Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Basic Terms in Statistics

A population is a collection or totality of data set with some common characteristics and properties such as people, objects, events, places and any other subject of interest.

A sample is a portion, section, subset of part of the population of interest. ( Note that in statistical process sample interest must posses a high degree of representativeness )

A parameter is a numerical value in quality, usually unknown (and which therefore has to be estimated), used to represent a certain population characteristics. For example, the population mean is a parameter that is often used to indicate the average value of a quantity.

A statistic is a numerical value or quantity that is calculated from a sample of data. It is used to give information about unknown values in the corresponding population. For example, the average of the data in a sample is used to give information about the overall average in the population from which that sample was drawn.

Constant is a quantity which can be assuming only one value. It is usually denotes by the first letters of alphabets a, b, c.

Variable is a quantity which can vary from one individual or object to and other. It is usually denoted by the last letters of the alphabet x, y, z.

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