Therefore, the school of social statistics pays more and more attention to the research of methodology, and there is a trend of changing from substantive methodology. However, the school of social statistics still emphasizes that the quality of things must be the premise and importance of understanding things, which is essentially different from the methodological nature of the school of mathematical statistics.
Statistics plays an increasingly important role in modern management and social life. With the development of society, economy and science and technology, statistics play an increasingly important role in modern state management, enterprise management and social life. People's daily life and all social life are inseparable from statistics.
British statistician Haslet said: "The application of statistical methods is so common that statistics have such a great influence on our lives and habits that the importance of statistics cannot be overemphasized." . Some scientists even call our age "the statistical age". Obviously, the development of statistical science in the 20th century and its future are endowed with epoch-making significance.
Since the 20th century, science and technology have developed rapidly, society has undergone tremendous changes, and statistics has entered a period of rapid development. To sum up, there are the following aspects.
1, from descriptive statistics to inferred statistics. Descriptive statistics is to process and summarize a large number of collected data, and analyze and describe the data through charts, lists and graphs, such as compiling frequency distribution tables, drawing histograms and calculating various feature numbers.
Inference statistics, on the basis of collecting and sorting out the observed sample data, infer the relevant population. It is characterized by the inference of unknown things in the form of probability according to the conditions and assumptions (models) of random observation of sample data and problems. The scientific statistical methods referred to by western countries today mainly refer to inferential statistic.
2. From socio-economic statistics to multidisciplinary development. Before the 20th century, the fields of statistics were mainly demographic statistics, vital statistics, social statistics and economic statistics.
With the development of society, economy and science and technology, today, the category of statistics has covered all fields of social life, almost all-encompassing, and has become a general methodological science. It is widely used to study all aspects of society and nature, and has developed into a science with many branches.
3. The development of statistical forecasting and decision science. Traditional statistics is to count what has happened and what is happening, and provide statistical information and data. Since the 1930s, especially since the Second World War, due to the objective needs of economy, society and military affairs, the science of statistical prediction and statistical decision-making has made great progress, which has made statistics go out of the traditional field and been endowed with new significance and mission.
References:
Baidu Encyclopedia-Statistics