"There are two aspects of statistics that are continually mixed, the method and the science. Statistics are used as a method, whenever we measure something, for example, the size of a district, the number of inhabitants of a country, the quantity or price of certain commodities, etc. […] There is, moreover, a science of statistics. It consists of knowing how to gather numbers, combine them and calculate them, in the best way to lead to certain results. But this is, strictly speaking, a branch of mathematics." (Alphonse P de Candolle, "Considerations on Crime Statistics", 1833)
"A judicious man looks at Statistics, not to get knowledge, but to save himself from having ignorance foisted on him." (Thomas Carlyle, "Chartism", 1840)
"Statistics has then for its object that of presenting a faithful representation of a state at a determined epoch." (Adolphe Quetelet, 1849)
"Most statistical arguments depend upon a few figures picked out at random." (William S Jevons, [letter to Richard Hutton] 1863)
"[Statistics] are the only tools by which an opening can be cut through the formidable thicket of difficulties that bars the path of those who pursue the Science of man." (Sir Francis Galton, "Natural Inheritance", 1889)
"[…] statistics is the science of the measurement of the social organism, regarded as a whole, in all its manifestations." (Sir Arthur L Bowley, "Elements of Statistics", 1901)
"Statistics may rightly be called the science of averages. […] Great numbers and the averages resulting from them, such as we always obtain in measuring social phenomena, have great inertia. […] It is this constancy of great numbers that makes statistical measurement possible. It is to great numbers that statistical measurement chiefly applies." (Sir Arthur L Bowley, "Elements of Statistics", 1901)
"Statistics may, for instance, be called the science of counting. Counting appears at first sight to be a very simple operation, which any one can perform or which can be done automatically; but, as a matter of fact, when we come to large numbers, e.g., the population of the United Kingdom, counting is by no means easy, or within the power of an individual; limits of time and place alone prevent it being so carried out, and in no way can absolute accuracy be obtained when the numbers surpass certain limits." (Sir Arthur L Bowley, "Elements of Statistics", 1901)
"Statistics may be defined as numerical statements of facts by means of which large aggregates are analyzed, the relations of individual units to their groups are ascertained, comparisons are made between groups, and continuous records are maintained for comparative purposes." (Melvin T Copeland. "Statistical Methods" [in: Harvard Business Studies, Vol. III, Ed. by Melvin T Copeland, 1917])
"Statistics may be regarded as (i) the study of populations, (ii) as the study of variation, and (iii) as the study of methods of the reduction of data." (Sir Ronald A Fisher, "Statistical Methods for Research Worker", 1925)
"The conception of statistics as the study of variation is the natural outcome of viewing the subject as the study of populations; for a population of individuals in all respects identical is completely described by a description of anyone individual, together with the number in the group. The populations which are the object of statistical study always display variations in one or more respects. To speak of statistics as the study of variation also serves to emphasise the contrast between the aims of modern statisticians and those of their predecessors." (Sir Ronald A Fisher, "Statistical Methods for Research Workers", 1925)
"The statistical examination of a body of data is thus logically similar to the general alternation of inductive and deductive methods throughout the sciences. A hypothesis is conceived and defined with all necessary exactitude; its logical consequences are ascertained by a deductive argument; these consequences are compared with the available observations; if these are completely in, accord with the deductions, the hypothesis is justified at least until fresh and more stringent observations are available." (Sir Ronald A Fisher, "Statistical Methods for Research Workers", 1925)
"Statistics is a scientific discipline concerned with collection, analysis, and interpretation of data obtained from observation or experiment. The subject has a coherent structure based on the theory of Probability and includes many different procedures which contribute to research and development throughout the whole of Science and Technology." (Egon Pearson, 1936)
"All statistical analysis in business must aim at the control of action. The possible conclusions are: 1. Certain action must be taken. 2. No action is required. 3. Certain tendencies must be watched. 4. The analysis is not significant and either (a) certain further facts are required, or (b) there are no indications that further facts should be obtained." (John R Riggleman & Ira N Frisbee, "Business Statistics", 1938)
"[Statistics] is both a science and an art. It is a science in that its methods are basically systematic and have general application; and an art in that their successful application depends to a considerable degree on the skill and special experience of the statistician, and on his knowledge of the field of application, e.g. economics." (Leonard H C Tippett, "Statistics", 1943)
"Statistics is the branch of scientific method which deals with the data obtained by counting or measuring the properties of populations of natural phenomena. In this definition 'natural phenomena' includes all the happenings of the external world, whether human or not " (Sir Maurice G Kendall, "Advanced Theory of Statistics", Vol. 1, 1943)
