0.1 AP Stats: Big Ideas

Question 1

In statistics we don’t prove anything, we gather evidence and make a conclusion. What kind of evidence is considered statistically significant?

Answer 1

Any result that would be rare by chance alone. Later in the course, we will discover that the most standard degree of rarity is 5%. So if a certain result would happen less than 1 in 20 by chance alone, it is good evidence for something else.

Question 2

How can you tell if a study was an experiment or just observational?

Answer 2

Did they apply a treatment to some subjects (experiment) or just ask questions or observe results (observational study)

Question 3

How is probability used in statistics?

Answer 3

It helps us figure out how rare an event is if it were only by chance alone. The more rare, the more significant.

Question 4

What is the point of gathering data?

Answer 4

To make some kind of conclusion about a bigger population. If it’s an experiment, you can also get evidence that one thing is causing another.

Question 5

What is statistics?

Answer 5

Statistics is the science and art of collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data.

Question 6

What is the most important thing to consider when collecting data?

Answer 6

Does the sample accurately represent the population? Make sure to avoid bias!

Question 7

What is a distribution?

Answer 7

A display of all of the values that a variable takes. It can simply be a table of counts or a graphical display.