Students have a love-and-hate relationship with statistics. Most of them love the colorful representation of the results but find it difficult to solve statistical problems. As the saying goes, “Practice makes a man perfect,” you must practice problems on different aspects of statistics to determine the methods of finding solutions quickly. However, you can only practice if you know how to solve statistical problems accurately. If you want to know the most straightforward methods of finding solutions to problems based on statistics, read this blog. Apart from sharing the steps to find the statistical problem’s answers, we have also shared the following details:
- The concept of statistics
- Some of the most common terms used in statistical analysis
- Popular statistics formulas
- The difference between statistical and non-statistical problems
What are Statistics?
Famous American mathematician John Tukey once said, “Statistics is a science, not a branch of mathematics, but use mathematical models as essential tools.”
Statistics is believed to be the science that is concerned with the means and gears of compilation, examination, explanation, and presentation of data. Statistics is primarily employed for research and study purposes since it helps make significant decisions. It handles almost all types of data, including quantitative, qualitative, structured, and unstructured. Therefore, most often, statistics problems are quite difficult to solve. When you wonder how to solve statistics problems, you can follow the standard method. It involves a variety of steps. For example, noting down your question, collecting the data needed to solve the question, analyzing the data, and concluding
Statistical and Non-Statistical Problems
Following are the differences between a statistical problem and a non-statistical problem:
- Question 1: How many continents are there in the world?
- Question 2: Which province of the USA has the maximum girl-to-boy ratio?
What do you recognize from these two questions? Did you come across any differences? If not, then read this explanation.
The obvious distinction between the above two questions is that Question number 1 is non-statistical and question number 2 is statistical.
Now, you might ask, how does a problem become statistical or non-statistical? Well, four things or factors play a critical role in determining if a problem is statistical or non-statistical. For example,
- How the question is presented
- The function of data and its nature
- Methods to scrutinize the data
- Types of interpretation you bring from research
Hence, in the case of the above two questions, the first question is straightforward and factual, and its answer does not require any form of research or gathering of data. However, in the case of the second question, you must collect data from all the provinces of the USA, examine the data, and conduct comprehensive research. In the end, you can find out the precise province that has the highest ratio of girls.
Also read: Types of Charts in Statistics
Terms Used In Statistics Problems
There are uncountable terminologies used in statistics. Before you learn how to solve statistics problems you must acquaint yourself with these terminologies. It will help you to learn the methods of solving the statistics problems very easily. The following are the most popular statistical terms:
· Population
When you try to solve any statistical issues, you must collect data from the individuals who are associated with the given question. So, it is important to decide the kind of people you must study. The group of people on whom you collect information related to your statistical question is termed the population.
· Sample
If you understand the term population, then recognizing the expression sample will not be too complicated for you. The sample is just a small section of the total population. For example, if your population has 10 dogs, then each dog is a sample for your study.
· Parameter
The next term you must know to learn how to solve statistics problems are the parameters of the study. The parameter is the quantitative feature of the population you study or test. For example, if you want to know how many people use Tesla cars, the question itself is a parameter.
· Descriptive Statistics
The other terminology that is essential for learning how to solve statistical problems is descriptive statistics. After you examine a theory and collect data, you analyze it. During the analysis process, you get specific results from such a study. These results are called descriptive statistics.
How to Solve Statistics Problems?
Here are the steps to solving statistics problems:
Also read: Best Statistics Project Ideas to Get Started
Step 1: Determine Your Question
The first step to resolving the statistics issue is to get a clear understanding of what the problem is. It mainly helps in settling on the question or hypothetical test. You must know the question to process the other steps. It will help to determine the parameters and population for your study.
Step 2: Collection of Data
The next step involves collecting significant data according to your hypothesis. Here, you must settle on the population and collect data from them using different methods like questionnaires, surveys, etc.
Step 3: Analysis of the Data
In this stage of solving statistical problems, you must analyze the collected data. Microsoft Excel, Python, and R are common tools that you can use for quick data analysis.
Step 4: Interpretation of Data
Next, you must interpret the collected data. Keep in mind the questions while elucidating the data. The way you analyze the data will determine your results.
Step 5: Present the data
Once you complete the data interpretation, present the data. Take the help of presentation tools like pie charts, graphs, tables, etc. It will help the readers to understand the figures quite easily.
Statistical Formulas
When you want to know how to solve statistical problems, the first thing you must do is learn all the common statistical formulas. There are several techniques to learn and retain the formulas. The best among them is to break down the expressions. For example, to find the values of mean, median, mode, or standard deviation, you must learn their formulas.
Read the statistical problem below and take a look at the formulas used for solving it.
Problem: There are 10 students in a class. Their weights are 50 kg, 58kg, 49 kg, 51 kg, 48 kg, 52kg, 50kg, 47 kg, 53 kg, and 42 kg. What are their average weight, mode, and median of these values?
Solution: To find the average weight of these students, you must know their individual weights.
- Average weight: You can measure the average weight with the following formula:
Mean = Total of all terms/total terms
Here,
Total terms = (50 + 58 + 49 + 51 + 48 + 52 + 50 + 47 + 53 + 42) kg
Total terms: 10 students
Hence, the average weight of all the students is (50 + 58 + 49 + 51 + 48 + 52 + 50 + 47 + 53 + 42)/10 kg = 50 kg.
- Mode: The term that appears in the list more frequently than others is known as the median.
In the above question, 50 is the mode because it is repeated twice in the series of numbers, while other numbers are mentioned once.
- Median: The term that appears at the center of the series is known as the median.
In this question, you will find 10 terms. Therefore, it has two middle terms. However, there cannot be two medians. Now, to determine the median of the two terms, you must sum the two middle numbers and divide them by 2.
Here, the two central terms are 48 and 52. Therefore, the median is 48+ 52/2 = 100/2 = 50.
Hence, 50 is the median of the terms.
Also read: Top Uses of Statistics in Everyday Life
Conclusion
Finding answers to a statistical problem is not easy. First, you must learn all the formulas used in statistics. After that, you must know the methods to simplify and find answers to the equations. Finally, you must practice cracking the statistical equations to become skilled at the task. The discussion above highlights the easiest methods for “how to solve statistics problems.” If you want to learn these steps in detail or need assistance finding answers to statistics problems, contact us.
