

Rightly, we dismiss many of these stories as pure snake oil. Every day we meet new health-related stories ̶ about prescription and over-the-counter drugs, medical devices and procedures, the lifestyle we should adopt, foods we should favor, and dietary supplements that would surely add years to our lives. Consider your own health, just one among millions of topics that Statistics could address. No wonder that Statistics has been called a universal guide to the unknown. Economists use them to forecast the business cycle politicians to predict the outcome of future elections. Medical researchers use them to test the safety and effectiveness of new drugs, devices and procedures or to appraise the effects of lifestyle changes nutritionists use them to investigate health claims associated with foods or dietary supplements business executives use them to assess the results of marketing campaigns or the effect of new methods of production on product quality. These techniques can be applied to find answers to questions that arise in all areas of human endeavor.

The academic discipline of Statistics is a branch of mathematics that develops and uses techniques for the careful collection, effective presentation, and proper analysis of numerical information.
