Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive Statistics
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Descriptive Statistics
Difference between Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics offer information that describes the data in a given way. It analyzes data the assists in describing, summarizing, or indicating information meaningfully such that patterns can be obtained from the data. They do not enable researchers to draw conclusions passed the data they have analyzed or make inferences concerning any hypotheses that were made (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2016). Descriptive statistics are simply a means of describing the data collected. Typically, statistical measures are applied in telling about characteristics of a data set. Various items that are included in the descriptive statics are the spread of a set of data, measurements like kurtosis and skewness, the average, and presentation of statistical findings in visual form like graphs (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2016). Descriptive statistics are used to describe an event and serves to explain the data that is already known to summarize a sample.
Inferential Statistics and When to use Descriptive Statistics
In contrast, inferential statistics focuses on making conclusions or inferences about the population, based on the analysis of the sample and observation (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2016). It tests, compares, and predicts data. The data exists in the form of probability as opposed to graphs, charts, and tables as seen in the descriptive statistics.

Furthermore, inferential statistics are applied to explain the probability of the occurrence of a situation and try to reach a conclusion to understand the population, which extends passed the data at hand (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2016). On the other hand, descriptive statistics are used when the study aims at presenting the respondents’ responses to the items of the survey to address the research questions. It is also used when the variables to be measured are many and need to reduced or simplified in a manageable way.
A research Article that uses both Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
An example of research that uses both descriptive and inferential statistics is:
Longe, O. (2015). Impact of workplace conflict management on organizational performance: A case of Nigerian manufacturing firm. Journal of Management and Strategy, 6(2), 83.
This study utilizes both descriptive and inferential statistics, including the Spearman correlation analysis, and regression analysis, to analyze the data gathered from the participants with regards to the workplace conflict management’s impact on organizational performance.

References
Gravetter, F. J., & Wallnau, L. B. (2016). Statistics for the behavioral sciences. Cengage Learning.Longe, O. (2015). Impact of workplace conflict management on organizational performance: A case of Nigerian manufacturing firm. Journal of Management and Strategy, 6(2), 83.