Simple numerical or graphical summaries are referred to as?

Simple numerical or graphical summaries that provide an overview of data are known as descriptive statistics. This branch of statistics is focused on summarizing and organizing data in ways that facilitate understanding and interpretation. Descriptive statistics can include measures such as the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and various forms of graphs like histograms and box plots, which help in visualizing the distribution and characteristics of the dataset.

In practical terms, when researchers or analysts present data findings, they often begin with descriptive statistics to give a clear and succinct summary of the central tendency and variability of the data being studied. This foundational information is critical for informing subsequent analyses and interpretations, as it sets the stage for deeper explorations through inferential statistics, which are used to make predictions or inferences about a population based on sample data.