...Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Statistics are all-around and used in everyday life. Statistics are used to describe how effective a medication is for a certain disorder to what the most popular color is in the United States. According to Aron, Aron, and Coups, 2009, “statistics is a method of pursuing truth. As a minimum, statistics can tell you the likelihood that your hunch is true in this time and place and with these sorts of people” (p. 2). Psychologist use two branches of statistics to summarize his or her results and those are descriptive and inferential statistics. This paper will discuss the function of statistics, what descriptive and inferential statistics are, and the relationship between descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistics are used in almost every branch of study and is found behind the scenes in many of our normal daily activities. From economic to scientific studies, statistics are utilized in one way or another. Statistics are an essential part of understanding information and expanding knowledge base and is encompasses almost all aspects of enquiry ("7 Most Essential Functions Of Statistics", 2012). Statistics have many functions that we utilize;statisticsprovides for a better understanding of phenomenon of nature and helps in proper and statistical planning in all forms of study. Using statistics helps in collecting useful quantitative data and also aids in presenting difficult or confusing data in an understandable way. Statistics facilitate...
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...Statistical Research: Descriptive and Inferential Week 5 RES/351 The articles that describe each method, one is for descriptive statistical and the other is for inferential. With the descriptive statistical method in Statistical Primer for Cardiovascular Research by Martin G Larson 2007, uses the descriptive method to determine the cases of acute myocardial infarction cases during 2006. The inferential method in the article, Determination of Predictors of Cause of Mortality in HIV Cohorts from years 2002 to 2011, by Kennedy N Otwombe (Feb 2014), using the statistical method of determining exactly mortality rates in HIV cases. The specific situation with Mortality rates in HIV cases would be to find the variation methods over time to determine either binary dependant variable and the independent predictor for the HIV causing death to patients with no opinion of what caused the death. But with Cardiovascular research the differences of BMI, overweight and underweight all determining factors on the causes of the primers. As well as diet to play a major role in helping with the research. With the differences in descriptive statistics and inferential, the descriptive in the Cardiovascular research compares in a more mathematical way of determining if the diet, BMI, overweight and underweight determine their health condition. This method can also be not as accurate as other methods by using measure of central tendency and is about small portion observations by rounding or...
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...population, an analyzer will incorporate both descriptive and inferential statistics to evaluate his or her results and create a credible conclusion. Descriptive statistics provides information focused on an immediate group of data. After defining what needs to be analyzed, the descriptive statistics will help the analyzer abridge the data to a more meaningful and comprehendible form, which will then provide patterns in his or her research that, will provide a foundation to his or her thesis. For example, a person could use descriptive statistics to evaluate the answers on an exam taken by 400 American students, and use descriptive statistics to determine the overall performance of the 400 students at that school. By using descriptive statistics, the analyzer can use his or her findings, to provide useful information regarding which subjects students need to improve most in, and which minority group or grade level are grasping the educational tools provided at the school more effectively, then those not grasping the provided educational tools and still need more room for improvement. While descriptive statistics helps an analyzer assess an immediate group of data from a single population, inferential statistics allow an analyzer to collect data using bits and pieces of samples which are portions of a collection of data focusing on the group or population of interest in which the analyzer research is concentrated on at the time. Inferential statistics will allow the analyzer to create...
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...Descriptive and Inferential Statistics PSY/315 Statistical Reasoning in Psychology September 21, 2013 Dr. Nancy Walker Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Statistics is “a branch of mathematics that focuses on the organization, analysis, and interpretation of a group of numbers” (Aron, Aron, & Coups, 2009, p. 2). However, just the mention of statistics makes people nervous, although when properly understood, many of the questions statistics tries to answer are very provocative and challenging. Statistics are a collection of information and, data that helps test the theory something is happening or will happen again. The functions of statistics are there to help researchers have a better understanding of a phenomenon. Statistics can be used when looking for the truth, if you have ever had a hunch about something, was it confirmed? Yes the hunch was confirmed. Statistics help researchers with data by using math and working with a group of numbers. Statistics studies variables, characteristics that have different values, values, possible number that a score can have, and score one person value of a variable (Aron, Aron, & Coups, 2009). Descriptive and inferential statistics are to evaluate results and enable one to make a conclusion. Descriptive statistics are a way to describe data (Laird Statistics, 2013), as well as to “summarize and describe a group of numbers from a research study,” whereas, inferential statistics are used to “draw conclusions and...
