<P> In applying statistics to a problem, it is common practice to start with a population or process to be studied . Populations can be diverse topics such as "all persons living in a country" or "every atom composing a crystal". </P> <P> Ideally, statisticians compile data about the entire population (an operation called census). This may be organized by governmental statistical institutes . Descriptive statistics can be used to summarize the population data . Numerical descriptors include mean and standard deviation for continuous data types (like income), while frequency and percentage are more useful in terms of describing categorical data (like race). </P> <P> When a census is not feasible, a chosen subset of the population called a sample is studied . Once a sample that is representative of the population is determined, data is collected for the sample members in an observational or experimental setting . Again, descriptive statistics can be used to summarize the sample data . However, the drawing of the sample has been subject to an element of randomness, hence the established numerical descriptors from the sample are also due to uncertainty . To still draw meaningful conclusions about the entire population, inferential statistics is needed . It uses patterns in the sample data to draw inferences about the population represented, accounting for randomness . These inferences may take the form of: answering yes / no questions about the data (hypothesis testing), estimating numerical characteristics of the data (estimation), describing associations within the data (correlation) and modeling relationships within the data (for example, using regression analysis). Inference can extend to forecasting, prediction and estimation of unobserved values either in or associated with the population being studied; it can include extrapolation and interpolation of time series or spatial data, and can also include data mining . </P> <P> When full census data cannot be collected, statisticians collect sample data by developing specific experiment designs and survey samples . Statistics itself also provides tools for prediction and forecasting through statistical models . </P>

Where is statistics used in the real world