UNCW: STT 215: Unit 1: Total Vocab!!
Questions and Correct Answers
statistics Ans: Consists of a body of methods of collecting and
analyzing data.
quantitative Ans: represents the amount or quantity of something,
it can be continuous or discrete
qualitative (categorical) Ans: data that results from descriptions
ex) blood type of a person, marital status, religious affiliation
population Ans: the collection of all individuals or items under
consideration in a statistical study
sample Ans: that part of a population from which information is
collected
finite population Ans: In many cases the population under
consideration is one which could be physically listed.
ex) The students at UNCW
the books in a library
hypothetical population Ans: Also in many cases the population is
much more abstract and may arise from the phenomenon under
consideration.
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ex) a factory producing light bulbs. If the factory keeps using the
same equipment, raw materials and methods of production also in
future then the bulbs that will be produced in factory constitute a
hypothetical population. That is, sample of light bulbs taken from
current production line can be used to make inference about
qualities of light bulbs produced in future.
descriptive statistics Ans: includes the construction of graphs,
charts, and tables, and the calculation of various descriptive
measures such as measures of variation, and percentiles. In fact,
the most part of this course deals with this kind of statistics.
inferential statistics Ans: includes methods like point estimation,
interval estimation and hypothesis testing which are all based on
probability theory.
parameter Ans: a determining or characteristic element; a factor
that shapes the total outcome; a limit, boundary
discrete variables Ans: Some variables, such as the numbers of
children in family, the numbers of car accidents on the certain
road on different days, or the number of students taking basics of
statistics course are the results of counting and thus these are
__________. Typically, a ___________ is a variable whose possible
values are some or all of the ordinary counting numbers like
0,1,2,3,.... As a definition, we can say that a variable is ______ if it
has only a countable number of distinct possible values. That is, a
variable is ______ if it can assume only a finite number of values as
there are integers.
continuous variables Ans: Quantities such as length, weight, or
temperature can in principle be measured arbitrarily accurately.
Weight may be measured to the nearest gram (or in pounds), but it
could be measured more accurately, say to the tenth of a gram (or
in pounds). Such a variable, called ______, is intrinsically different
from a _______ variable.
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