"To some people, statistics is ‘quartered pies, cute little battleships and tapering rows of sturdy soldiers in diversified uniforms’. To others, it is columns and columns of numerical facts. Many regard it as a branch of economics. The beginning student of the subject considers it to be largely mathematics." (The Editors, "Statistics, The Physical Sciences and Engineering", The American Statistician, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1948)
"For the most part, Statistics is a method of investigation that is used when other methods are of no avail; it is often a last resort and a forlorn hope. A statistical analysis, properly conducted, is a delicate dissection of uncertainties, a surgery of suppositions. The surgeon must guard carefully against false incisions with his scalpel. Very often he has to sew up the patient as inoperable. The public knows too little about the statistician as a conscientious and skilled servant of true science." (Michael J Moroney, "Facts from Figures", 1951)
"Statistics is the name for that science and art which deals with uncertain inferences - which uses numbers to find out something about nature and experience." (Warren Weaver, 1952)
"Statistics is the fundamental and most important part of inductive logic. It is both an art and a science, and it deals with the collection, the tabulation, the analysis and interpretation of quantitative and qualitative measurements. It is concerned with the classifying and determining of actual attributes as well as the making of estimates and the testing of various hypotheses by which probable, or expected, values are obtained. It is one of the means of carrying on scientific research in order to ascertain the laws of behavior of things - be they animate or inanimate. Statistics is the technique of the Scientific Method." (Bruce D Greenschields & Frank M Weida, "Statistics with Applications to Highway Traffic Analyses", 1952)
"In brief, the greatest care must be exercised in using any statistical data, especially when it has been collected by another agency. At all times, the statistician who uses published data must ask himself, by whom were the data collected, how and for what purpose?" (Alfred R Ilersic, "Statistics", 1959)
"Poor statistics may be attributed to a number of causes. There are the mistakes which arise in the course of collecting the data, and there are those which occur when those data are being converted into manageable form for publication. Still later, mistakes arise because the conclusions drawn from the published data are wrong. The real trouble with errors which arise during the course of collecting the data is that they are the hardest to detect." (Alfred R Ilersic, "Statistics", 1959)
"The statistics themselves prove nothing; nor are they at any time a substitute for logical thinking. There are […] many simple but not always obvious snags in the data to contend with. Variations in even the simplest of figures may conceal a compound of influences which have to be taken into account before any conclusions are drawn from the data." (Alfred R Ilersic, "Statistics", 1959)
"Many people use statistics as a drunkard uses a street lamp - for support rather than illumination. It is not enough to avoid outright falsehood; one must be on the alert to detect possible distortion of truth. One can hardly pick up a newspaper without seeing some sensational headline based on scanty or doubtful data." (Anna C Rogers, "Graphic Charts Handbook", 1961)
[Statistics] is concerned with things we can count. In so far as things, persons, are unique or ill-defi ned, statistics are meaningless and statisticians silenced; in so far as things are similar and definite - so many workers over 25, so many nuts and bolts made during December - they can be counted and new statistical facts are born." (Maurice S Bartlett, "Essays on Probability and Statistics", 1962)
"Statistics is the branch of scientific method which deals with the data obtained by counting or measuring the properties of populations of natural phenomena." (Sir Maurice G Kendall & Alan Stuart, "The Advanced Theory of Statistics", 1963)
"Statistics may be defined as the discipline concerned with the treatment of numerical data derived from groups of individuals." (Peter Armitage, "Statistical Methods in Medical Research", 1971)
"We provisionally define statistics as the study of how information should be employed to reflect on, and give guidance for action in, a practical situation involving uncertainty." (Vic Barnett, "Comparative Statistical Inference" 2nd Ed., 1982)
"Statistics is a tool. In experimental science you plan and carry out experiments, and then analyse and interpret the results. To do this you use statistical arguments and calculations. Like any other tool - an oscilloscope, for example, or a spectrometer, or even a humble spanner - you can use it delicately or clumsily, skillfully or ineptly. The more you know about it and understand how it works, the better you will be able to use it and the more useful it will be." (Roger Barlow, "Statistics: A Guide to the Use of Statistical Methods in the Physical Sciences", 1989)
"The science of statistics may be described as exploring, analyzing and summarizing data; designing or choosing appropriate ways of collecting data and extracting information from them; and communicating that information. Statistics also involves constructing and testing models for describing chance phenomena. These models can be used as a basis for making inferences and drawing conclusions and, finally, perhaps for making decisions." (Fergus Daly et al, "Elements of Statistics", 1995)
