Characteristics of Statistics (as Data)

Not every collection of numbers qualifies as "statistics" in the technical sense. Secrist's definition (§1) lists the features a set of figures must have before it can properly be called statistics. These are the standard characteristics examined under the Odisha CHSE Business Mathematics and Statistics syllabus.

1. Statistics are aggregates of facts. A single isolated figure — "Ram earns ₹20,000 a month" — is not statistics. Only when figures are collected as an aggregate that can be compared and related — the monthly earnings of all 200 workers in a factory — do they become statistics. A single, unrelated number tells us nothing statistical.
2. Statistics are affected by a multiplicity of causes. Statistical facts are the net result of many causes acting together, not one. A firm's monthly sales depend simultaneously on price, advertising, season, competition, income levels and consumer taste — no single cause fully explains the figure.
3. Statistics are numerically expressed. Statistics are always quantitative. Qualitative statements such as "the students are intelligent" or "the goods are of good quality" are not statistics until they are expressed numerically (marks scored, defect rate, etc.).
4. Statistics are enumerated or estimated according to reasonable standards of accuracy. Data may be either enumerated (counted exactly, as in a complete census) or estimated (approximated, as in a sample survey). Where estimation is used, it must follow reasonable standards of accuracy — a rough, careless guess is not statistics.
5. Statistics are collected in a systematic manner. Data must be gathered through a planned, orderly procedure with a proper design, so that it is reliable and free from bias. Haphazardly collected figures are unreliable and do not qualify.
6. Statistics are collected for a predetermined purpose. The purpose must be fixed before collection begins, because the purpose decides what data to collect and how. Data collected aimlessly, without a clear objective, wastes effort and usually turns out to be unusable. …