Statistical Terminology by Dr.

Yatendra K Singh 2016

Statistical Inference

Statistical Inference makes use of information from a sample to draw conclusions (inferences)
about the population from which the sample was taken.

Experiment

An experiment is any process or study which results in the collection of data, the outcome of
which is unknown. In statistics, the term is usually restricted to situations in which the researcher
has control over some of the conditions under which the experiment takes place.

Example
Before introducing a new drug treatment to reduce high blood pressure, the manufacturer carries
out an experiment to compare the effectiveness of the new drug with that of one currently
prescribed. Newly diagnosed subjects are recruited from a group of local general practices. Half
of them are chosen at random to receive the new drug, the remainder receiving the present one.
So, the researcher has control over the type of subject recruited and the way in which they are
allocated to treatment.

Experimental (or Sampling) Unit

A unit is a person, animal, plant or thing which is actually studied by a researcher; the basic
objects upon which the study or experiment is carried out. For example, a person; a monkey; a
sample of soil; a pot of seedlings; a postcode area; a doctor's practice.

Population

A population is any entire collection of people, animals, plants or things from which we may
collect data. It is the entire group we are interested in, which we wish to describe or draw
conclusions about.

In order to make any generalizations about a population, a sample, that is meant to be

representative of the population, is often studied. For each population there are many possible
samples. A sample statistic gives information about a corresponding population parameter. For
example, the sample mean for a set of data would give information about the overall population
mean.

It is important that the investigator carefully and completely defines the population before
collecting the sample, including a description of the members to be included.

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 Statistical Terminology by Dr. Yatendra K Singh 2016
Example
The population for a study of infant health might be all children born in the UK in the 1980's.
The sample might be all babies born on 7th May in any of the years.

Sample

A sample is a group of units selected from a larger group (the population). By studying the
sample it is hoped to draw valid conclusions about the larger group.

A sample is generally selected for study because the population is too large to study in its
entirety. The sample should be representative of the general population. This is often best
achieved by random sampling. Also, before collecting the sample, it is important that the
researcher carefully and completely defines the population, including a description of the
members to be included.

Example
The population for a study of infant health might be all children born in the UK in the 1980's.
The sample might be all babies born on 7th May in any of the years.

Parameter

A parameter is a value, usually unknown (and which therefore has to be estimated), used to
represent a certain population characteristic. For example, the population mean is a parameter
that is often used to indicate the average value of a quantity.

Within a population, a parameter is a fixed value which does not vary. Each sample drawn from
the population has its own value of any statistic that is used to estimate this parameter. For
example, the mean of the data in a sample is used to give information about the overall mean in
the population from which that sample was drawn.

Parameters are often assigned Greek letters (e.g. ), whereas statistics are assigned Roman
letters (e.g. s).

Statistic

A statistic is a quantity that is calculated from a sample of data. It is used to give information
about unknown values in the corresponding population. For example, the average of the data in a
sample is used to give information about the overall average in the population from which that
sample was drawn.

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 Statistical Terminology by Dr. Yatendra K Singh 2016
It is possible to draw more than one sample from the same population and the value of a statistic
will in general vary from sample to sample. For example, the average value in a sample is a
statistic. The average values in more than one sample, drawn from the same population, will not
necessarily be equal.

Statistics are often assigned Roman letters (e.g. m and s), whereas the equivalent unknown
values in the population (parameters ) are assigned Greek letters (e.g. µ and ).

Sampling Distribution

The sampling distribution describes probabilities associated with a statistic when a random
sample is drawn from a population.

The sampling distribution is the probability distribution or probability density function of the
statistic.

Derivation of the sampling distribution is the first step in calculating a confidence interval or
carrying out a hypothesis test for a parameter.

Example
Suppose that x1, ......., xn are a simple random sample from a normally distributed population

with expected value µ and known variance . Then the sample mean is a statistic used to give

information about the population parameter µ; is normally distributed with expected value µ

and variance /n.

Estimate

An estimate is an indication of the value of an unknown quantity based on observed data.

More formally, an estimate is the particular value of an estimator that is obtained from a
particular sample of data and used to indicate the value of a parameter.

Example
Suppose the manager of a shop wanted to know the mean expenditure of customers in her shop
in the last year. She could calculate the average expenditure of the hundreds (or perhaps
thousands) of customers who bought goods in her shop, that is, the population mean. Instead she
could use an estimate of this population mean by calculating the mean of a representative sample
of customers. If this value was found to be £25, then £25 would be her estimate.

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Estimator

An estimator is any quantity calculated from the sample data which is used to give information
about an unknown quantity in the population. For example, the sample mean is an estimator of
the population mean.

Estimators of population parameters are sometimes distinguished from the true value by using
the symbol 'hat'. For example,

= true population standard deviation

= estimated (from a sample) population standard deviation

Example

The usual estimator of the population mean is

where n is the size of the sample and X1, X2, X3, ......., Xn are the values of the sample.

If the value of the estimator in a particular sample is found to be 5, then 5 is the estimate of the
population mean µ.

Estimation

Estimation is the process by which sample data are used to indicate the value of an unknown
quantity in a population.

Results of estimation can be expressed as a single value, known as a point estimate, or a range of
values, known as a confidence interval.

• Link of glossary for statistical terminology:-

http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/steps/glossary/alphabet.html

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