Explanation:
Statistics is the study of collecting, analyzing, interpreting, presenting, and organizing data. It deals with numerical data, which can be either singular or plural. However, statistics as a subject is defined in terms of plural data. Here's why:

Singular vs. Plural Data:
- Singular data refers to a single piece of information or observation. For example, the height of a single person, the weight of a single object, or the age of a single individual.
- Plural data refers to a collection of observations or measurements. For example, the heights of a group of people, the weights of a set of objects, or the ages of a population.

Statistics and Plural Data:
- Statistics is concerned with plural data because it aims to draw conclusions about a population based on a sample of data.
- A population is the entire group of individuals, objects, or measurements that we are interested in studying. For example, the population of all college students in the United States.
- In practice, it is often not feasible to collect data from the entire population, so we take a sample of data instead. A sample is a subset of the population.
- Statistics uses the principles of probability to make inferences about the population based on the sample data.
- Therefore, statistics is defined in terms of plural data because it deals with samples, which are collections of observations.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, statistics is defined in terms of plural data because it deals with samples of data, which are collections of observations. While singular data can be analyzed using statistical methods, the subject of statistics as a whole is concerned with plural data.