Statistical properties of IRAS galaxies
Statistical approaches to the study of galaxies seen by IRAS are reviewed, stressing the contrast between IR complete and optically complete samples. A statistical overview is given of the Cataloged Galaxies and Quasars Observed in the IRAS Survey. The bi-variate distribution of ESO/U galaxies as a function of 60 microns flux and optical size is used to predict the size of an IR complete sample from the optically complete sample. To within the uncertainties, both samples are found to belong to the same population, leaving little room for a fundamentally new class of extragalactic objects, besides IR bright galaxies like Arp220.