Statistics is what it means to prove something with data! Statistics are pure mathematical equations that are used for inferring or analyzing things. Today we are living in a world full of information, statistics is a potential tool to group the information, and draw sense from it. In Politics, Statistics plays an imperative role!
Be it exit-polls, unemployment rates, crime rates, growth numbers, budget figures etc. these are results which summarize a large dataset altogether. We all have seen politicians debating and backing their claims with numbers. The process delves into detail. Underlying data is collected through different data-generation channels and is subjected to statistics for results. There is no denying that Stats is everywhere in our day to day lives.
Let’s move further and understand how statistics plays a critical role and fuels political theories, campaigns, policy development and strategies.
Global Summits:
G7, United Nations General Assembly, BRICS Summit and G20 are some of the global political summits driving the world. These gatherings of political forces cater to global issues such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, cyber threats, protectionism and myriad of other challenges. Statistics is a booster in these summits.
The delegation of every country represents themselves and their stance on the issues through critical stats. Statistics plays an irreplaceable role in these summits. If you are participating in a global or national summit, you can use a 100% editable World Map PowerPoint template and represent statistics for a better understanding of the audience.
Election Forecasts:
Most of you would agree that during an election season, political forces and media channels showcase most current and accurate polling forecasts. Now, how does this work? Well, it is the work of Statisticians. They develop complex statistical models that take account of multiple dynamic factors to deliver next-to accurate predictions.
Data scientists leverage statistics every day for interpreting data, election forecasts, polling turnaround and much more. In the purview of political science, statistics is your key to understanding the basics. Not only does it make the numbers easy, but it also boosts the relevancy of information. Calculating a candidate’s odds of winning is pure statistics.
Political Campaigns & Strategies:
Political candidates spend hundreds of thousands of money while campaigning. Statistical research drives this spending. Knowing which demographics to target more than others, which weak areas require more campaigning, what media habits to adopt needs proper statistical research. It helps in understanding the ground reality and boosts policy-making as well as implementation.
Statistics also enables microtargeting during political campaigns. The concept allows statisticians to draw conclusions about individuals from all walks of society. A plethora of information, statistics and big data, when combined leads to pattern recognition and microtargeting. Campaigns can create customized messages and content to woo voters. Microtargeting backed by statistics can also draw an increased turnout amid voters.
Public Information:
For any functioning democracy, citizens often require the information to know and understand the functioning of the government. Statistics help even a layman to understand political numbers, policies, budget allocations and more. Statistics improves public understanding of information manifolds and motivates people to research, comprehend and ask questions.
Moreover, as we know Media is the fourth pillar of democracy relies heavily on data released by the government. It is the statistics that help media understand the data, inform and educate their audiences. With raw pieces of data all around you, statistics combines data, relates it to numerous factors and gives you a relevant end-result.
Social & Economical Development Activities:
Statistical analysis done of data determines the reality of everyday lives of the citizens. Governments aiming at fostering an environment of strong and equitable development needs sound policy development and implementation. Statistics helps in building macroeconomic planning models based on time-oriented information about a city, state or country.
Do you know budgets for both provincial and central governments solely depends on statistics? The concept helps the government to establish estimated expenditures, cut down extra costs and focus more on delivering basic services more efficiently. Poverty reduction, city budgets, school funds and every other government strategy runs on statistics.
Government Accountability:
Democratic government’s primary core value towards its people is accountability. Each country has its own set of Federal Statistical Agencies working around the clock gathering data and making it public. This generated information is used as a guide to hold the government accountable in cases of a crisis of mismanagement.
These public information agencies are established to cater to unbiased and raw information to the public about the government’s business. Public bodies keep a check on budget allocations, government spendings, audits and much more all through statistical analysis. Analysis of this valuable data ensures a systematic working of government, the right implementation of policies and a healthy democracy.
The End Line:
Before the beginning of any electoral process, people are often bombarded with tons of information, tables, numbers, graphs, report findings etc. To make sense of this data as a whole, statistics come into the picture.
One should note that statistics is not only about rules and recipes for data analysis. One needs a deep knowledge of gathered data, the way it’s gathered and what are the dynamic factors involved.
Statistica.com is a popular website known as the ‘fact destination’ on the internet. You may stroll to the website and observe political stats making sense from around the world.