1. Statistics: The Science and Art of Data
We live in a world of data. Every day, we encounter data from scientific studies to poll results to test scores to analyses about sports. To understand what the data are saying, you need to learn more about statistics. An understanding of statistics will help you make good decisions based on data.
Statistics
Statistics is the science and art of collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data.

2. Statistics: The Science and Art of Data
Statistical Problem-Solving Process
  Ask Questions: Clarify the research problem and ask one or more valid statistics questions.
  Collect Data: Design and carry out an appropriate plan to collect the data.
  Analyze Data: Use appropriate graphical and numerical methods to analyze the data.
  Interpret Results: Draw conclusions based on the data analysis. Be sure to answer the research question(s)!

3. Statistics: The Science and Art of Data
Roller Coaster
Type
Height (ft)
Design
Speed (mph)
Duration (s)
Wildfire
Wood
187
Sit Down
70.2
120
Skyline
Steel
131.3
Inverted 50 90
Goliath
165 72
105
Helix
134.5
62.1
130
Banshee
167 68
160
Black Hole
22.7
25.5 75
Values of a Variable
Individual
Individual, Variable
An individual is a person, animal, or thing described in a set of data.
A variable is any attribute that can take different values for different individuals.

4. Statistics: The Science and Art of Data
Variable
A variable is any attribute that can take different values for different individuals.
Categorical Variable
Quantitative Variable
A categorical variable assigns labels that place individuals into particular groups.
A quantitative variable takes number values for which it makes sense to find an average.

5. Statistics: The Science and Art of Data
A variable generally takes values that vary from one individual to another.
The distribution of a variable describes the pattern of variation of these values.
Distribution
The distribution of a variable tells us what values the variable takes and how often it takes these values.

6. Statistics: The Science and Art of Data
We can summarize a variable’s distribution with a frequency table or a relative frequency table.
Frequency Table
A frequency table shows the count of individuals having each data value.
Relative Frequency Table
A relative frequency table shows the proportion or percent of individuals having each data value.

7. Statistics: The Science and Art of Data
Identify the individuals and variables in a data set, then classify the variables as categorical or quantitative.
Summarize the distribution of a variable with a frequency table or a relative frequency table.