TOOLS FOR ECONOMICS ANALYSIS

Introduction:

Mathematical and statistical tools are required in economics analysis. Mathematical tools helps the Economist to discover the implications of his theories which will enable him to make predications
. Statistical tools in the other hand are used by the Economist when testing their theories against real world observation. Some of the tools used in economics analysis include table, chart, graph, mean, mode, median, statistical maps, Standard deviation etc.

1. Table. A table is an orderly arranged list of information, facts or data, usually set out in rows and columns and which attempts to summarize a large mass of data by presenting it in a condensed from.

          Importance of tables

* It makes it possible for figures to be easily calculated

* It makes further analysis of data possible

* It helps to present the original data in an orderly way

* It helps to summarize data by making it understandable

* It shows the relationship between variables in the data

        Features of a good table

* It must have a neat layout and easy to comprehend

* It should have a general explanatory tittle

* It should have an indication of the unit in which the data have been presented

2. Graphs:  These are used in representing data graphically to aid further understanding of information. Graph is a diagram that uses lines or curves to show the relationship between numbers or measurements that changes.

3. Charts: These are used in representing data presented in tabular form in order to aid further understanding of information about the table. The are mainly used to represent observation that is associated with time scale.  There are various types of charts which includes

* pie-chart:  This is the name given to a chart of information in the form of cirice divided into sections.

* Bar-chart: This is one of the most important and popular type of diagram used to show statistical informations. examples of bar chart include

-- Simple bar chart: Here, bars are of equal width and are contructed with their length corresponding to the various values of the data.

-- Composite bar chart:  Also known as multiple or compound bar chart. They make use of sub-total. Here, the subtotals are used instead of the overall total.

...Component bar chart: Each bar in the chart is subdivided according to the component of the data. Each of the subdivision can be coloured, marked or shaded differently to indicate the relative contributions of each division to the total.

-- Histogram:  This is a  unique bar chart which has no space between the bars. It's used for the estimation of continuous variables. Other names for histogram are bar graph, frequency graph and frequency chart.

4. Pictograph/pictogram: This is a kind of graph that represents numerical data in form of pictures.

5. Measures of Central Tendency:  The mean, mode and median are the measures of Central Tendency used in statistics. They are form of averages and are single figures used in summarizing data presented in a distribution.

*. Mean: This is the most common among all Measures of Central Tendency . Our focus is on the arithmetic mean, to get it,  you have to sum all the observation and divide by the number of the observation.

* Median: This is the average that is found in the centre of  the data collection. The median is the middle value when the observation is arranged in order of magnitude starting with the smallest or the biggest.

* Mode: This is the data with the highest number of frequency in the distribution.

There are some other tools for economics analysis that  were  not mention.