Section 4 (start of section 2 - p59) Flashcards
What is the approach used in statistical inference when the purpose is to obtain information about the population parameters, such as the mean and standard deviation?
Estimation
What is the approach used in statistical inference when the purpose is to make comparisons with some hypothesised value?
Hypothesis testing
What are the 2 types of estimate?
Point
Interval
How are point estimates of population parameters derived?
From the corresponding sample parameters
When is a sample parameter said to be an unbiased estimator of the population parameter?
If the average of all possible sample parameters is equal to the population value
How is an estimator of a population parameter represented in symbol form?
By the symbol for the parameter with a hat above it
How is the uncertainty associated with a point estimation expressed?
By confidence intervals
What is a confidence interval?
A range which we would expect, with a given level of confidence, to include the population parameter
What is the usual level of confidence used?
Other possible values?
95%
Can also use 99% and 99.9%
What happens to the width of the confidence interval as the level of confidence increases?
Width also increases
What is the name for the upper and lower values for the confidence interval?
Confidence limits
How are the confidence limits obtained?
By adding/ subtracting a values to/ from the value of the point estimate
Describe how the confidence interval changes for more or less variable data?
The less variable the data the narrower the confidence interval
What does precision refer to?
The variability of an estimate, not its accuracy
What does hypothesis testing use instead of an interval to express information about the population parameter?
A numerical value called the test statistic
What is the name of the statement based on the test statistic that is used to determine whether a claim about a population parameter, made in the null hypothesis, is accepted or rejected?
Decision rule
What is the symbol for the null hypothesis?
H0 (H nought)
What idea does the null hypothesis usually express?
There is no effect
What is tested against the null hypothesis?
The alternative
Symbol for the alternative hypothesis?
H1
What is the standard error?
Standard deviation of the mean
Is the mean of a sample from a non-normal population normally distributed?
Approximately - the larger the sample, the better the approximation
What is the fact that the mean of a sample from n independent items from a non-normal population can be described as approximately normal, with the approximation being better the larger the sample is?
Central limit theorem