"Statistics is a general intellectual method that applies wherever data, variation, and chance appear. It is a fundamental method because data, variation and chance are omnipresent in modern life. It is an independent discipline with its own core ideas rather than, for example, a branch of mathematics. […] Statistics offers general, fundamental, and independent ways of thinking." (David S Moore, "Statistics among the Liberal Arts", Journal of the American Statistical Association, 1998)
"Statistics is the branch of mathematics that uses observations and measurements called data to analyze, summarize, make inferences, and draw conclusions based on the data gathered." (Allan G Bluman, "Probability Demystified", 2005)
"Sometimes the most important fit statistic you can get is ‘convergence not met’ - it can tell you something is wrong with your model." (Oliver Schabenberger, "Applied Statistics in Agriculture Conference", 2006)
"Put simply, statistics is a range of procedures for gathering, organizing, analyzing and presenting quantitative data. […] Essentially […], statistics is a scientific approach to analyzing numerical data in order to enable us to maximize our interpretation, understanding and use. This means that statistics helps us turn data into information; that is, data that have been interpreted, understood and are useful to the recipient. Put formally, for your project, statistics is the systematic collection and analysis of numerical data, in order to investigate or discover relationships among phenomena so as to explain, predict and control their occurrence." (Reva B Brown & Mark Saunders, "Dealing with Statistics: What You Need to Know", 2008)
"Statistics is the art of learning from data. It is concerned with the collection of data, their subsequent description, and their analysis, which often leads to the drawing of conclusions." (Sheldon M Ross, "Introductory Statistics" 3rd Ed., 2009)
"What is so unconventional about the statistical way of thinking? First, statisticians do not care much for the popular concept of the statistical average; instead, they fixate on any deviation from the average. They worry about how large these variations are, how frequently they occur, and why they exist. [...] Second, variability does not need to be explained by reasonable causes, despite our natural desire for a rational explanation of everything; statisticians are frequently just as happy to pore over patterns of correlation. [...] Third, statisticians are constantly looking out for missed nuances: a statistical average for all groups may well hide vital differences that exist between these groups. Ignoring group differences when they are present frequently portends inequitable treatment. [...] Fourth, decisions based on statistics can be calibrated to strike a balance between two types of errors. Predictably, decision makers have an incentive to focus exclusively on minimizing any mistake that could bring about public humiliation, but statisticians point out that because of this bias, their decisions will aggravate other errors, which are unnoticed but serious. [...] Finally, statisticians follow a specific protocol known as statistical testing when deciding whether the evidence fits the crime, so to speak. Unlike some of us, they don’t believe in miracles. In other words, if the most unusual coincidence must be contrived to explain the inexplicable, they prefer leaving the crime unsolved." (Kaiser Fung, "Numbers Rule the World", 2010)
"Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data in order to make decisions." (Ron Larson & Betsy Farber, "Elementary Statistics: Picturing the World" 5th Ed., 2011)
"Statistics is the discipline of using data samples to support claims about populations." (Allen B Downey, "Think Stats: Probability and Statistics for Programmers", 2011)
"[… ] statistics is about understanding the role that variability plays in drawing conclusions based on data. […] Statistics is not about numbers; it is about data - numbers in context. It is the context that makes a problem meaningful and something worth considering." (Roxy Peck et al, "Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis" 4th Ed., 2012)
"Statistics is the scientific discipline that provides methods to help us make sense of data. […] The field of statistics teaches us how to make intelligent judgments and informed decisions in the presence of uncertainty and variation." (Roxy Peck & Jay L Devore, "Statistics: The Exploration and Analysis of Data" 7th Ed, 2012)
"[…] statistics is a method of pursuing truth. At a minimum, statistics can tell you the likelihood that your hunch is true in this time and place and with these sorts of people. This type of pursuit of truth, especially in the form of an event’s future likelihood, is the essence of psychology, of science, and of human evolution." (Arthhur Aron et al, "Statistics for Phsychology" 6th Ed., 2012)
"Statistics is the scientific discipline that provides methods to help us make sense of data. Statistical methods, used intelligently, offer a set of powerful tools for gaining insight into the world around us." (Roxy Peck et al, "Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis" 4th Ed., 2012)
"The four questions of data analysis are the questions of description, probability, inference, and homogeneity. [...] Descriptive statistics are built on the assumption that we can use a single value to characterize a single property for a single universe. […] Probability theory is focused on what happens to samples drawn from a known universe. If the data happen to come from different sources, then there are multiple universes with different probability models. [...] Statistical inference assumes that you have a sample that is known to have come from one universe." (Donald J Wheeler," Myths About Data Analysis", International Lean & Six Sigma Conference, 2012)
