Understanding Data Flashcards
Why are statistical methods important?
- Social sciences
- Epidemiology
- Business and marketing
- used for evidence based research
Define data analysis.
The process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modelling data with the aims of gaining some useful
insight (or information) to help support decision making.
What is the DIKW pyramid?
DIKW is a useful framework for describing the relationship, or structural ‘stages’ one must go through to gain knowledge and wisdom.
What does DIKW stand for?
Data - Information - Knowledge - Wisdom
Define data in terms of DIKW.
Raw facts.
Define information in terms of DIKW.
Contents of a database assembled from raw facts.
Define evidence in terms of DIKW.
Results of analysis of many datasets or scenarios.
Define knowledge in terms of DIKW.
Personal knowledge about places and issues.
Define wisdom in terms of DIKW.
Policies developed and accepted by stakeholders.
List the three main facets statistics is composed of.
- design
- description
- inference
Describe the design part of statistics.
How to collect the data (i.e., probabilistic sampling approaches).
Describe the description part of statistics.
- Describing the way the data looks
- Summarising the data that has been collected
Describe the inference part of statistics.
- Making predictions about the wider population or about the future
- Specifically, statistical inference
Define population.
The entire possible set of subjects we wish to study e.g. states, individuals, businesses..
Define sample.
The subset of subjects chosen for study through data collection.
Define parameter.
A numerical summary about the OVERALL population.
Define statistic.
A numerical summary of the sample data.
Why do we tend to use statistics instead of parameters?
Because we rarely know true population parameters.