ABSTRACT
There are different definitions of what statistics is or are, with some authors using the word ‘statistics’ to represent statistical results while others use it to describe the processes of statistical analysis. Anderson et al. (1994: 2) described statistics as ‘numerical facts’. Newell et al. (2010: 2) and Thomas and Nelson (1996: 1) defined the word statistics as representing the general area of statistical analysis incorporating its methods and application. Thomas and Nelson (1996: 92) introduced statistics as ‘simply an objective means of interpreting a set of observations’. Newell et al. (2010: 1) stated that ‘statistics is the science of collecting, analysing, presenting and interpreting data to provide the logical framework which enables objective evaluation of research questions of interest’. Fallowfield et al. (2005: 18–21) stated that statistics are used ‘to make sense of phenomena, occurrences or behaviour’. In this first chapter, the area of statistics will be introduced, followed by a commentary on the nature of data and information, the use of statistics within research processes and the misuse of statistics.
