MATH 1131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Sample Size Determination, Descriptive Statistics, Central Tendency

• School: York University
• Department: Mathematics and Statistics
• Course: MATH 1131
• Professor: Stephen Kokoska

Document Summary

Statistics and statistical inference: statistics is the science of collecting and interpreting data. Also the ability to make decisions, access risks and draw a conclusion. It is also the practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities, especially for the purpose of inferring proportions in a whole from those in a representative sample. Two types of statistics: descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, descriptive statistics: graphical and numerical methods used to describe, organize, and summarize data. Descriptive statistics are brief descriptive coefficients that summarize a given data set, which can be either representation of the entire population or a sample of it. Sample size determination is the act of choosing the number of observations or replicates to include in a statistical sample. For example, a variable could be tall boys in a survey of a class. In order to solve a probability problem, certain characteristics of a population are assumed known.