1.1 Introduction to Sampling and Data

This photo shows a large open news room with enough space to seat about 200 employees.
We encounter statistics in our daily lives more often than we probably realize and from many different sources, like the news. Photo by David Sim, CC BY 4.0.

You are probably asking yourself the question, “When and where will I use statistics?”  If you read any newspaper, watch television, or use the Internet, you will see statistical information.  There are statistics about crime, sports, education, politics, and real estate, just to mention a few.  Typically, when you read a newspaper article or watch a television news program, you are given sample information.  With this information, you may make a decision about the correctness of a statement, claim, or “fact.”  Statistical methods can help you make the “best educated guess.”

Because you will undoubtedly be given statistical information at some point in your life, you need to know some techniques for analyzing the information thoughtfully.  Think about buying a house or managing a budget.  Think about your chosen profession.  The fields of economics, business, psychology, education, biology, law, computer science, police science, and early childhood development require at least one course in statistics.

Included in this chapter are the basic ideas and words of probability and statistics.  You will soon understand that statistics and probability work together.  You will also learn how data are gathered and what “good” data can be distinguished from “bad.”

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“Chapter 1 Introduction” in Introductory Statistics by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Introduction to Statistics Copyright © 2022 by Valerie Watts is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.