STATS 201 Terms

Sample

a subset of the population of interest that we will collect data on

Representative Sample

a subset of the population that has the same characteristic as the population of interest

Population

all individuals, objects, or things whose properties are being studied

Statistic

A number that represents the property of interest in the sample. A statistic is an estimate of the parameter value that we get looking only at the sample.

Variable

-Numerical/Quantitaice -Categorical/Qualitative

Descriptive Statistics

organizing and summarizing data

Parameter

a number that is used to represent a characteristics of the population and that generally cannot be determined easily

Data

are the actual values of the variable. Datum is a single value

Continuous

can be measured in decimals

Inferential Statistics

formal methods for drawing conclusions from data

Ordinal

is a natural order to variables

Probability

mathematical study of uncertainty. The foundation of statistics

Discrete

measured in whole units

Nominal

no natural order to the variables