What is the best way to determine what method to use to solve a question in statistics?

There are two neat approaches we can take when solving a statistical problem.

1) The first statistical method makes use of descriptive statistics. Descriptive statistics are often referred to as summary statistics that include the mean and standard deviation.

2) The second statistical method is known as inferential statistics. The methods of inferential statistics are used to draw conclusions and make predictions about a given set of data.

So, if your statistical problem calls for finding the mean, standard deviation, or other summary statistic, then you will likely be using the methods of descriptive statistics. An example of these problems could be those that ask you to find the datas centers of measure and provide a summary of the results in a chart or graph.

If a statistical problem calls for drawing a conclusion from a dataset, then we wold clearly use the methods of inferential statistics. An example of these problems are those that involve probability and hypothesis testing.

We must ask ourselves, does this problem call for summary statistics, or does it need me to draw a conclusion from the data? Once we know this, then we can determine which statistical methods to use to solve the problem.