Statistics is the branch of math that deals with data.
To be a little more specific, it is the study of collecting, processing, analyzing and presenting information in a way that can help us find insights and make decisions.
Probability Usually Comes Along With Statistics
Probability is the branch of math that measures how likely an event is to occur. For instance, the probability of rolling a 5 on a die is not very likely.
When combined, statistics and probability can give us powerful tools such as making predictions. For instance, meteorologists (weathermen) are able to tell us whether or not it will rain tomorrow. They do this by analyzing data about all the times it rained before and finding patterns to tell us how likely it is to rain again.
Statistics is Applied in Many Fields
Apart from making predictions, statistics also helps to make conclusions about populations that are too large to study. For instance, you may see a statistic such as 3 out of every 5 children has lost an entire year of school due to covid in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It would be impossible for UNICEF to count every child in the world. Instead, they take samples from a certain number of countries and use statistical techniques to come up with these figures.
Students Often Find Statistics to Be Challenging
At higher levels, statistics introduces a lot of unfamiliar symbols and concepts that require a certain amount of effort for students to make the mental adjustment.
As with anything else, the first step to conquering a topic that you find difficult is to realize how the anxiety is affecting you. Instead of thinking about having to deal with Statistics on a whole, narrow your focus to a few topics at a time to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Start early with your studies, and be consistent – a little everyday is more effective and less stressful than trying to do it all in one day.
Keep these things in mind and if you do cross paths with statistics at a higher level trust me – you’ll be able to do it 🙂
CSEC Math – Statistics Is A Wonderful Icebreaker
The aim of the statistics section of CSEC Math is not to turn you into a statistician overnight.
CXC mainly focuses on descriptive and visual statistics as these are the concepts that are quickest to grasp. To be more specific this section deals with:
- Basic statistical terms
- Charts
- Measures (Mean, Mode etc.)
- Probability
These topics help you see statistics in action without throwing in too much to scare you off! Statistics is an area of math that I quite enjoy myself so I very much look forward to sharing what I know with you.
Look out for the rest of my posts on statistics and if you’d like you can check out the full csec math course on statistics.