Definition
Statistics is the discipline concerned with collecting, analysing, interpreting and presenting data to draw reliable conclusions.
Human Explanation
Statistics helps distinguish random variation from meaningful patterns.
Why it Matters
It provides methods for reasoning about data, uncertainty and populations from observed evidence.
Conceptual Boundary
Statistics is broader than calculating summary measures and does not remove uncertainty from conclusions.
Practical Perspective
Method selection should reflect the question, data quality, sampling method and assumptions about the data.