What Is Statistics?

What is Statistics?

In this lesson we will explore some relatable examples that used statistical reasoning and methodologies. Statistics is concerned with development and application of methods for designing, collecting, analyzing, interpreting and presenting data. It is the science and art of working with data. Sometimes the data we have is from planned experiments, and other times it is from unplanned observations. Lets look at a few examples.

Example 1: Which fertilizer and method of sowing produces better yield?

You may have questions like “Which fertilizer produces the highest yield of tef?”, or “Which method of sowing produces highest yield of tef?” Agricultural and food science researchers in Ethiopia are interested in improving yield of tef. Tef is a grain from which, engera the staple food of Ethiopia is made. For example, (Tesfahun 2018) studied the relationship between sowing methods and fertilizers, and yield of tef.

Example 2: Evaluating the efficacy of candidate vaccination for COVID-19?

We are in the midst of a global pandemic due to COVID-19. Several candidate vaccinations have been proposed with some already being approved by regulatory bodies. Statistical concept play a key role in evaluating the efficacy of a vaccine. Concepts of experimental design are used in planning the clinical trials. The data collected via the clinical trials is also analysed using statistical methodologies. See (Baden et al., 2020) for details on the phase III clinical trial for efficacy of mRNA-1273 SASRS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Example 3: Association between smoking and lung cancer

A researcher retrospectively analyses the rate of lung cancer incidence between people who smoke and those who do not smoke.

Example - 4: Impact of distracted driving on traffic accident fatalities

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) collects and shares data on traffic accidents and fatalities. https://www.nhtsa.gov/data/national-center-statistics-and-analysis

A researcher is interested in the impact of distracted driving on crash fatalities. Another researcher is interested in using the data to understand the impact of seatbelt use on crash fatalities.

Example - 5: Assess the determinants of quality of antenatal care (ANC) in sub-Saharan Africa

(Owili et al., 2019) conducted a study with a goal of assessing the determinants of quality of antenatal care in healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa. They used the Service Provision Assessment (SPA) survey data, representative facility- and provider-based cross-sectional survey, of six countries. The SPA is a facility-based survey conducted periodically by the Demographic Health Survey program on country’s readiness to offer health services.

Example - 6: Facebook experiment on mobilizing voter turnout

Facebook reported the result of their randomized controlled trial of political mobilization messages delivered to 61 million Facebook users during the 2010 US congressional elections. Some facebook users saw a message that notified them that it is an election day. It also prompted them to find polling stations and share on facebook that they have voted. A second message contained a social message in addition to the information message above. It displayed the profile pictures and names of their friends who have voted. Their result outlined the social message which included names and pictures of friends who voted having better voter mobilization effect. See (Bond et al., 2012) for details.

Conclusion

The examples above show the key roles statistical methods and statistical thinking play in shaping scientific advances, our understanding of the world around us, and public policy among other things.

References

Baden LR El Sahly HM Essink B et al. Efficacy and safety of the mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. N Engl J Med. 2020; (published online Dec 30.) https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389

Bond, R. M., Fariss, C. J., Jones, J. J., Kramer, A. D., Marlow, C., Settle, J. E., & Fowler, J. H. (2012). A 61-million-person experiment in social influence and political mobilization. Nature, 489(7415), 295-298.

Owili, P. O., Muga, M. A., Mendez, B. R., & Chen, B. (2019). Quality of care in six sub-Saharan Africa countries: a provider-based study on adherence to WHO’s antenatal care guideline. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 31(1), 43-48.

Tesfahun, W. (2018). Tef yield response to NPS fertilizer and methods of sowing in east shewa, Ethiopia.