This paper present study on the application of sound pressure and vibration signals to detect the presence of defects in a rolling element bearing using a statistical analysis method. The well established statistical parameters such as the crest factor and the distribution of moments including kurtosis and skew are utilized in this study. In addition, other statistical parameters derived from the beta distribution function are also used. A comparison study on the performance of the different types of parameter used is also performed. The statistical analysis is used because of its simplicity and quick computation. Under ideal conditions, the statistical method can be used to identify the different types of defect present in the bearing. In addition, the results also reveal that there is no significant advantages in using the beta function parameters when compared to using kurtosis and the crest factor for detecting and identifying defects in rolling element bearings from both sound and vibration signals.