The joys of statistics

The need for investigation to provide hard evidence for management planning and decisions is well recognized. Statistical methods offer meaningful analyses of quantitative and qualitative data. Data may be acquired from published and official sources or by one′s own collecting. Evaluating other people′s data and reported results, and making valid conclusions from one′s own data, require some intuitive understanding of methods of data collection and the theoretical bases of statistics. Methods of analysis range from simple arithmetical processes and graphical display to inferential methods based on probability. Acquisition of adequate statistical skills is accessible to all workers in the library and information field.