STATISTIK

Statistics are often presented in an effort to add credibility to an argument or advice. You can see this by paying attention to television advertisements. Many of the numbers thrown about in this way do not represent careful statistical analysis. They can be misleading, and push you into decisions that you might find cause to regret. For these reasons, learning about statistics is a long step towards taking control of your life. (It is not, of course, the only step needed for this purpose.) The present on-line textbook is designed to help you learn statistical essentials. It will make you into an intelligent consumer of statistical claims.

You can take the first step right away. To be an intelligent consumer of statistics, your first reflex must be to question the statistics that you encounter. The British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli famously said, "There are three kinds of lies -- lies, damned lies, and statistics." This quote reminds us why it is so important to understand statistics. So let us invite you to reform your statistical habits from now on. No longer will you blindly accept numbers or findings. Instead, you will begin to think about the numbers, their sources, and most importantly, the procedures used to generate them.

We have put the emphasis on defending ourselves against fraudulent claims wrapped up as statistics. We close this section on a more positive note. Just as important as detecting the deceptive use of statistics is the appreciation of the proper use of statistics. You must also learn to recognize statistical evidence that supports a stated conclusion. Statistics are all around you, sometimes used well, sometimes not. We must learn how to distinguish the two cases.

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Statistics plays a vital role in every fields of human activity. Statistics has important role in determining the existing position of per capita income, unemployment, population growth rate, housing, schooling medical facilities etc…in a country. Now statistics holds a central position in almost every field like Industry, Commerce, Trade, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Mathematics, Biology, Botany, Psychology, Astronomy etc…, so application of statistics is very wide. Now we discuss some important fields in which statistics is commonly applied.
(1) Business:
Statistics play an important role in business. A successful businessman must be very quick and accurate in decision making. He knows that what his customers wants, he should therefore, know what to produce and sell and in what quantities. Statistics helps businessman to plan production according to the taste of the costumers, the quality of the products can also be checked more efficiently by using statistical methods. So all the activities of the businessman based on statistical information. He can make correct decision about the location of business, marketing of the products, financial resources etc…

(2) In Economics:

Statistics play an important role in economics. Economics largely depends upon statistics. National income accounts are multipurpose indicators for the economists and administrators. Statistical methods are used for preparation of these accounts. In economics research statistical methods are used for collecting and analysis the data and testing hypothesis. The relationship between supply and demands is studies by statistical methods, the imports and exports, the inflation rate, the per capita income are the problems which require good knowledge of statistics.

(3) In Mathematics:

Statistical plays a central role in almost all natural and social sciences. The methods of natural sciences are most reliable but conclusions draw from them are only probable, because they are based on incomplete evidence. Statistical helps in describing these measurements more precisely. Statistics is branch of applied mathematics. The large number of statistical methods like probability averages, dispersions, estimation etc… is used in mathematics and different techniques of pure mathematics like integration, differentiation and algebra are used in statistics.

(4) In Banking:

Statistics play an important role in banking. The banks make use of statistics for a number of purposes. The banks work on the principle that all the people who deposit their money with the banks do not withdraw it at the same time. The bank earns profits out of these deposits by lending to others on interest. The bankers use statistical approaches based on probability to estimate the numbers of depositors and their claims for a certain day.

(5) In State Management (Administration):

Statistics is essential for a country. Different policies of the government are based on statistics. Statistical data are now widely used in taking all administrative decisions. Suppose if the government wants to revise the pay scales of employees in view of an increase in the living cost, statistical methods will be used to determine the rise in the cost of living. Preparation of federal and provincial government budgets mainly depends upon statistics because it helps in estimating the expected expenditures and revenue from different sources. So statistics are the eyes of administration of the state.

(6) In Accounting and Auditing:

Accounting is impossible without exactness. But for decision making purpose, so much precision is not essential the decision may be taken on the basis of approximation, know as statistics. The correction of the values of current asserts is made on the basis of the purchasing power of money or the current value of it.

In auditing sampling techniques are commonly used. An auditor determines the sample size of the book to be audited on the basis of error.

(7) In Natural and Social Sciences:

Statistics plays a vital role in almost all the natural and social sciences. Statistical methods are commonly used for analyzing the experiments results, testing their significance in Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Meteorology, Research chambers of commerce, Sociology, Business, Public Administration, Communication and Information Technology etc…


(8) In Astronomy:

Astronomy is one of the oldest branch of statistical study, it deals with the measurement of distance, sizes, masses and densities of heavenly bodies by means of observations. During these measurements errors are unavoidable so most probable measurements are founded by using statistical methods.

Example: This distance of moon from the earth is measured. Since old days the astronomers have been statistical methods like method of least squares for finding the movements of stars.

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In today's world we are faced with situations everyday where statistics can be applied. Statistics can be used to determine the potential outcome of thousands of things where the human mind alone wouldn't be able to. Statistics benefits all of us because we are able to predict the future based on data we have previously gathered. Being able to predict the future not only changes our lifestyle but also helps us be more efficient and effective.

With statistics we can determine how we will live a year from now, ten years from now, and so on. This is important because if we didn't have data from the past to look upon, we wouldn't be able to prolong our existence by avoiding recurring climate changes like hurricanes and tsunamis and such. Things like these make our lives easier and help us make educated decisions based on what we already know because of statistics. A good example is that based on data we have gathered from the past, we know that it is extremely likely that in specific parts of the world it will snow during winter and because we know this, we can prepare by having warm clothes ready and the proper equipment to deal with the snow.

Statistics are used all over the world. They can be applied in almost any situation and can always help. They are used in explaining group behavior of organisms, marketing research, and the list goes on and on. A good example is how scientists observe the behavior of groups of animals. Scientists can record data from a group of elephants and determine that a certain percentage of elephant herds will defend themselves from predators while the other percentage may run away. This kind of data can help scientists predict the elephant's lifestyle and culture.

Statistics affects our daily life every day. Researchers use statistics to advertise their products which in turn we the consumer purchase. The price of the products we buy are determined upon statistics which show the demand for the product at that point in time and because of these statistics, we the consumers pay a certain amount of money to buy the product. Another example of how statistics affect me is in school. Every year statistics are looked over and the curriculums for the classes I take are based on data collected in the past. The curriculums are modified and help the learning process.

With these statistics we are able to modify things to make them more effective. This is why statistics is important in the first place - we can improve our lifestyle with statistics. If we know how people have lived in the past and how we have evolved, we can prepare for the future and live longer and evolve more effectively. We can tell from data gathered in the 90's that cigarette smoking in the 10th grade has been slowly declining over the years (1). From this we can assume that something is being done correctly to bring the statistics down. Another example is that in 1975, the USA started paying more attention to the spousal homicide rates. The USA took the proper precautions to help lower these rates and it worked (2). Since 1975, the yearly spousal homicide rate has gone down from 2300 to 800. Because of statistics, people were able to make predictions and help save lives.

In conclusion, statistics are a major staple of our world today. They are used in practically any situation and help improve our overall lifestyle. Statistics change the way we think about tomorrow and the way we live today and without them.

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