History of Statistical Thinking: From Uncertainty to Uncertain Knowledge

Authors: Jan Kalina, Lubomír Soukup
Publication year: 2023
Publication type: Konferenční příspěvek (mezinárodní konf.)
Periodical: PaKSoM 2022: Proceedings of the 4th Virtual International Conference Path to a Knowledge Society-Managing Risks and Innovation
Bibliographic citation: KALINA, Jan, SOUKUP, Lubomír. History of Statistical Thinking: From Uncertainty to Uncertain Knowledge. In: STANKOVIĆ, M., NIKOLIĆ, V., eds. PaKSoM 2022: Proceedings of the 4th Virtual International Conference Path to a Knowledge Society-Managing Risks and Innovation. Niš / Belgrade: Complex Systems Research Centre and Mathematical Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2023, S. 497-504. ISBN 978-86-82602-00-2. Dostupné z: https://paksom.cosrec.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/PaKSoM_2022.pdf
ID: 571220
Online record: View online record

Abstract

Currently, an enormous amount of data is available to the humankind in various fields and it is exactly the data (information) which may be transferred to practically useful knowledge. The data are subject to uncertainty and their analysis, i.e. extracting knowledge from the data, requires statistical thinking and statistical methods. Thus, the concept of the knowledge society requiring reliable knowledge to be available to all citizens is heavily depending on statistics. This paper is devoted to an overview of the historical development of basic probabilistic and statistical concepts. Such overview is intended to encourage readers to think anew about statistical ideas in the light of their historical development. The paper recalls that any knowledge obtained by statistical methods is highly probable but not absolutely certain.