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Data & Analytics · Foundational

Descriptive Statistics

Statistics that summarize and describe the features of a dataset, such as its center, spread and shape, without generalizing beyond it.

Definition

Descriptive statistics include measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode), dispersion (range, IQR, variance, standard deviation), shape (skewness, kurtosis) and frequency distributions, often shown in tables, histograms and box plots.

Example

Reporting that average order value was $54 with a standard deviation of $18.

Exam tip

Summarizing the data you have = descriptive; drawing conclusions about a population from a sample = inferential.

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