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About Statistics: Power from Data!

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.

Statistics: Power from Data! will assist readers in getting the most from statistics. Each chapter is intended to be complete in itself, allowing you to go directly to the topic you wish to learn more about without reading all of the other sections.

This web resource is published primarily for secondary students of Mathematics and Information Studies, although it will also be used by other students, teachers and the general population.

Statistics: Power from Data! was been created and modified using comments and requests from teachers, about the topics they would like to see covered, and the amount of time that could be devoted to them in a course.

Along with extensive text, this web resource contains exercises to help students consolidate their understanding of the material.

This resource aims to help students:

  • gain confidence in using statistical information to complete study requirements
  • appreciate the importance of statistical information in today's society
  • make critical use of information that is presented to them.

These goals are at the heart of Statistics Canada's mission to assist Canadians with informed decision-making.

The first section of this resource defines the basic concepts of "information, data and statistics" while the second explains how to plan the complete survey process. In the following sections, we detail each step of the process, such as sampling, data collection, graphing results, etc. Finally, we consider the use and misuse of statistics in society, the importance of confidentiality and the role of computers in producing statistics.

The length and amount of detail of a section does not reflect the importance of its topic to the overall survey process but rather, as mentioned above, how well it fits into the curriculum. This explains why the section on creating graphs is very detailed, while the one on estimation and weights is quite brief. Graphing is an appropriate tool for secondary students but the details of data estimation are deemed too technical for this audience.

This product will be continually updated to keep information as relevant and topical as possible.