Descriptive statistics are used to describe the main features of a collection of data in quantitative terms. Descriptive statistics are distinguished from inferential statistics (or inductive statistics), in that descriptive statistics aim to quantitatively summarize a data set, rather than being used to support inferential statements about the population that the data are thought to represent. Even when a data analysis draws its main conclusions using inductive statistical analysis, descriptive statistics are generally presented along with more formal analyses, to give the audience an overall sense of the data being analyzed.
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