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Statistics is the mathematical science involving the collection, analysis and interpretation of data. A number of specialties have evolved to apply statistical and methods to various disciplines. Certain topics have "statistical" in their name but relate to manipulations of probability distributions rather than to statistical analysis.
Data mining is a particular data analysis technique that focuses on statistical modeling and knowledge discovery for predictive rather than purely descriptive purposes, while business intelligence covers data analysis that relies heavily on aggregation, focusing mainly on business information. [4]
The data type is a fundamental concept in statistics and controls what sorts of probability distributions can logically be used to describe the variable, the permissible operations on the variable, the type of regression analysis used to predict the variable, etc.
Two main statistical methods are used in data analysis: descriptive statistics, which summarize data from a sample using indexes such as the mean or standard deviation, and inferential statistics, which draw conclusions from data that are subject to random variation (e.g., observational errors, sampling variation). [4]
Tukey defined data analysis in 1961 as: "Procedures for analyzing data, techniques for interpreting the results of such procedures, ways of planning the gathering of data to make its analysis easier, more precise or more accurate, and all the machinery and results of (mathematical) statistics which apply to analyzing data."
The theory of statistics provides a basis for the whole range of techniques, in both study design and data analysis, that are used within applications of statistics. [1] [2] The theory covers approaches to statistical-decision problems and to statistical inference, and the actions and deductions that satisfy the basic principles stated for these different approaches.
As statistics and data sets have become more complex, [a] [b] questions have arisen regarding the validity of models and the inferences drawn from them. There is a wide range of conflicting opinions on modelling. Models can be based on scientific theory or ad hoc data analysis, each employing different methods. Advocates exist for each approach ...
Distributional data analysis is a branch of nonparametric statistics that is related to functional data analysis.It is concerned with random objects that are probability distributions, i.e., the statistical analysis of samples of random distributions where each atom of a sample is a distribution.