Chapter 6

parameter

- The characteristics of the population are called

statistic

- The characteristics of the sample are called

Thomas Dewey and Harry Truman (1948)

: The most famous example of this was the 1948 presidential election, which came down to Thomas Dewey and Harry Truman. Although many people thought Dewey was going to win, he was not a good speechmaker and in the weeks prior to the election, this poll numbers dropped substantially. Unfortunately, the Chicago Tribune had done surveying ahead of the election and predicted Dewey would win. In a now famous picture, Truman - who ended up winning - holds a copy of the Tribune with the headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman" (since the paper published their front page even before the election results were tallied).

population

Actual number of people whose opinions, scientists are trying to judge.

Literary Digest (1936)

Conducted polls between 1916 and 1936 and mailed out questionnaires. In 1936, using their own subscription lists; automobile registries and telephone directories, they mailed out 10 million and received two million response.

sample

is the number of people interviewed for purposes of estimating the population.