All S2 Flashcards
What are the conditions for using a binomial distribution?
- A fixed number of trials, n.
- Each trial should be success or failure.
- The trials are independent
- The probability of success, p, at each trial is constant.
What is the definition of a population?
A population is a collection of individual items.
What is a sample?
A sample is a selection of individual members or items from a population.
What is a finite population?
A finite population is one in which each individual members can be given a number.
What is an infinite population?
An infinite population os one in which it is impossible to number each member.
What is a sampling unit?
A sampling unit is an individual member of a population.
What is a sampling frame?
A sampling frame is a list of sampling units used in practice to represent a population.
What is a statistic?
A statistic is a quantity calculated solely from the observations in a sample.
A random variable; function of known observations (from a population)
A random variable) that is a function of the sample which contains no unknown quantities/parameters.
What is the sampling distribution of a statistic?
A statistic has a sampling distribution that is defined by giving all possible values of the statistic and the probability of each occurring.
What is a census?
If information is to be obtained from all members of the population, the investigation is known as a census.
What are the advantages of taking a census?
- Every single member of the population is used
- It is unbiased
- It gives an accurate answer
What are the disadvantages of taking a census?
- It takes a long time to do
- It is costly
- It is often difficult to ensure that the whole population is surveyed
What are the advantages of sampling?
- Sampling is generally cheaper than taking a census
- Sampling is advantageous where the testing of items results in their destruction.
- Data is generally more readily available.
What are the disadvantages of sampling?
- Uncertainty about sampling in that there will be natural variation between any two samples.
- Bias can more easily occur, e.g. sample from an incomplete sampling frame.
What is a test statistic?
A test statistic is the summary of the evidence that comes from a sample in a hypothesis test.