Meaning & use
statistics
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Meanings
nounplural
Numerical facts or figures collected and used to describe a situation or group.
Grammar: Plural: the statistics show a rise; one figure is a statistic.
Patterns
- statistics on something
- statistics for something
- statistics show that
The latest statistics show that fewer people are driving to work.
Official statistics on crime are published every year.
The statistics for rainfall were the lowest in decades.
noununcountablemathematics
The branch of mathematics concerned with collecting, analysing and interpreting numerical data.
Grammar: Takes a singular verb when naming the subject: statistics is difficult at first.
She studied statistics at university before becoming a data analyst.
Statistics helps researchers decide whether a result happened by chance.
Common combinations
- official statistics
- Official statistics suggest the unemployment rate is falling.
- collect statistics
- The school collects statistics on attendance each term.
- statistics show
- Statistics show that most accidents happen near home.
- misleading statistics
- Misleading statistics can make a small change sound huge.
- according to the statistics
- According to the statistics, bus travel has risen by ten percent.
- basic statistics
- The course covers basic statistics and probability.
Synonyms and how they differ
- figures
- Figures is a looser, everyday word for numbers, while statistics suggests data that was formally gathered.
- data
- Data is raw information, whereas statistics are numbers already summarised or analysed.
- numbers
- Numbers is the most casual choice and says nothing about how the information was collected.
Word family
- statistic noun
- a single piece of numerical data
- statistical adjective
- relating to statistics
- statistically adverb
- in a way that relates to statistics
- statistician noun
- an expert in statistics
Commonly confused: statistics or stats?
statistics vs stats
Stats is the informal short form, common in sport and casual speech.
Practice
Which sentence is correct when statistics means the school subject?
Choose one answer.
As the name of a subject, statistics takes a singular verb, so is is correct. Are would suit the meaning of several figures.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “statistics”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.