A subset of the population used to make inferences is called a

A subset of the population used to make inferences is called a

• A. Population
• B. Sample
• C. Parameter
• D. Statistic

Answer: (B)

When we want to learn about a large group, we study a smaller group drawn from it. This smaller group is a sample, and it’s used to make inferences about the entire population because measuring everyone is often impractical or impossible. The population is the full group we care about; a parameter is the true value describing that population (like the actual mean or proportion). A statistic is a value calculated from the sample (like the sample mean or sample proportion). The subset used to draw conclusions about the population is the sample. For example, surveying 1,000 voters to estimate the overall voting preference uses a sample, and the sample proportion provides an estimate of the population proportion. Because different samples can yield different estimates, we use ideas like confidence intervals to reflect this variability.

When we want to learn about a large group, we study a smaller group drawn from it. This smaller group is a sample, and it’s used to make inferences about the entire population because measuring everyone is often impractical or impossible. The population is the full group we care about; a parameter is the true value describing that population (like the actual mean or proportion). A statistic is a value calculated from the sample (like the sample mean or sample proportion). The subset used to draw conclusions about the population is the sample. For example, surveying 1,000 voters to estimate the overall voting preference uses a sample, and the sample proportion provides an estimate of the population proportion. Because different samples can yield different estimates, we use ideas like confidence intervals to reflect this variability.