Frequency distributions and the analysis of sample data

Abstract

We can describe statistics as the scientific study of numerical data. It originated in the seventeenth century, and arose from two main roots. One of these was the collection of quantitive data by government or state (hence, statistics) when interest arose in problems of census, mortality etc. for tax, insurance and other purposes. The leading figures in this work were John Gaunt (1620–74) and William Petty (1623–87). At about the same time the second root, the idea of the theory of probability, arose in connection with the great interest at that time in games of chance. Together these two aspects form the basis of modern statistics, which no longer concerns itself simply with the collection and presentation of data but deals also with the ideas of making decisions and of basing inferences on the results of the analysis of limited quantities of data.