Chapter #2 - Measures of Central Tendency

parameter

1. A constant or value used to index a function, such as use of degrees of freedom to derive an appropriate t-statistic or F-statistic function. 2. A number that describes a characteristic of a population.

mean

A measure of central tendency. The sum of values for a variable in a sample or population divided by the number of items in the sample or population. The arithmetic average.

Universe

In statistics, a population or entire body of data; used to distinguish between a population and a sample obtained from the population. Population is a more generally used term.

Sample

In statistics, a subset of a population selected for analysis.

Central tendency

The central point, or representative value, around which items cluster in a frequency distribution. The measures of central tendency (called averages) are the mean, the median, and the mode.

Aggregate

The sum of all the observations within a population; e.g., the aggregate sale price of all the houses sold in a given community.