Question:
Define some fundamental characteristics of statistics.
Solution:
The fundamental characteristics of data (statistics) are as follows:
(i) Numerical facts alone constitute data.
(ii) Qualitative characteristics like intelligence and poverty, which cannot be measured numerically, do not form data.
(iii) Data are aggregate of facts. A single observation does not form data.
(iv) Data collected for a definite purpose may not be suited for another purpose.
(v) Data in different experiments are comparable.