Statistics Whether Science or Art

Science is a systematic body of knowledge which attempts to draw conclusions on the basis of systematic procedure. There is no room for vague judgment and caprices in the field of science.

Art, on the other hand, refers to the skill of handing the actions so as to achieve the desired objective. It is concerned with the ways and means of performing a particular work.

In the light of the above characteristics of Science and Art the subject of statistics can be regarded as both science and art on account of the following reasons:

It is a science for that:

• It is a systematic body of knowledge on certain methods and machinery.
• It attempts to make generalizations through a scientific procedure.
• It studies cause and effect relationship between certain variables.
• It attempts to describe the events objectively and avoid vague judgments, and
• It is concerned with knowledge.

It is a science for that:

• It is concerned with an action.
• It is concerned with the ways and means of collecting classifying, tabulating, comparing and interpreting the data.
• It needs skill and manoeuvration in handling the data.
• It is concerned with the art of using findings in the face of uncertainty. However, in the words of Walls and Roberts, “Statistics is not a body of substantive knowledge but a body of methods for obtaining knowledge.”