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...Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Paper Casie Thibeault PSY/315 July 27, 2013 Michelle A. Williams, PhD Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Paper The very word “statistics” seems to produce anxiety in most students - anxiety produced from its connection to mathematics. The first step in controlling anxiety is to understand the connection and just how useful statistics can be for comprehending information that has been gathered. A statistic is a representation of information, and its function is to help researchers either to organize, summarize, or understand data. The ability to describe data is essential when gathering statistics. Statistics can be broken down into two basic types: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics are a summary of information that makes the data presented more easily understood. The descriptive method is limited to only the population in which the researcher is dealing with, and only describes that particular group (Purdue OWL, 1995-2013). Inferential statistics offers a more detailed conclusion regarding the hypothesis. A benefit of the inferential method is that it can be used to take a broader view of populations, making it possible to draw conclusions about sizeable groups of people (Purdue OWL, 1995-2013). In a nutshell, the simple way to distinguish between the two would be that descriptive statistics summarize and inferential statistics draw conclusions. Both descriptive and inferential...
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...Descriptive and Inferential Statistics ________________________________________ Statistics can be broken into two basic types. The first is known as descriptive statistics. This is a set of methods to describe data that we have collected. Ex. Of 350 randomly selected people in the town of Luserna, Italy, 280 people had the last name Nicolussi. An example of descriptive statistics is the following statement : "80% of these people have the last name Nicolussi." Ex. On the last 3 Sundays, Henry D. Carsalesman sold 2, 1, and 0 new cars respectively. An example of descriptive statistics is the following statement : "Henry averaged 1 new car sold for the last 3 Sundays." These are both descriptive statements because they can actually be verified from the information provided. The second type of statistics in inferential statistics. This is a set of methods used to make a generalization, estimate, prediction or decision. Ex. Of 350 randomly selected people in the town of Luserna, Italy, 280 people had the last name Nicolussi. An example of inferential statistics is the following statement : "80% of all people living in Italy have the last name Nicolussi." We have no information about all people living in Italy, just about the 350 living in Luserna. We have taken that information and generalized it to talk about all people living in Italy. The easiest way to tell that this statement is not descriptive is by trying to verify it based upon the information provided. Ex....
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...Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Paper Terrance Douglas, Katie Faiman, Marika Schlindwein, Christyl Schoultz, & Samantha Sisk PSY/315 February 3, 2013 Dr. Deborah Suzzane Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Paper Have you ever noticed that we just keep moving forward? There are countless, unseen individuals who make this happen each day, but how do they operate? How do they accomplish all of this? We live in a complex world. Behind the scenes, researchers are steadily developing new theories and testing their outcome. For them, statistics serves a very different purpose. In the next few paragraphs, the role of statistics is explained as their role in the psychological community. Statistics itself is then further subdivided into two different methodologies; descriptive and the inferential (Aaron & Aaron & Coups, 2009). Each method utilizes data for a different purpose, and in each method, data may be gathered differently. Lastly, an example of each of the two types of statistics which helps the reader to distinguish clearly between the descriptive and inferential types of statistics which researchers use to conduct their work. It will further be shown how the two methods of statistics relate to each other in research. It is by understanding the two different roles of each of these types of statistics that researchers are able to gather meaningful data, which is testable and provable and keeps us on a forward moving trajectory...
