What is the term for the statistical measures that summarize a set of data points?

The term for the statistical measures that summarize a set of data points is descriptive statistics. This branch of statistics serves the purpose of providing a concise overview of the data through various techniques, such as calculating measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode) and measures of variability (range, variance, and standard deviation).

Descriptive statistics focus on presenting the data in a manageable form, allowing researchers and analysts to understand and interpret the information quickly. This is essential in research and program evaluation as it aids in identifying trends, patterns, and insights within the data without delving into inferential statistics, which would require making predictions or generalizations about a larger population based on a sample.

While measures of central tendency, which include the mean, median, and mode, are indeed part of descriptive statistics, they do not encompass the entire range of statistical methods used to summarize data. Qualitative analysis, on the other hand, pertains to non-numerical data and focuses more on understanding characteristics and qualities rather than quantitative summaries. Hypothesis testing is a different aspect of statistics that involves testing assumptions and inferences based on sample data, rather than summarizing it. Therefore, descriptive statistics is the most comprehensive term that directly captures the function of summarizing a set