Describing Data
In this section we look at how you can describe data. This includes descriptive statistics such as measures of central tendency and measures of variability.
Descriptive statistics aim to describe raw data using summary statistics. They are useful because they allow you to understand data more quickly and easily than just staring at long lists of raw data values.
This section explains the two types of descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of variability (spread).
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of central tendency are numbers that describe where the centre of a dataset is located. This section explains the differences between the mean, mode and median.
Measures of Variability
The four most common measures of variability in statistics are: the range, the interquartile range, the variance and the standard deviation. This section explains each of these.
Writing about Data
You've planned your research, collected your data, collated it and analysed it. Now you need to tell the world what you have discovered! This section provides advice on how to write about your research and data.