Introduction to Statistics

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“To guess is cheap, to guess wrongly is
expensive.”
-Old Chinese Proverb

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“Statistical thinking will one day be as
necessary for effective citizenship as
the ability to read and write.”
- H.G. Wells

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“ When you can measure what you are
speaking about and express in
numbers, you know something about it;
but when you cannot measure it,
cannot express it in numbers your
knowledge is of a meagre and
unsatisfactory kind.”
- Lord Kelvin
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“When the history of modern time is
finally written, we shall read it as
beginning with the age of steam and
progressing through the age of
electricity to that of statistics”
- An over-enthusiastic, statistically aware
business executive

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Scope of Statistics
 Statistics increase the field of mental vision
just like the binoculars increases the field of
physical vision.
 Simplifies unwieldy and complex mass of
data.
 Quantifies and measures uncertainty and
variability.
 Discovers past and emerging patterns.
 Helps in estimation and validating
assumptions. 6
Numerical statements of facts which are
highly convenient and meaningful forms
of communication

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Statements

 The crime rate has gone up by 15% of what it

was last year
 The average salary of a professor in Oxford
University is $75,000 per year
 The rate of inflation in India is expected to
remain above 5% per year for the next 5 years
 60% of car owners in a country consider
Japanese cars superior in quality than
American cars

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Statistics is concerned with proper collection of
data, organising this data into manageable and
presentable form, analysing and interpreting the
data into conclusions for useful purposes.

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1. Proper collection of data
2. Organisation and classification of data
3. Presentation of data
4. Analysis of data
5. Interpretation of data

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Characteristics of
Statistics

1. Statistics are aggregate of facts.

2. Statistics, generally are not the outcome
of a single cause, but are affected by
multiple causes.
3. Statistics are numerically expressed.

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4. Statistical data is collected in a
systematic manner.
5. Statistics are collected for a predetermined
purpose.
6. Statistics are enumerated or estimated according
to reasonable standard of accuracy.
7. Statistics must be placed in relation to each
other.

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Functions

 It condenses and summarizes the data

 It facilitates classification and comparison
 It helps in determining functional relationship
between two or more phenomenon
 It helps in predicting future trend
 It helps in policy formulation

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Limitations

1. It does not deal with individual values

2. It cannot deal with qualitative
characteristics
3. Statistical conclusions are not
universally true
4. Statistics can be misused

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Scope

 Government
 Economic
 Physical, Natural and Social sciences
 Research
 Others
 Business and Management

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Business and Management
 Entrepreneurship
 Production
 Marketing
 Purchasing
 Personnel
 Investment
 Banking
 Quality Control
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Types of Statistics
 Descriptive
 Inferential

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Descriptive: Forbes Magazine’s List of India’s
Billionaires for 2006
Rank Name Net Worth ($ b) Age
1 Lakshmi Mittal 20 55
2 Azim Premji 11 60
3 Mukesh Ambani 7 48
4 Anil Ambani 5.5 46
5 Sunil Mittal 4.9 48
6 Kumar Birla 4.4 38
7 Shiv Nadar 3 60
8 Shashi & Ravi Ruhia 2.7 62
9 Venugopal Dhoot 1.6 52
10 Rahul Bajaj 1.5 67

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Inferential: Number of annual Withdrawals in
SB Accounts

38 53
41 45
46 44
47 56
58 62
42 40
44 35
54 48
57 39
51 48

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 Phases of Statistical Study
 Defining Objective
 Specification of the Population & its
characteristic(s)
 Planning for data collection-Census Vs Sampling
 Collection of data
 Compilation/presentation of data
 Statistical Analysis
 Drawing conclusions, testing assumptions, making
predictions
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