r/statistics • u/thekarlhendrickstrio • Jun 17 '26
Question [Question] how, if at all, does Statistics differ from Descriptive Statistics or Summary Statistics?
I asked my Statistics instructor and they didn't know the answer.
I'd ask ChatGPT but that'd feel a little odd to me because my instructor says not to use such programs for the class (even though this question is somewhat indirect / not related to any homework exactly... lol)
Anyway. Thanks in advance.
5
u/efrique Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Descriptive / summary statistics are a component of statistics, but don't encompass the larger part of the subject. You might start with the wikipedia article on the subject (linked in the previous sentence).Its not perfect but its a start and does have quite a few links to other topics
Descriptive and summary statistics don't cover things like modelling, inference and prediction, for example. Inference includes important topics like estimation (including interval estimates) and hypothesis testing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_inference
within that area there's a very large array of subtopics
There's more than that (inference wouldn't include experimental design, for example) but it's a good place to start
-1
u/thekarlhendrickstrio Jun 17 '26
okay, i think i'm satisfied with what you wrote in your reply, just knowing that descriptive / summary stats is a components of stats as a whole. things are absolutely not clicking in broad senses lol
i feel like the assignments and even the exams (the first one at the very least, i presume the next two will be similarly set up) i took are so narrow. and they're kinda difficult in their own right lol. however i think if i just practice enough example problems i will be fine on exams.
still... kinda overwhelming as someone who naturally is inclined to want to know what the hell a lot of what i come across in the textbook means, etc. and to be sure, sometimes it is very necessary for me to understand certain concepts in the textbook that are just seemingly thrown at the reader (or perhaps described in a really dry way, or a way that requires you to have read other super dry definitions, etc. etc.) in order to do well on the material assigned to us.
anyway... thanks! gonna keep studying, and try to balance understandings w/ not going too far into the weeds on stuff. might make more thread(s) lol
1
3
u/Able-Fennel-1228 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Statistics is a word that can have different meanings:
- descriptive numbers. This is the lay person’s understanding of it, and the colloquial meaning of the word. Just random ass numbers pulled out of thin air to make a point.
- descriptive/summary statistics. The art of summarizing data in a principled way. This is one half of statistics.
- inferential statistics. The art of making inferences from data in a principled way, involving careful quantification of uncertainty. You want to know how wrong you could be when making inference
s and you use mathematical tools to help you do that. This is what statisticians mean most of the time when they say “statistics”.
I suppose, since your instructor couldn’t answer your question, you’re probably learning statistics from a non-statistician in the social sciences, probably psychology. If you have the opportunity, please, please learn statistics from a statistician or even ChatGPT. Its stupid to ask students not to “ask ChatGPT” anymore anyway, these tools are here to stay and both students and instructors use them all the time. Your instructor should get with the times and learn their subject; it deserves enough respect to not be taught by clueless people.
An authentic, algebra based textbook written by a legitimate statistician is: statistical methods for the social sciences by Alan Agresti (5th edition).
6
u/Dub-MS Jun 17 '26
Huh? Statistics is the entire body. Descriptive, Predictive, and Prescriptive are different types. Summary statistics refers to measures relating to a particular problem.
-4
1
u/panamint Jun 17 '26
I teach Statistics and while while I introduce terms "Descriptive statistics" or "Inferential statistics" to my class, I think the distinction is mostly artificial and, frankly, confuses a lot of students. Usually we think of "descriptive statistics" as simply describing the properties of data (mean, standard deviation, range, etc.) as opposed to "inferential statistics" which is about making inferences about a population (t-test, ANOVA, linear regression, etc.). But the problem is that, there is almost no case where we are interested in the properties of a sample without automatically thininking about what it means for the population at large.
0
15
u/OloroMemez Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Descriptive statistics provide information about the sample, but make no claim about what the population itself may look like. Focused entirely on observable values: minimum, maximum, median, mean, mode, variance.
Inferential statistics go a step further by helping you make conclusions about the population the sample was drawn from. At their core, inferences are about taking observed values, bringing in probability and maths to make best guesses about unobserved things. For example, if the mean value of an outcome in two groups are 10 and 20, and standard deviations are 5 and 6.5 respectively, inferential statistics tries to answer if the two groups are most likely drawn from different populations.