Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Statistics and Statistical Thinking

In this chapter, we will set the stage for our exploration of statistics and statistical thinking. This will involve:

• A discussion of the importance of statistical tools and statistical thinking,
• An introduction to common terminology in statistics and scientific research, and
• A brief refresher of some important mathematical concepts.

My hope is that after reading this chapter, you will begin to see why researchers use statistical tools to help them answer their research questions, and why many programs of study make an introductory course in statistics a requirement for that major. I also hope that you will start to see how statistical thinking can be an important tool for all individuals, regardless of their major.

This chapter, while not teaching any statistics yet, is intended to both increase your motivation to learn the content in this book as well as build a foundational terminology on which we can more readily explore statistics. One of the things that you will undoubtedly find is that learning statistics is most helpfully seen as akin to learning a language. There are a lot of terms, phrases, concepts, and symbols that will be used in this book. The sooner you can become somewhat “fluent” in those, the better. I encourage you to spend time on memorizing the “language” of statistics because it will greatly increase the ease with which you will learn the concepts in this class.