statistics Flashcards
what is descriptive statistics
numerical, graphical, and tabular methods for organizing data
what is inferential statistics
methods for generalizing from a sample to a population
what is a Individual
the objects described by a set of data
variable
characteristic of an individual
what is a categorical (qualitative) variable
each individual falls into exactly one of several categories
what are units
the way we measure a quantitative variable (feet vs. inches vs. centimeters)
what is a distribution of a variable
what values it takes and how often (pattern of variation)
what is univariate data
each observation consists of one response/value
e.g., “age”
what is bivariate data
two responses/ values
what is multivariate data
three or more responses/ values
e.g., “age, height, and major”
what is population
all of the individuals we want info about
what is a sample
the part of the population actually examined for information
what is a statistic
a number describing a sample
what is a parameter
a number describing a population
