A Comparison Between Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Essay

Total Length: 411 words ( 1 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 2

Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

Part 1

In basic terms, descriptive statistics could be conceptualized in terms of “the analysis of data that helps describe, show or summarize data in a meaningful way such that, for example, patterns might emerge from the data” (McGregor, 2017, p. 112). Thus descriptive statistics are interested in describing certain features of a set of data or population. This could be differentiated from inferential statistics which, as will be described elsewhere in this text, concerns itself with inferring features of a set of data or population. We could make use of descriptive statistics to measure performance. A good example of the utilization of descriptive statistics to measure performance would be in the determination of the average performance of a specific class, such as this one, in a specific test. It is also important to note that with descriptive statistics, we can also do a comparison of different things. To give one specific example, Pyrczak (2016) points out that “we can use a descriptive statistic like the mean (or average) to compare the height of the Boston Celtics to that of the Los Angeles Lakers” (122).

Stuck Writing Your "A Comparison Between Descriptive and Inferential Statistics" Essay?

It is clear that in this example, the approach…

[…… parts of this paper are missing, click here to view the entire document ]

…us to draw conclusions about an entire population using only a smaller subset of the population” (McGregor, 2017, p.135). To give a better illustration of this, we could use the recently concluded elections as an example of a scenario whereby inferential statistics would be of great relevance. For instance, in the said elections, one could have drawn conclusions about the voting behaviors of people by making a determination as to how a few voters will vote. It therefore follows that inferential statistics happens to be a rather efficient and inexpensive approach (when one is interested in drawing certain conclusions) in comparison….....

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"A Comparison Between Descriptive And Inferential Statistics" (2020, December 07) Retrieved May 18, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/comparison-descriptive-inferential-statistics-2175879

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"A Comparison Between Descriptive And Inferential Statistics" 07 December 2020. Web.18 May. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/comparison-descriptive-inferential-statistics-2175879>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"A Comparison Between Descriptive And Inferential Statistics", 07 December 2020, Accessed.18 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/comparison-descriptive-inferential-statistics-2175879