What is Statistics

 Statistics is the study of the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and organization of data. In applying statistics to, e.g., a scientific, industrial, or societal problem, it is conventional to begin with a statistical population or a statistical model process to be studied. Populations can be diverse topics such as "all persons living in a country" or "every atom composing a crystal". Statistics deals with all aspects of data including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments. Descriptive statistics are most often concerned with two sets of properties of a distribution : central tendency  seeks to characterize the distribution's central or typical value, while dispersion  characterizes the extent to which members of the distribution depart from its center and each other. Inferences on mathematical statistics are made under the framework of probability theory, which deals with the analysis of random phenomena.
Standard statistical procedure commonly involve the development of a null hypothesis, a general statement or default position that there is no relationship between two quantities. Rejecting or disproving the null hypothesis is a common task in the modern practice of science, and gives a precise sense in which a claim is capable of being proven false. What statisticians call an alternative hypothesis is simply a hypothesis that contradicts the null hypothesis. Working from a null hypothesis, two basic forms of error are recognized: Type I errors  and Type II errors . Multiple problems have come to be associated with this framework: ranging from obtaining a sufficient sample size to specifying an adequate null hypothesis.
Measurement processes that generate statistical data are also subject to error. Many of these errors are classified as random  or systematic, but other important types of errors  can also be important. The presence of missing data and/or censoring may result in biased estimates and specific techniques have been developed to address these problems.
Statistics can be said to have begun in ancient civilization, going back at least to the 5th century BC, but it was not until the 18th century that it started to draw more heavily from calculus and probability theory. Statistics continues to be an area of active research, for example on the problem of how to analyze Big data.
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