Statistics is the science of data. It provides us with a collection of principles and procedures for obtaining and summarizing information (i.e. data) in order to make decisions.
statistics
Description
1. Introduction
Statistics is the science of data. It provides us with a collection of principles and procedures for obtaining and summarizing information (i.e. data) in order to make decisions.
For example: as head of HR, suppose that you observe a change in the behaviour of certain employees towards
the CEO since the introduction of limited scheduled smoke breaks at your workplace. You then hypothesize
(i.e. formulate theory) that this new “regime” might be the source of discontent amongst the employees. In
order to test this theory, you ask all employees to complete an ‘employee satisfaction’ survey that has questions
that are related to the new smoke break regime. After collecting the data, you summarize the results. Of interest
might be the percentage of employees who feel they were never consulted in the decision-making process. If
there is a substantial number of employees who feel they were never consulted in the decision-making process,
then your theory may be supported. Your findings can then be presented to the CEO to help foster discussions
around the new regime.
Thus, when faced with a problem, data relevant to the problem must first be collected, and then analysed in
order to gain insight that will allow decisions to be made.
