Statistics

Statistics

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Statistics

Statistics is used in many applications. Statistical methods are often used to describe and study a population, drug therapies, research, economics, and ecosystems, just to name a few of the many areas that encompass statistics and statistical applications. As a student in statistics, you will learn how to organize, define, describe, and interpret data. This section will begin with an overview of statistics and an explanation of commonly used statistical terms, calculations, and applications.

Learning Objectives

After reading Chapter 1 and completing the workbook, you should be able to:

1. Identify the difference between quantitative and qualitative statistics. 2. Identify the difference between differential and inferential statistics. 3. Define basic statistical terms. 4. Define mean, median, mode, and range. 5. Calculate mean, median, mode, and range. 6. Apply the basic statistical concepts to data interpretation.

Study Clues

A clear understanding of the basic statistical terms and concepts presented in Chapter 1 will help prepare you to advance in this course and learn more complex statistical calculations and specific statistical tests. As you study, you should pay particular attention to the definitions and how to calculate each of the following: mean, median, mode, and range. Your exam will be multiple choice, so you must make sure you can correctly calculate accurately as no partial points are given.

1.1 Basic Math Review

The purpose of this pre-chapter is to offer a basic review of many important mathematical functions that you will be required to know for the statistics exam.

Signs and Symbols

On your exam, basic mathematical functions will be represented by symbols. Here we will cover the basic symbols you will encounter on the exam.

Symbol

∗,×,∙

÷,/

<

>

≠

√

Meaning Square Roots Multiplication Division Greater Than Less Than Not Equal

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