statistically

Statistically is an adverb used to indicate that a statement, result, or claim is derived from statistics, data analysis, or probability rather than from personal experience or anecdotal evidence. It signals that conclusions are grounded in quantitative evidence and may involve estimates, uncertainty, and inference about a population.

Etymology and scope: the term stems from statistic and statistics, with its roots in Latin, Greek, and related European languages in reference to numbers and data about a population. In everyday and scientific writing, statistically oriented phrases describe patterns, relationships, or tests conducted on data sets.

Usage and interpretation: in research and applied fields, statements such as “statistically significant,” “statistically independent,” or “statistically powered” convey that methods from statistics were used to assess the claim. Statistical language often involves hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, and effect sizes. However, statistical significance does not guarantee practical importance, causation, or real-world impact, and results can be affected by sample size, bias, and model assumptions.

Common contexts: statistics are used across sciences, economics, public policy, sports analytics, and data science to summarize data (descriptive statistics), estimate population parameters (inferential statistics), or model relationships (regression, classification). The term frequently appears in reports, journals, and presentations to distinguish data-driven conclusions from non-empirical statements.

See also: statistics, statistical methods, p-value, confidence interval, hypothesis testing, data analysis.