drawn and decisions are made.

The collection, analysis and interpretation of data must be dealt with in

terms of a statistical method.

Statistics may be subdivided into:

a) Descriptive statistics, which deals with compilation and presentation of data

in forms of tables, graphs and diagrams in order to display and convey
information.

b) Mathematical or Inductive statistics, which deals with the means of

analysing data in order to estimate them and draw conclusions from them.

Statistical data have been found necessary since the dawns of human
civilization when information about the possessions of the state was essential
for the rulers to estimate their wealth and their needs to maintain the military
power. As societies grew more complex, with the increase of population and
the industrial and agricultural revolutions, governments have relied more
heavily on statistics in order to acquire information bearing on production,
earnings, expenditure, imports, and exports, population growth and its decline,
housing conditions and life-style.

All this led to an enormous expansion in the volume of statistical data that
have been and are being collected by governments. But for the governments to
make sensible decisions, however, these data need to be correctly collected,
processed and analysed.