Calculating and Using Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive statistics is a set of methods that we use to summarize the information of a set of measurements (data), which helps us to make sense of it. In this section, we will first explain the need for descriptive statistics. After that, we will introduce the most common metrics of descriptive statistics, including mean, median, and standard deviation. First, we will understand them at a conceptual level using a simple set of measurements, and then we will apply what we have learned about them to the dataset we prepared in the previous section.

The Need for Descriptive Statistics

Why do we need descriptive statistics? Here is an example that will show you why we need these types of analytical tools: our brains are very good at a wide variety of tasks, such as recognizing the emotion expressed in a human face. Try to notice how much effort your brain puts into reading the emotion of the following face:

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