Type of Statistics

Descriptive Statistics: 

Methods of organizing, summarizing and presenting data in an informative way.

Example1: A Gallup poll found that 49% of the people in the survey knew the name of the first book of the Bible. The statistic 49 describes the number out of every 100 people who knew the answer.

Example2: According to Consumer Reports, Whirlpool washing machine owners reported 9 problems per 100 machines during 1999. The statistic 9 describes the number of problems out of every 100 machines.

Inferential Statistics:

A decision, estimate, prediction or generalization about a population based on sample.

Example1: TV networks constantly monitor the popularity of their programs by hiring Nielsen and other organizations to sample the preferences of TV viewers.

Example2: The accounting department of a large firm will select a sample of the invoices to check for accuracy for all the invoices of the company.

Example3: Wine tasters sip a dew drops of wine to make a decision with respect to all the wine waiting to be released for sale.

Population:

a collection of possible individuals, objects, or measurements of interest

Sample:

a portion or part of the population of interest.