Terms Flashcards
Population
Entire group to be studied.
Sample
A subset of population that is being studied. (If the group is not a good representation of the population being sampled, it becomes a bad sample.)
Individual
A person or object
Parameter
A numerical study of a population
Statistic
A numerical study of a sample
Descriptive statistics
Organization and summarization of data
Inferential statistics
Uses methods to draw conclusions based on reason. Takes a sample, extends it to a population, measures the reliability of the result. (If we have all of the results of a sample, we don’t need the inferential, we can just do the math.)
Random variables
Characteristics of the individuals within the population.
Qualitative variables
Allows for the classification of individuals based on characteristics. (ie. marriage status/college major/descriptive.)
Quantitative variables
Provides numerical measures of individuals. (ie height/weight/number of siblings/counts.)
Discrete
Variables that have a finite number of possible values. (ie. 1,2,3,4,5… counts/whole numbers.)
Continuous
Variables with an infinite number of possible values. (ie. non whole numbers/height/usually obtained by measuring or calculating.)
Nominal
(Qualitative) Are not numerical values and can not be ranked in any specific order.
Ordinal
(Qualitative) Are not numerical values but can be ranked in any specific order.
Interval
(Quantitative) Does not have a true ‘zero’.
-C & F temperatures
