Psychology

Functions of statistics
Statistics helps analyze data in a sample or population to draw conclusions from the data. Statistics is a branch of science that deals with measurements about processing information to produce data. Statistics uses mathematical calculations to provide solutions to a given problem. Data is obtained from a sample to predict the characteristics of the population. Since the population may be large enough to study the data becomes economical and efficient and economical to operate with. Statistics may be divided into descriptive or inferential statistics (Trochim, 2006).

Descriptive statistics
Descriptive statistics is used to explain the main features of the data being studied. A summary of the sample is obtained together with all the measurements developed. A quantitative analysis of the data is made to establish the graphical analysis. The results obtained from the descriptive statistics depend on the data collected in the sample. The person doing the study does not influence the results of the study. Descriptive statistics deals with the quantities nature of data.

Inferential statistics
Inferential statistics allows a person to draw conclusions from a sample. Judgment is used to determine the behavior of a given item of study. Most of the results about the characteristics of the sample and the population are obtained from the personal judgment of the person doing the study. The results of the study may differ depending on the people doing the study. Inferential statistics is concerned about the qualitative data. It deals analyzing the quantitative data to provide with an inference about the nature and characteristics of the data under study (Trochim, 2006).