Beginners:Statistical concept - Observation
This page is part of Statistics 4 beginners, a section in Statistics Explained where statistical indicators and concepts are explained in a simple way to make the world of statistics a bit easier both for pupils and students as well as for all those with an interest in statistics.
An observation is a fact or figure we collect about a given variable. It can be expressed as a number or as a quality.
An example of a number is the observation "25" for the age of a mother at the birth of her first child.
An example of a quality is the observation "Poland" for the country of citizenship of an asylum applicant.