What does statistics study?

The term "statistics" is one of the most capacious. So, it can denote a separate branch of science. What does statistics study?

It is proposed to consider this issue in the following aspects:

Let's start with the first point.

Statistics as a branch of science

Statistics is a branch of science in which methods of efficient collection, analysis and interpretation of various types of information are researched and developed. Its feature is the priority of using quantitative approaches.

Statistics as a branch of science includes several different disciplines. Let's explore the main ones.

The most important role in this branch of science is played by the theory of statistics. As part of the research carried out by scientists working in this area, methods and approaches to solving certain problems are developed, discussion points are formed and discussed, conceptual foundations of activities in other disciplines that form statistics as a branch of science are developed.

Mathematical statistics (often considered in a single context with the theory of probability) is a field in which the patterns characterizing certain quantitative indicators and their distribution are investigated. Mathematics can explain what a set or sequence of numbers obtained during data collection means.

Economic statistics is important from the point of view of adapting the above-mentioned theory, as well as mathematical methods, to spheres practically significant for human life. This discipline is responsible for the formation of mechanisms through which the corresponding approaches and concepts are able to become useful for the economy, society, and the state.

It is worth noting that a university student, comprehending the subject "Statistics", studies, as a rule, first of all, three marked areas of the considered branch of science. Depending on his educational specialization, further development of the relevant discipline may involve narrower studies, adapted to understanding the role of statistics in a particular area, as well as analysis of the most effective approaches to the implementation of research results into practice.

The object and subject of statistical research

The role of statistics, its significance are observed in the ability of this branch of science to resolve, first of all, urgent problems of the development of society. Thus, the main object of the studies under consideration can be society - as an environment in which communications of people, communities, political and business entities are carried out. In turn, the subject of statistical science is the study of sets of quantitative indicators characterizing a particular sphere of social activities, as well as patterns identified on the basis of the ratio of numbers that are related to such processes. Top managers of the corresponding factory carried out a comprehensive statistical analysis of production processes and found that in shops where employees come to work in one and a half shifts, diesel locomotives are assembled faster than in departments where there are 2 groups of specialists - those who are employed full-time and those that work part-time. As a result, it was decided to optimize the staff of the second type workshops, and the production indicators of the Splav plant have grown significantly.

Methods of statistics

So, we examined some theoretical aspects of such a branch of science as statistics, identified the mechanisms by which the corresponding scientific approaches are able to acquire practical significance. But our little research will be incomplete if we do not study the basic methods used in statistics.

First of all, we can analyze the main criteria for their classification. So, it is customary to highlight general methods that can be applied in any field of research, but there are those that are adapted to specific industries. Let's consider some examples of both in more detail.

General methods of statistics include:

  • collection of primary data;
  • reporting and processing of information;
  • interpretation of the results.

The above set of methods can be used in almost any branch of the economy and society. Their use presupposes the introduction into practice of all those basic laws that the theory of statistics studies at the level of various studies.

In turn, it is permissible to refer computer technologies of statistical calculations to highly specialized methods. This can be sampling or, for example, bootstrapping, which can be applied thanks to the power of modern PCs. The use of appropriate approaches is often practiced in industrial modeling, programming - in general, in those industries where it is about the use of high-precision technologies and where the exceptional reliability of statistical interpretations is needed.

Thus, the scientific discipline under study presupposes, on the one hand, the development of theoretical concepts that can be useful in a particular branch of the economy or in solving urgent problems of the development of society, on the other hand, the identification of optimal methods by means of which At the theoretical level, approaches will be most effectively used in practice.

Statistics is a unique scientific discipline that considers theory and practice in a single context. Carrying out the relevant research, the scientist will certainly ask questions such as "what do these numbers mean?" The interpretation of his research will imply the correlation of the results obtained with real socio-economic or, for example, technological processes.

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