Final answer:
Sorting data in ascending order is useful to view progression from smallest to largest values, such as budget-based house pricing, while descending order is useful to prioritize largest values like company sales. Descriptive statistics involve organizing data to reveal trends and facilitate decision-making, using methods like time series graphs for periodic data.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sorting data in ascending order is useful when you want to see the progression from the smallest to the largest value. For example, sorting house prices from low to high can help buyers determine what homes are in their budget. On the other hand, sorting data in descending order is beneficial when you want to see the largest values first, such as when a company wants to prioritize its highest sales to understand top-performing products.
Descriptive statistics involve organizing and summarizing data to extract meaningful patterns and trends. To effectively describe the data, it's important to group and order it logically, whether by frequency, chronological order, or any other relevant criterion. This process of sorting and grouping allows easier analysis and better communication of information, leading to more informed decisions.
For instance, a time series graph employs chronological order to show changes over time, which makes identifying trends much simpler, hence being advantageous for analysis of periodic data like temperature changes or stock prices. Understanding and applying the correct sorting and organizing techniques in descriptive statistics is crucial for both understanding historical data and predicting future trends.