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Lesson 3: Basic Descriptive Statistics
2 Intro to Descriptive Statistics < Back | Next >

The objective of descriptive statistics is to produce numbers which describe attributes of the sample. In short, descriptive statistics allows us to summarize our data in clear and meaningful way.

Example

Let’s assume we collected fuel loading data from 50 stands on a National Forest. We can now summarize this data in one of two ways. First, we can summarize the data numerically by computing statistics such as the mean and standard deviation; to show the average amount of fuel loading and the degree to which fuel loading differs between stands.

The second way we could summarize this data is graphically by creating a stem and leaf diagram or a histogram. This method would provide information on the distribution of fuel loadings.

You should remember that graphical representation of data is best used to show patterns within the data; where as numerical summarization is more precise and objective. However since both types of summarization are complementary it is best to use both.

LESSON 3
1 Overview
2 Intro to Descriptive Statistics
3 Calculating the Mean or Average
4 Calculating the Median
5 Calculating the Mode
6 Describing the Spread of Data
7 Calculating the Variance
8 Calculating the Standard Deviation
9 Graphical Representation of Data
10 The Stem and Leaf Plot
11 Review Questions
< Back | Next >

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