AS Statistics Flashcards
Define population
the whole set of items that are of interest
What is a census?
A census observes or measure every member of a population
What is a sample?
A selection of observations taken from a subset of the population which is used to find out information about the population as a whole
Name the advantages of a census
It should give a completely accurate result
Name the disadvantages of a census
- Time consuming and expensive
- Hard to process large quantity of data
Name the advantages of a sample
- Less time consuming and expensive than census
- Fewer people have to respond
- Less data to process than in a census
Name the disadvantages of a sample
- Data may not be as accurate
- Sample may not be large enough to give info bout the whole population
What are sampling units?
Individual units of a population
What is a sampling fram?
Sampling units named or numbered to form a list
What are the 3 methods of random sampling?
- Simple random sampling
- Systematic sampling
- Stratified sampling
What is meant by simple random sampling?
Every sample has an equal chance of being selected
What is meant by systematic sampling?
The required elements are chosen at regular intervals from an ordered list
What is meant by stratified sampling?
The population is divided into mutually exclusive strata and a random sample is taken from each
Stratified sampling formula
Number in stratum/number in population X overall sample size
Name the advantages of simple random sampling
- Free of bias
- Easy and cheap to implement for small populations
- Each sampling unit has a known and equal chance of selection
Name the disadvantages of simple random sampling
- Not suitable when the population size or sample size is large
- A sampling frame is needed