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...it with reference to specific topics or issues. The results of qualitative research are descriptive rather than predictive.” ("What Is Qualitative Research?” 2015). Quantitative research “is about asking people for their opinions in a structured way so that you can produce hard facts and statistics to guide you. To get reliable statistical results, it’s important to survey people in fairly large numbers and to make sure they are a representative sample of your target market.” ("What Is Quantitative Research?” 2015). There also are descriptive and statistical approach’s in this paper that will help with understand what is best for you business research. When constructing a business research there are several sampling methods that can be used. Some sampling methods would be simple random sampling, systematic sampling, cluster sampling and quota sampling and etc. The article I chose to do is called Qualitative and quantitative methods for sampling zooplankton in shallow coastal estuaries. “Many different devices are used for sampling zooplankton. Every sampler has its advantages and limitations in terms of sampling ease and efficiency, which is why hydro biologists search for devices that could increase sampling efficiency and decrease human effort (Nunez et al. 2008).” In this article they used the plankton net sampling method and it is used to sample the lake or pond.” These sampling methods all have their strengths and weakness and to choose...
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...locations.In his book introduction to statistical methods and data analysis, R. Ott Longnecker argues that measures of central tendency seek to describe the centre of distribution of measurements and also how the measurement vary about the centre of distribution.Central tendency measures include mean, mode nd median.On the other hand measures of variability describes a given set of of data by analyzing how data varies from its centre of distribution.examples of variability measures include range, standard deviation and variance. There are two main branches of statistics that include descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.Descriptive statistics gives numerical measures that describes the features of a given set of data. Inferential statistics on the other hand takes a sample of a given population, analyses the sample, and from it draw conclusions about the population .Malcolm.O.Asadoorian and Demetrius Kantarelis in their book: Essentials of inferential statistics argue that descriptive statistics organize , summarize and display data whereas inferential statistics utilize probabilistic techniques to analyze sample information from a certain population to improve our knowledge about the population. Measures of central tendancy and variability fall under descriptive statistics. Inferential statistics is divided into two i.e confidence interval which give a range of values for unknown parameters of a population by measuring a statistical sample and the test of significance...
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...Understanding Business Research Terms and Concepts: Part 4 Que McMannis Res 351 03/17/2015 Mark Robinson Abstract The three most commonly used research instruments in quantitative research Studies include Questionnaire, Tests, and Surveys. Validity is the degree to which an instrument measure what it is purports to measure. Imprecise information collection can influence the outcome of a study and eventually lead to unacceptable results. Reliability is the internal consistency or stability of the measuring device over time (Gay, 1996). The collection data of Quantitative methods depend on random sampling and organized data collection instruments that fit different involvement into fixed response groups (www.mbaisherebyravali.com). An important aspect of the quantitative research design is the non-probability method. Through the non-probability method, there are many sampling designs such as convenience sampling, purposive sampling and model instance sampling (www.wilderdom.com). Listed below are two Quantitative strength approaches. The first quantitative strength approach is offering vivid data; for example, permitting us to take pictures of an employer population (www.library.pinpoint.com). Another strength is quantitative research have the ability to translate numbers and data in quantifying graphs and charts. (www.library.pinpoint.com) The first weakness of the quantitative approach is large samples are needed thus causing the study to be more expensive, time-...
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...Part 2 Rodney Goudy RES/351 July 6, 2015 Tracy Sipma Descriptive statistics Descriptive statistics suggests a straightforward quantitative outline of a data-set which has been gathered. It helps us comprehend the experimentation or data-set in-detail and tells people concerning the mandatory details that help show the data perceptively. Descriptive statistics, we just convey exactly what the data reveals and tell us. Most of the statistical averages and numbers we estimate are essentially illustrative averages. For instance the Dow Jones Industrial tells us about the typical performance of select firms. The grade-point avg. tells us about the typical performance of a pupil in school. The GDP growth rate tells us about the typical performance of a state. Therefore illustrative statistics attempts to catch a sizable group of observations and offers us some concept concerning the data-set. Descriptive statistics aims to describe data set information with summary graphs and tables (Linda Hollis, n.d.). Inferential Statistics Inferential statistics includes drawing the correct conclusions from your statistical evaluation that's been performed using descriptive data. Ultimately, it really is the inferences that make studies significant and this element is dealt with-in inferential data. Most forecasts of the potential and generalizations of a population by analyzing a smaller sample come under the scope of inferential statistics. Many social sciences experiments offer with analyzing...
