in a method for acquiring statistical information from data , an initial cumulative distribution function that characterizes an initial set of data is acquired . the acquisition of this cdf comprises acquiring a set of quantile endpoints that define the cdf . at least one additional cdf , which characterizes a further set of data , is also acquired . information that describes the initial cdf is combined with information that describes one or more additional cdfs , and the result is used to obtain a composite cdf that describes a combined set of data that includes the initial data set and the one or more further data sets . then , a new set of quantile endpoints is determined , that defines the composite cdf . the sequence of steps described above is repeated at least once more . the previously obtained composite cdf is used as the initial cdf for each repetition of this sequence .