Statistics

Descriptive statistics is that branch of statistics which is concerned with describing the population under study.It quantitatively describes the important characteristics of the dataset. The data is summarised in a useful way, with the help of numerical and graphical tools such as charts, tables, and graphs, to represent data in an accurate way.

Inferential statistics is all about generalising a distribution from the sample of the population.

Similarities Both descriptive and inferential statistics rely on the same set of data.

The difference between descriptive and inferential statistics can be drawn clearly on the following grounds::-

1. Descriptive Statistics is a discipline which is concerned with describing the population under study. Inferential Statistics is a type of statistics; that focuses on drawing conclusions about the population, on the basis of sample analysis and observation.
2. Descriptive Statistics collects, organises, analyzes and presents data in a meaningful way. On the contrary, Inferential Statistics, compares data, test hypothesis and make predictions of the future outcomes.
3. There is a diagrammatic or tabular representation of final result in descriptive statistics whereas the final result is displayed in the form of probability.
4. Descriptive statistics describes a situation while inferential statistics explains the likelihood of the occurrence of an event.
5. Descriptive statistics explains the data, which is already known, to summarise sample. Conversely, inferential statistics attempts to reach the conclusion to learn about the population; that extends beyond the data available.