ABSTRACT
Statistics is the science and art of collecting, displaying and interpreting data in order to test theories and make inferences concerning all kinds of phenomena. In brief, its main goal is to transform data into knowledge. Scientists, engineers, and economists use statistics to summarize and interpret the data before they can make inferences from it. Statistical software packages such as MINITAB1 and SAS2 are helpful because they produce graphical displays that are very effective for visualizing and interpreting the data. It is therefore of no small importance that we be able to understand and interpret the current methods of graphically displaying statistical data. However, it is worth reminding ourselves now and then, that the goal of a statistical analysis is primarily insight and understanding, not mindless, formal calculations using statistical software packages.
