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STATISICS

organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data

In applying statistics to a scientific or societal problem, like psychosis for example, it is necessary to begin with a population to be studied. Populations can be diverse topics such as "all persons in the North Wing" or "all persons presently in straight jackets". A population can also be composed one individual such as "solitary confinement in a padded cell". Classification of observations of a process, can at various times, include the data from each observation of each different member of the overall group. Data collected about this kind of "population" often constitutes what is called a daily routine series.  Once inmates get used to daily routines, it is easy to classify their behavior and present it as data.

Statistics serve to enable better understanding

 

Information overload is a present danger we must all face.  Statistics minimize the dangers involved by informing us in a meaningful fashion.  By presenting multi-faceted and complicated information in a useful fashion, our staff has honed its skill in the exercise of implementing procedures that ensure the comfort of our patients.  It should come as no surprise that this is no accident!  Without a thorough understanding of how and what information is presented, little useful work could be accomplished here.  Our patients are not just figures, or lines on a graph, though, since other useful tools are involved to keep our organization running ship shape.  Clothing and especially hats are used to categorize patients in a systematic fashion.  In the cafeteria we use different colored menus.

Statistics serve to reduce random conclusions
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Without the use of statistical consultants, we remain available to provide help for ours and even other organizations and companies without direct access to the  expertise relevant to their particular problems.​
Our statistical methods are used for summarizing and describing a collection of obtuse data; involving descriptive statistics. This is quite useful in our research, when communicating the results of our experiments. In addition, patterns in the data may be modeled in a way that accounts for randomness and uncertainty in the observations, and are then used for drawing inferences about the process or population being studied; this is called inferential statistics. Inference is a vital element of scientific advance, since it provides a means for drawing conclusions from data that are subject to random variation. To prove the propositions being investigated further, the conclusions are tested as well, as part of the scientific method. Descriptive statistics and analysis of the new data tend to provide more information as to the truth of the proposition.
Statistics can help to quantify unquantifiable data​

 

Of all our research tools, statistics are the most versatile.
We can present data any way we choose.  Politicians do not have a monopoply on their use.  Once we get going, some of our meetings are simply inundated with graphs, pie charts and flow charts.  Does it ever bother you when someone says "45% of the people bla bla bla"  and they don't qualify by telling you "of Americans", "young people", "immigrants" , "Canadians", "patients", "women or men" etc. so by the time you finish hearing the data they present, it has no valid use without the ability of comparison or contrast with other groups? 
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