Semiotics of Statistics

Abstract

The article concerns semiotic interpretation of statistics. In statistics, as in other actually functioning sign systems, all semiotic levels are represented: semantics, syntactics and pragmatics. Besides, one can distinguish between the semiotic of the virtual statistics and that of the actual one. Semantics and syntactics of the latter are formed under the influence of the different communicative circumstances, i.e., under the influence of pragmatics. As for virtual statistics, it is a “settling tank” of methods, cognitive principles, categories, practical and scientific results accumulated in actual statistics; at the same time virtual statistics is the result of generalization of these ideas, methods, and results. In the article semantics of statistics is considered from referential, conceptual, significative, denotative and designative points of views, but only in its virtual aspect, i.e., semantics of statistical language. As for syntactics, the different types of statistical expressions are discussed, which include statement expressions, generalizing expressions, and estimative ones.