Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is the population?
The entire category
What is a sample?
A portion of the population available for analysis
What is a parameter?
A characteristic of a population
What is a statistic?
A measure that is derived from the sample data
What is statistical inference?
The process of using sample statistics to draw conclusions
What are descriptive statistics?
Statistics which summarize a sample of numerical data - mean, standard deviation
What is primary data?
Data compiled by the researcher
Surveys, interviews, experiments, interviews, focus groups
What is secondary data?
Data compiled elsewhere
Websites, census data
+ gathered quickly
+ build on past research
- outdated
- different units of measurements
What are response errors?
Data errors that arise from issues with survey responses
What are nonresponse errors?
If rate of response is low, sample may not be representative of the population
What is a probability sample?
Sample collected in a way where the population has a known chance of being selected
What is systematic random sample?
Choose the first element randomly, then every kth observation
What is stratified random sample?
Population is sub-divided based on characteristic then a simple random sample is conducted
What is cluster sampling?
Taking a random sample of clusters then random sample within each
What is quantitative data?
Results in numerical responses, may be discrete or continous
