What is the main benefit of using descriptive statistics?

The main benefit of using descriptive statistics is that it provides a clear summary of data characteristics. Descriptive statistics encompasses measures such as mean, median, mode, and standard deviation, which help to condense large datasets into understandable and informative summaries. By conveying essential insights about data distribution, variability, and central tendency, descriptive statistics enables users to easily grasp key aspects of their datasets.

The other options, while related to data analysis in different ways, do not accurately reflect the primary focus of descriptive statistics. Forecasting future trends pertains more to inferential statistics, which makes predictions based on sample data. Making long-term decisions typically requires more comprehensive analyses and insights from various statistical techniques beyond mere description. Lastly, the process of cleaning and organizing data is a critical step in data preparation that serves as a foundation for statistical analysis but is distinct from the descriptive statistics themselves.