STA 119 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Statistical Parameter
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Population - the totality of all objects, that are of interest to us, having a common observable characteristic. Can refer to the information (characteristic) of the objects. Dependent on what specific group you seek to understand. All children under the age of 18. Variable - any characteristic(s), number, or quantity of the individuals (subjects) of the population that can be measured or counted. Parameter - a summarization of the population (variable) Will never really know the actual value of the parameter. Can only be content with estimating the value of it by looking at a proportion of the population. The goal of most studies would be to understand or learn something specific about a population. Of course, viewing the entire population is not feasible. Our goal, then, is to attempt to learn what we want about the population without actually viewing all of the members of the population.