Python statistics package: difference between statsmodel and scipy.stats

python scipy scikits statsmodels
herrfz picture herrfz · Jan 29, 2013 · Viewed 14.1k times · Source

I need some advice on selecting statistics package for Python, I've done quite some search, but not sure if I get everything right, specifically on the differences between statsmodels and scipy.stats.

One thing that I know is those with scikits namespace are specific "branches" of scipy, and what used to be scikits.statsmodels is now called statsmodels. On the other hand there is also scipy.stats. What are the differences between the two, and which one is the statistics package for Python?

Thanks.

--EDIT--

I changed the title because some answers are not really related to the question, and I suppose that's because the title is not clear enough.

Answer

jseabold picture jseabold · Jan 29, 2013

Statsmodels has scipy.stats as a dependency. Scipy.stats has all of the probability distributions and some statistical tests. It's more like library code in the vein of numpy and scipy. Statsmodels on the other hand provides statistical models with a formula framework similar to R and it works with pandas DataFrames. There are also statistical tests, plotting, and plenty of helper functions in statsmodels. Really it depends on what you need, but you definitely don't have to choose one. They have different aims and strengths.

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