.TH DESC 1STAT "October 16, 1980"
.SH NAME
desc \- statistics: describing a single distribution
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B desc
[i<n> m<n> M<n> cfph o s F<n>]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I desc
does a number of summary statistics and frequency counts.
.I desc
reads from the standard input (via redirection with < or piped
with |) and writes to the standard output.
The program's input is a series of numbers
separated by newlines, tabs or spaces.
Summary statistics can be obtained without use of program arguments.
.PP
The options available with 
.I desc
allow you to request various
types of descriptions of your data, as well as control the
format of these descriptions.
In the following section, when an
option is followed by <n>, a numerical argument is expected.
Program arguments (options) can be combined in any number or order.
.br
.TP
.B c
changes f and p options to CUMULATIVE.
.TP
.B f
table of midpoints and FREQUENCIES.
.TP
.B F<n>
requests a F-TEST of Ho: mean = <n>
(also t).
If <n> is not supplied, zero is assumed.
.TP
.B h
prints a HISTOGRAM with frequencies.
.TP
.B i<n>
sets the INTERVAL WIDTH for h, f & p.
.TP
.B m<n>
sets the MINIMUM number of the first interval.
All numbers below <n> are IGNORED ON INPUT.
.TP
.B M<n>
sets the MAXIMUM number allowed to <n>.
Numbers larger than <n> are IGNORED ON INPUT.
.TP
.B o
requests order statistics (also S).
.TP
.B p
table of midpoints and PROPORTIONS.
.TP
.B s
summary STATISTICS according to SPSS formulas.
.PP
When computing frequencies, numbers on bin boundaries
end up in the next lower bin, except for the numbers
on the lower boundary of the first bin, which are put in the first bin.
Thus, the first bin is a doubly closed interval,
while all the others are half open: [],(],(],(],(],...(]
.SH LIMITATIONS and DIAGNOSTICS
.PP
.I desc
does its computations in either one or two
passes, depending on whether the data is stored.
If the i and m options are used, then it is not
necessary to store the data for any frequency table.
If not, or if you want order statistics (which requires
storing and sorting the data), then the number of
input points is limited to some large number, such as 10,000.
The number of bins is limited to some large number, such as 1000.
.SH EXAMPLES
.ce
desc < file
prints basic statistics (same as desc o < file)

.ce
desc cf m0 i10 <file
prints a table of midpoints and CUMULATIVE FREQUENCIES.
The MINIMUM allowable number is 0,
and the INTERVAL WIDTH is 10, so the
first interval is [0,10] and the next is (10,20], and so on.
Intervals will be added to accomodate the largest numbers.
Because i and m are specified, there is no limit on the number of points.

.ce
desc sF0 m100 M1000 i100 cp <file
first prints summary STATISTICS.
Then it prints a F-VALUE, and prob (F).
Finally, desc will print a table
of interval midpoints and CUMULATIVE PROPORTIONS.
The MINIMUM allowable number is 100, the MAXIMUM allowable number is 1000,
and the INTERVAL WIDTH is 100.
.SH SEE\ ALSO
dm(1CSL), pair(1CSL)
.br
G. Perlman,
Data analysis programs for the UNIX operating system,
.I "Behavior Research Methods and Instrumentation,"
1980,
.I 12,
554-558.
.SH AUTHOR
Gary Perlman
.SH BUGS
