Two Types of Statistics: Descriptive and Inferential

Statistics is sub field of both science and mathematics as it uses the rules from these two fields. It works with the calculations and quantifications of data, scrutinizing it, elucidating, and dispensing it in the best form. The students of this subject collect the data by doing various experiments and then survey all those samples. They do so to get the maximum corrected results regarding that experiment. In this subject, you can find out the results by taking all the measurements, and using all the indexes required to get the conclusion of the system.

Talking about the branches or types of statistics, there are two of them.

• Descriptive Statistics
• Inferential Statistics

Explanation of Descriptive Statistics

The type which organizes, rearranges or precise the data of the system is called as the descriptive statistics. It only describes the data but do not find out any kind of inference from it. Mean, median, mode and many other indexes are used in this first type of statistics. Applying the values of all these indexes can help you to make the graphs and the charts representing the descriptive type. These indexes work as the samples during the précising of data. Descriptive statistics is not as easy to do as it appears. The most important thing in statistics is taking the correct and most accurate measurements. The students of this subject remain conscious of taking the right measurements as any mistake in the measurements can lead to a bigger change in the conclusion.

For example, if you want to know that what does the annual result of the student says whether the student passed the subject of statistics this year or not? To find this you need to use the method of descriptive statistics. You have to record the answers in the form of bar charts or graphs. Here are some variables that you should know before doing this analysis.

• Distribution
• Mean
• Mode
• Median
• Central tendency
• Standard Deviation
• Variance
• Range

Knowing how to calculate the values of all these variables will help you in finding out the descriptive statistics.

Importance of Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics is the best way to present the data in a more authentic form. This is so because if the data is presented in the unrefined form then it will become so difficult to conceptualize what the data wants to provide. And it may also change the exact meaning and the result of the data.

Through descriptive statistics, we can summarize the data using tables, graphs, and charts. These graphs, tables, and charts are made according the results found in the whole process.

Inferential Statistics

Drawing the right results from descriptive statistics is the job of inferential statistics. Finding out the right conclusions using the charts and the graphs made during descriptive statistics to is called inferential statistics. For example,

Suppose you are in a college and asking hundred teachers if they like to teach statistics or not. You can make a bar chart according to the answers of teachers. This is the first type. Now if you have concluded the result that 60% to 70% of the teachers like to teach statistics then this is the inferential statistics. These graphs represent the second type of statistics and tells us about the inferences taken from the first one.

Importance of Inferential Statistics

From the inferential type, we came to know what we have learned from descriptive type. This type is used to find out the results of the data using the previous type.