Statistics Toolbox

What Is the Statistics Toolbox?

The Statistics Toolbox is a collection of tools built on the MATLAB^® numeric computing environment. The toolbox supports a wide range of common statistical tasks, from random number generation, to curve fitting, to design of experiments and statistical process control. The toolbox provides two categories of tools:

• Building-block probability and statistics functions
• Graphical, interactive tools

The first category of tools is made up of functions that you can call from the command line or from your own applications. Many of these functions are MATLAB M-files, series of MATLAB statements that implement specialized statistics algorithms. You can view the MATLAB code for these functions using the statement

type function_name

You can change the way any toolbox function works by copying and renaming the M-file, then modifying your copy. You can also extend the toolbox by adding your own M-files.

Secondly, the toolbox provides a number of interactive tools that let you access many of the functions through a graphical user interface (GUI). Together, the GUI-based tools provide an environment for polynomial fitting and prediction, as well as probability function exploration.

Preface

How to Use This Guide