History of Statistics

History of Statistics

• The word "statistics" is derived from the Latin word "status" or the Italian word "statista", meaning "political state" or "government".
• Shakespeare used the word "statist" in his drama Hamlet (1602).
• In the past, statistics was used by rulers to gather information about land, agriculture, commerce, populations, military potential, wealth, and taxation.
• Gottfried Achenwall introduced the word "statistik" in 1749 to describe the political science of different countries.
• W.Hooper used the word "statistics" in 1771 to describe the science of political arrangement of modern states.
• There is a significant gap between old statistics and modern statistics, but old statistics is still used in contemporary statistics.

Development of Statistics

• During the 18th century, English writers used the word "statistics" in their works, contributing to its gradual development.
• Significant work was done in the late 19th century to advance statistics.
• William S Gosset developed methods for decision making based on small sets of data at the beginning of the 20th century.
• In the 20th century, several statisticians developed new methods, theories, and applications of statistics.
• The availability of electronics has been a major factor in the modern development of statistics.

Meaning of Statistics

• The word "statistics" has two senses: plural and singular.
• In the plural sense, it refers to a set of figures or data.
• In the singular sense, statistics refers to the whole body of tools used to collect, organize, interpret, and draw conclusions from data.
• Both aspects of statistics are important for quantitative data to serve their purpose.
• Inadequate methodology and defective data can lead to incorrect conclusions.