statistics essay example

statistics essay example

The Importance of Statistics in Modern Society: An Analytical Essay

1. Introduction to the Role of Statistics in Society

A thoughtful introduction to the subject and its wide applicability to many fields of the social sciences, indeed, many professionals in analytic and technical disciplines who are not considered to be behavioral, economic, or managerial experts can significantly improve their understanding and work performance by learning to appreciate the meaning of statistical analysis and by acquiring a few basic skills. Hence an important goal is to reach out to them and to transfer to them the ability to experience firsthand the utility and the excitement of the world of statistics.

The advancement and dissemination of statistical knowledge have in the past played a significant and, on the whole, beneficial role in the development of modern society. As the world’s developing nations begin to repay the volume of information available to them, a concomitant emphasis on the relevance for current social issues of the science of statistics is likely to provide a stimulus for advanced and developing nations alike to update, improve, and propagate statistical knowledge and to apply it better to the solution of critical societal problems.

2. Key Concepts and Methods in Statistics

A scattergram shows nothing about the kind of relationship that exists between two variables, and neither does a correlation coefficient of the Pearson product-moment formula. The sign (+ or -) gives information about the direction of the relationship. A positive sign represents a relationship in which x and y tend to change in the same direction, while a negative sign represents a relationship in which x and y tend to change in opposite directions. The sign of the correlation coefficient does not change, even if one variable is multiplied with the negative of a constant multiplier. The magnitude of the correlation coefficient provides information about the form of the relationship, because it measures the straight-line relationship between x and y. Generally, the closer the correlation is to zero, the weaker the linear relationship will be. Keep in mind that it is the linearity of the relationship that is being examined, and that there may be strong non-linear relationships between x and y variables.

In multiple regression modeling, both the simplest and the most complex procedures always begin with the construction of a scattergram (also called a scatter diagram) to display graphically the relationship that is going to be examined. To produce a scattergram on a computer screen or on a graphing calculator, each of the paired (x, y) points is located by the orthogonal (perpendicular to one another) axes provided by the hardware or the software. The horizontal x axis is used for the independent variable’s data, and the vertical y axis is used for the dependent variable’s data.

3. Applications of Statistics in Various Fields

After a highly successful inaugural conference of statisticians from various Nordic collaborative research programs appealing to the Kempe foundations for travel and accommodation grants in April 2018, the Kempe initiative has become an annual event. This is the second such event, and the first to hold parallel sessions. Four parallel sessions will be held where statisticians will present their actual research in the programs funded by the Kempe initiative. The programs are within the fields of marine data and statistics, spatial data and statistics, data management, surveillance and statistics, modern artificial and machine learning data analysis, networks and graphs data and statistics. Some 60 abstracts for posters or contributed talks are assembled in the current issue of Statistics and Operations Research Transactions. The aim of the abstracts is twofold, plus a third interest, to exemplify the variety as much as the depth of the research, to communicate not only activities and results but also opportunities and strategies to establish new intersectorial collaborations, realizing the full potential of the networked world of modern statistics and related sciences.

We have presented a representative cross-section of areas where the foundational importance of statistics can be felt in modern applications. Now let us look into only those very same applications but within them to emulate as best possible, an order of magnitude as to the volume and relative importance of statistics in these areas. In this review of the developments and advances in these areas, we will not be concerned so much with the finest technical details or the most complex or sophisticated methodologies of statistics, but rather on the overarching need and pervasive influence of relatively straightforward statistical ideas and principles within and across these diverse areas. This will necessitate that we take an appropriate balance by also including examples of complex situations where rather sophisticated statistical techniques are being called for in these areas.

4. Challenges and Ethical Considerations in Statistical Analysis

The article raises other issues about the tendency of national statistical organizations to abuse their position as the researchers of the database, or not to investigate it at all. They can precipitate invalid results because they can give the impression to researchers that they have performed a valid data collection project: “Those without experience in data gathering often are not aware of the differences between the simple reliability of statistical instruments and statistical validity”.

With the availability of information, modern society is faced with the problem of being swamped with too much data. A recent article “Data Research Drowning” lists some of the problems people are facing as a result of excess information. Inadequately documented databases become quickly outdated, and they are expensive to verify. Even if well-documented, the value and usefulness of data will be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the database and the absence of performant on-line search tools. Ready access to research data leads to overproduction of articles, the authors argue, many redundant, interdisciplinary and devoted to the apparent problem of “textbooks” that no one reads. And Barrett discusses the ominous effect of information at the atomic level stored everywhere in the future of quality.

5. Conclusion: The Future of Statistics and its Impact on Society

Two factors will increase the importance of statistics in the 21st century. Traditional uses of statistics are expanding and evolving into many new areas of the economy, society, and science. The uses of statistics are becoming broader and more encompassing, from purely descriptive studies to ones that explain and predict, and from displaying the results of research to also synthesizing and analyzing data. Data collection is also changing as it becomes less expensive to access computer data and as society-driven decisions about its collection change. High-throughput genomics, wide-scale environmental monitoring, computer search engines, and the like will make statistics more important as society becomes awash in data.

In the coming years, we need to consider carefully what society considers to be success and what role we expect official statisticians to play in ensuring this success. There are invaluable statistical outputs now, but are we showcasing them and disseminating them properly? We also have a generation of young analysts who are ready to take on this challenge and they have the technology at their disposal. This will not come without constraints, funding will always remain tight and we must make tough choices on resourcing. Statisticians will need to broaden and deepen their skills base, reaching out to other branches of science and developing the knowledge transfer relationships evident in other science disciplines to keep statistics relevant to society and to harness the potential of innovation. This publication is a general introduction to statistics of the 21st Century.

Future Debate on Statistics and Societal Progress