Even though you may not have realised it, you probably have made some statistical statements in your everyday conversation or thinking. Statements like "I sleep for about eight hours per night on average" and "You are more likely to pass the exam if you start preparing earlier" are actually statistical in nature.
What is Statistics?
Statistics in the real world!
What is statistics?
Statistics is a discipline which is concerned with:
- designing experiments and other data collection,
- summarizing information to aid understanding,
- drawing conclusions from data, and
- estimating the present or predicting the future.
The two statements at the beginning illustrate some of these points.
In making predictions, Statistics uses the companion subject of Probability, which models chance mathematically and enables calculations of chance in complicated cases.
Today, statistics has become an important tool in the work of many academic disciplines such as medicine, psychology, education, sociology, engineering and physics, just to name a few. Statistics is also important in many aspects of society such as business, industry and government. Because of the increasing use of statistics in so many areas of our lives, it has become very desirable to understand and practise statistical thinking. This is important even if you do not use statistical methods directly.
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Medicine
Medicine: applications of statistics, toxic orange juice, Sunlight and skin cancer, Rubella in pregnancy, random surgical operations.
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Science
Science: applications of statistics in the following topics, clover leaves, fire-fighters, family heights, Melbourne weather, german tanks in WW2.
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Statistics
General applications of statistics, What is P-Value?, question wording, shuffling cards, phone-in polls, survey precision.
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Sport
Statistics in sport such as Sydney to Hobart yacht race and AFL draws.
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Finance
Finance: applications of statistics, making chocolate, consumption of chocolate in Australia, 1 and 2 cent coins.
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Stats Facts
Some stats facts: elephants and pointing, Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind, Pies and dougnuts, statistical graphs.
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Research
Research and the SCC
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Statistics Courses
Short courses for the Public, Business, professionals, academics and graduate researchers.Specialised and bespoke courses, workshops and seminars.