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Academic English & Research vocabulary · Data and Analysis

Descriptive statistics

Meaning in academic english & research, with examples

nounCommon term

In academic english & research, descriptive statistics means: Numbers and tables that summarize the main features of a dataset, such as frequencies, percentages, means, ranges and standard deviations.

In Turkish: betimsel istatistikler, tanımlayıcı istatistikler

How it is used

Usually the first part of a quantitative results section, describing the sample and the main variables before any tests. They are contrasted with inferential statistics, which use the sample to draw conclusions about the population.

Example sentences

  1. Descriptive statistics for all study variables are presented in Table 1.

  2. We began with descriptive statistics and then ran a regression analysis.

Common collocations

  • report descriptive statistics
  • descriptive and inferential statistics
  • descriptive statistics table
  • descriptive analysis
  • meanThe average value of a set of numbers, found by adding them together and dividing the total by how many numbers there are.
  • standard deviationA number that shows how spread out the values in a dataset are around the mean; a small value means most scores are close to the average.
  • quantitativeDescribing research that collects numerical data and uses statistics to measure, compare or test relationships, often with larger samples.
  • analysisDetailed examination of data or a text in order to identify patterns, relationships or meaning, often using statistical or qualitative techniques.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Data and Analysis

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