"Statistics is the art and science of designing studies and analyzing the data that those studies produce. Its ultimate goal is translating data into knowledge and understanding of the world around us. In short, statistics is the art and science of learning from data." (Alan Agresti & Christine Franklin, "Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from Data" 3rd Ed., 2013)
"Statistics is a science that helps us make decisions and draw conclusions in the presence of variability." (Douglas C Montgomery & George C Runger, "Applied Statistics and Probability for Engineers" 6th Ed., 2014)
"Statistics is an integral part of the quantitative approach to knowledge. The field of statistics is concerned with the scientific study of collecting, organizing, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data." (Kandethody M Ramachandran & Chris P Tsokos, "Mathematical Statistics with Applications in R" 2nd Ed., 2015)
"Statistics can be defined as a collection of techniques used when planning a data collection, and when subsequently analyzing and presenting data." (Birger S Madsen, "Statistics for Non-Statisticians", 2016)
"Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, and interpreting numerical facts, which we call data. […] Statistics is the science of learning from data." (Moore McCabe & Alwan Craig, "The Practice of Statistics for Business and Economics" 4th Ed., 2016)
"Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, summarizing, and analyzing information to draw conclusions or answer questions. In addition, statistics is about providing a measure of confidence in any conclusions." (Michael Sullivan, "Statistics: Informed Decisions Using Data", 5th Ed., 2017)
"Estimates based on data are often uncertain. If the data were intended to tell us something about a wider population (like a poll of voting intentions before an election), or about the future, then we need to acknowledge that uncertainty. This is a double challenge for data visualization: it has to be calculated in some meaningful way and then shown on top of the data or statistics without making it all too cluttered." (Robert Grant, "Data Visualization: Charts, Maps and Interactive Graphics", 2019)
"I believe that the backlash against statistics is due to four primary reasons. The first, and easiest for most people to relate to, is that even the most basic concepts of descriptive and inferential statistics can be difficult to grasp and even harder to explain. […] The second cause for vitriol is that even well-intentioned experts misapply the tools and techniques of statistics far too often, myself included. Statistical pitfalls are numerous and tough to avoid. When we can't trust the experts to get it right, there's a temptation to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The third reason behind all the hate is that those with an agenda can easily craft statistics to lie when they communicate with us […] And finally, the fourth cause is that often statistics can be perceived as cold and detached, and they can fail to communicate the human element of an issue."
"Ideally, a decision maker or a forecaster will combine the outside view and the inside view - or, similarly, statistics plus personal experience. But it’s much better to start with the statistical view, the outside view, and then modify it in the light of personal experience than it is to go the other way around. If you start with the inside view you have no real frame of reference, no sense of scale - and can easily come up with a probability that is ten times too large, or ten times too small." (Tim Harford, "The Data Detective: Ten easy rules to make sense of statistics", 2020)
"If we don’t understand the statistics, we’re likely to be badly mistaken about the way the world is. It is all too easy to convince ourselves that whatever we’ve seen with our own eyes is the whole truth; it isn’t. Understanding causation is tough even with good statistics, but hopeless without them. [...] And yet, if we understand only the statistics, we understand little. We need to be curious about the world that we see, hear, touch, and smell, as well as the world we can examine through a spreadsheet." (Tim Harford, "The Data Detective: Ten easy rules to make sense of statistics", 2020)
"The contradiction between what we see with our own eyes and what the statistics claim can be very real. […] The truth is more complicated. Our personal experiences should not be dismissed along with our feelings, at least not without further thought. Sometimes the statistics give us a vastly better way to understand the world; sometimes they mislead us. We need to be wise enough to figure out when the statistics are in conflict with everyday experience - and in those cases, which to believe." (Tim Harford, "The Data Detective: Ten easy rules to make sense of statistics", 2020)
"The whole discipline of statistics is built on measuring or counting things. […] it is important to understand what is being measured or counted, and how. It is surprising how rarely we do this. Over the years, as I found myself trying to lead people out of statistical mazes week after week, I came to realize that many of the problems I encountered were because people had taken a wrong turn right at the start. They had dived into the mathematics of a statistical claim - asking about sampling errors and margins of error, debating if the number is rising or falling, believing, doubting, analyzing, dissecting - without taking the ti- me to understand the first and most obvious fact: What is being measured, or counted? What definition is being used?" (Tim Harford, "The Data Detective: Ten easy rules to make sense of statistics", 2020)
More quotes on "Statistics" at the-web-of-knowledge.blogspot.com.
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