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Population
Basic Terminology
POPULATION:
Complete collection
of all elements or
units (usually
people, objects,
transactions, or
events) that we are
interested in
studying
In terms of data, a
population is the
collection of all
outcomes,
responses,
measurement, or
counts that are of
interest.
CENSUS: A
complete
enumeration (or
accounting) of the
population (i.e.
collecting data
from every element
(or unit) in the
population).
PARAMETER: A
numeric value
associated with a
population. (e.g. the average height
of ALL students in
this class, given
that the class has
been defined as a
population)
Sample
Terminology
Basic
SAMPLE: Taken
from a population a
sample is a subset
from which
information is
collected.
STATISTIC: A
numeric value
associated with
a sample.
some other
generalization about a
population based on
information contained in
a sample.
Cluster Sample
Stratified sampling
Systematic sample
In Summary
To include ALL
units, you are
looking at:
POPULATION
CENSUS
PARAMETERS
Parameter
Statistic
To work with a
subset of all units,
you are looking
at:
SAMPLE
STATISTICS
INFERENCES to a
population
Population
Sample
VARIABLES
AND NATURE
OF DATA
Language of Statistics
Variable: a
characteristic or
attribute that can
assume different
values
Variables whose
values are
determined by
chance are called
random variables
Data: values
(measurements
or observations)
that variables can
assume
Data is the
information
collected the
group of
information forms
a data set
Each value in the
Quantitative
Data are numberbased and represent
counts or
measurements. This
type of data may be
subdivided into two
categories...
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Discrete
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Series 3
Series 1
Continuous
Variable Classifications
Qualitative Variables
Can be placed into
distinct categories,
according to some
characteristic or
attribute (typically
non-numeric)
Examples:
Eye Color
Gender
Religious Preference
Yes/No
Quantitative
Variables
Numerical
Can be ordered or
ranked
Examples:
Heights
Weights
Pulse Rate
Age
Body Temperatures
Credit Hours
Measurement of Data
Nominal
characterized by
data that consist of names,
labels, or categories only. The
data cannot be arranged in an
ordering scheme. Qualitative
data.
Examples: Gender, Yes/No, Political
Party affiliation, names of students.
Nominal
Examples:
Gender
Zip Codes
Political
Affiliation
Religion
Ordinal
Examples:
Letter
grades (A, B,
C, D, F)
Judging
contest (1st,
2nd , 3rd )
Ratings
(Above Avg,
Avg, Below
Interval
Examples:
Temperature
(0 does not
mean no heat
at all)
IQ Scores (0
does not imply
no intelligence)
Ratio
Examples:
Height
Weight
Area
Number of
phone calls
received
Salary