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...Understanding Business Research Terms and Concepts: Part 2 Statistical procedures can be divided into two major categories: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. When it comes to statistical analysis, there are two classifications: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. In a nutshell, descriptive statistics intend to describe a big hunk of data with summary charts and tables, but do not attempt to draw conclusions about the population from which the sample was taken. Descriptive statistics are very important because if we simply presented our raw data it would be hard to visualize what the data was showing, especially if there was a lot of it. Descriptive statistics therefore enables us to present the data in a more meaningful way, which allows simpler interpretation of the data. Descriptive statistics includes statistical procedures that we use to describe the population we are studying. The data could be collected from either a sample or a population, but the results help us organize and describe data. Descriptive statistics can only be used to describe the group that is being studying. On the other hand inferential statistics allows us to draw conclusions from data that might not be immediately obvious. In most cases an inferential statistic is used to test some hypothesis. Inferential statistics is concerned with making predictions or inferences about a population from observations and analyses of a sample. I was able to come across two article...
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...knowledge without progressing, stagnation occurs. Research and statistics are unique tools in psychology because the information is part of the methodology of psychology. In the field of psychology, research is what makes it possible to better understand human behavior and gives the knowledge needed to help others. Research and statistics are tracking methods that must stay accurate. Research must be conducted with precision and accountability it is of utter importance, both ethically and morally or it can lead to disastrous results. The methods of primary, secondary data and the branches of statistical methods are key factors used in research. Research is an attempt to find information in a scientific manner (Word Net,2011). By using the scientific methods the results from the research are valid, reliable, and accurate. The scientific method is a process where secondary data is compiled, analyzed, hypothesized, and tested. Using this method decreases human error and subjective thinking from having a influence on the results and interpretations (Pervez & Gronhaug, 2005). While nothing is without fault by using the scientific method of hypothesizing and testing the hypothesis decreases the frequency and degree of errors from happening. Primary data is where it all starts. Primary data is the collection of raw information. Raw information simply means the data has never been used. The compiling of figures and numbers are used to make a final report. Secondary data is information...
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...variation in the decision-making process. * Statistics provides you with methods for making better sense of the numbers used every day to describe or analyze the world we live in. * Statistical methods help you understand the information contained in “the numbers” and determine whether differences in “the numbers are meaningful or just due to chance. * Why learn statistics? First and foremost, statistics helps you make better sense of the world. Second, statistics helps you make better business decisions. 1.2 Statistics in Business * In the business world, statistics has these important specific uses: 1. To summarize business data 2. To draw conclusions from those data 3. To make reliable forecasts about business activities 4. To improve business processes * The statistical methods you use for these tasks come from one of the two branches of statistics: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. * Descriptive statistics are the methods that help collect, summarize, present, and analyze a set of data. * Inferential statistics are the methods that use the data collected from a small group to draw conclusions about a larger group. * Many of the tables and charts found in a typical presentation are the products of descriptive methods, as are statistics such as the mean or median of a group. When you use statistical methods to help choose which investment from a set of investments might lead to...
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...Before actually working on data analysis in real world, it is important that the basic knowledge is possessed by everybody involved in this process. The following paper seeks to provide basic knowledge in some specific areas of statistical data analysis. Descriptive statistics As the name suggests, descriptive statistics means analysis of data to describe or summarize data in a meaningful manner. The analysis helps in determination of patterns that exist in the data. Descriptive statistics simply describes the data but not present an analysis beyond the data. One cannot make any conclusions about any hypothesis using this. The data, when presented to users, is difficult to comprehend in its raw form. Sometimes the sheer size and volume of data may render it impossible to understand what it represents. Descriptive statistics helps in proper presentation of data such that it can be understood and analyzed by the user. For example, if we had the data about the returns from stocks of 100 companies, then that data would make no sense as it would be difficult to comprehend. But if that data is arranges, classified industry-wise, an average is calculated for each industry and for all the stocks, and then the interpretation would be simpler. Here, descriptive statistics comes as a savior. Following are two most common types of statistics used to describe data: Measures of central tendency: these are measures which are at the central position of the frequency distribution and which...
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