From the descriptive towards inferential statistics: hundred years since conception of the Student's t-distribution.

It is crucially important to differentiate between the descriptive statistics on one side and inferential, inductive, mathematical statistics on the other. Only the latter is useful for obtaining the optimal information and for making effective decisions under conditions of uncertainty, because it defines probabilities of conclusions. That, of course, gains the real importance only in situations where the practical action is expected to be derived directly from statistical analysis, as in modern economy. In medicine, however, there are sometimes studies performed, where the only practical outcome is the obtaining of a scientific or paedagogic degree – so called “Mickey Mouse“ studies [1]. Thus, we will be speaking about the fundamental orientation of scientific work in medicine.