What you need to know about statistics

Abstract

How do you measure the value of data? Not by the amount you have, but by what you can learn from it. Statistics provides a way to extract valuable information from your data. It is a science concerned with the collection, classification, and interpretation of data according to well-defined procedures. For a manager, however, statistics is simply one of many diverse techniques that may improve decision-making. The purpose of this chapter is to develop a deeper understanding of the statistical methods used to analyse software project data. The methods used to analyse software project data come from the branch of statistics known as multivariate statistical analysis. These methods investigate relationships between two or more variables. However, before we delve into detailed explanations of chi-square tests, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and analysis of variance, you need to understand some basic concepts. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.