Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
Statistics can be divided into two major areas. Descriptive statistics comprises the statistical methods dealing with the collection, tabulation and summarization of data, so as to present meaningful information. Statistical inference, on the other hand, consists of the methods involved with the analysis and interpretation of data that will enable the statistician to develop meaningful inferences about the data. Both subfields are interrelated; while descriptive statistics organizes the collected data in a systematic manner, statistical inference analyzes the data and enables one to produce significant inferences about it.