This chapter discusses several topics, from why statistics is important in anthropological research to statistical notation. The first section (statistics and scientific enquiry) defines basic scientific terms and explains the role of statistics in anthropological research. The second section (basic definitions) reviews the vocabulary we need for the rest of the book. The third section (statistical notation) explains the fundamentals of statistical notation.

Statistics and scientific enquiry

If you are an anthropologist, you have probably been asked what anthropology is, and what it is good for. Many of us are at a loss to explain the obvious: how else could we look at the world, but with a cross-cultural and evolutionary perspective? What you may not be quite convinced about is the need for you to include a statistical aspect to your anthropological data analysis. In this section, I hope to explain why statistics are an integral part of a scientific approach to anthropological enquiry.