Basic Statistical Terms, Sample Statistics

Abstract

In our research, we observe a set of objects (cases) of interest and record some information for each of them. We call all of this collected information the data. If plants are our cases, for example, then the data might contain information about flower colour, number of leaves, height of the plant stem or plant biomass. Each characteristic that is measured or estimated for our cases is called a variable. We can distinguish several data types, each differing in their properties and consequently in the way we handle the corresponding variables during statistical analysis.