Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each quantity by whether it describes the population or the sample.
Groups: Parameter (population) · Statistic (sample)
- The true proportion of all voters supporting a party
- The mean height of every adult in Spain
- The standard deviation of all values in the population
- The proportion supporting it among 1000 people polled
- The mean height of the 200 adults actually measured
Hints
- Ask whether the number could actually be computed from the data you collected.
- Parameters are fixed but unknown; statistics are known but vary from sample to sample.
Show the answer
Parameter (population): The mean height of every adult in Spain, The true proportion of all voters supporting a party, The standard deviation of all values in the population
Statistic (sample): The mean height of the 200 adults actually measured, The proportion supporting it among 1000 people polled
Why
Parameters describe the whole group and are usually unknowable; statistics are computed from the sample and change every time you resample. Statistical inference exists precisely to cross that gap, and confusing the two collapses the distinction it depends on.
Practise Sampling and the Central Limit Theorem
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