Basic Statistical Background

Statistics and data analytics play a central role in improving processes and systems and in decision‐making for strategic planning and manufacturing. During experimental research, statistical tools can allow the experimenter to better organize observations, to specify working hypotheses and possible alternative hypotheses, to collect data efficiently, and to analyze the results and come to some conclusions about the hypotheses made. This is an introductory chapter where readers can review several basic statistical concepts before moving on to the next chapters. Sixteen sections titled Stat Tools introduce some key terms and procedures. Specifically, the chapter deals with the following: statistical variables and types of data; statistical units, populations, samples; introduction to descriptive and inferential analyses; data distributions; mean values; measures of variability; boxplots; introduction to confidence intervals; and introduction to hypothesis testing procedures, including the p‐value approach.