Importance of Statistics
Prerequisites
none
Learning Objectives
- Give examples of statistics are encountered in every-day life
- Give examples of how statistics can lend credibility to an argument
Statistics may be the single most important subject
matter that you ever study. This is because throughout your entire
life you have been and will continue to be inundated with research
statistics and findings.
Statistics are often included in a report to add credibility.
This is easily observed watching any of the major news shows.
Many of the statistics presented to you in your life have not
been, are not, and will not be accurate. These snappy numbers
are often easily accepted by and mislead people, especially people
who are not consumers of research and consumers of statistics.
It is extremely important to understand statistics because
statistics influence which findings you are going to believe and which findings
are going to influence you to make changes in your life. And this on-line
statistics textbook is important because it's going to make you a consumer of
statistics.
The first step to being a consumer of statistics will be to question the statistics that you encounter. As you think
more about statistics, you will become increasingly aware that
statistics are all around you.
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