GROUP ACTIVITY 1: PSYCH STATS (LEC)

POPULATION AND SAMPLE

Population
 In statistics, the population is the complete set of items from which data for a statistical study is
drawn. It might be a gathering of people, a collection of objects, or anything else. It contributes to a
study's data pool and you develop judgments based on populations.
 Example: Your lecturer assigned a research project to your class. Your group chose to explore the
negative repercussions of students' procrastinating habits on their academic performance. As a result,
the population of your study has been decided to be the whole student body at your university. It
would contain all the students who study in your school at the time of data collection.
Sample
 A sample is a subset of the population that represents the group of interest in the data. The sample is a
random selection of the population that best represents the entire data collection. When the population
is too huge to gather information, the data collected is unreliable, or the population is hypothetical
and unlimited in size, samples are utilized.
 Example: Your groupmates think that your chosen population is too large for collection of data, and
that assessing the complete student body is nearly impossible because they are difficult to reach. Your
group immediately utilized Slovin’s formula to reduce the number of respondents, and then your
group used the convenience sampling approach, in which the students chosen to be your respondents
are sampled merely because they are a readily available pool of respondents. This means that your
respondents were easily approachable in order to be included in the sample. Now, the selected
number of students from your entire population is called the sample.
During our discussion last March 2, our professor introduced us to Statistics wherein we learned
about its different concepts and terminologies. One of the topics that we discussed is about the
difference between Population and Sample.
Population, as told by our professor is the complete set of items from which data for a statistical
study is drawn. It might be a gathering of people, a collection of objects, or anything else. It
contributes to a study's data pool and you develop judgments based on populations. For instance, a
lecturer assigned a research project to his/her class. One group chose to explore the negative
repercussions of students' procrastinating habits on their academic performance. As a result, the
population of their study has been decided to be the whole student body at their university. It would
contain all the students who study in their school at the time of data collection.
On the other side, the Sample is a subset of the population that represents the group of interest in
the data. The sample is a random selection of the population that best represents the entire data
collection. When the population is too huge to gather information, the data collected is unreliable, or
the population is hypothetical and unlimited in size, samples are utilized. For instance, your
groupmates think that your chosen population is too large for collection of data, and that assessing the
complete student body is nearly impossible because they are difficult to reach. Your group
immediately utilized Slovin’s formula to reduce the number of respondents, and then your group used
the convenience sampling approach, in which the students chosen to be your respondents are sampled
merely because they are a readily available pool of respondents. This means that your respondents
were easily approachable in order to be included in the sample. Now, the selected number of students
from your entire population is called the sample.
PARAMETER AND STATISTIC
Parameter
 A number describing a whole population.
 Example: A researcher conducts a study wherein she wants to estimate the average height of men.
The researcher’s chosen population is men whose age is 30 years and older. The parameter is the
average height of all men aged 30 years and older.
Statistic
 A number describing a sample.
 Example: A school administrator wishes to determine the mean SAT verbal score for pupils whose
first language is not English. The administrator obtains a sample mean SAT verbal score of 458 from
a simple random sample of 20 students whose first language is not English. The statistic is the mean
SAT verbal score of 458 from the sample of 20 students.
The Parameter and Statistic were some of the few topics that were also mentioned. These two
terminologies are closely related and are significant in determining sample size. Many students don't
understand the distinction between parameter and statistic, but it's critical to understand what these terms
represent and how to tell them apart.
We discovered that a Parameter is a fixed measure that describes the entire population, whereas a
Statistic is a characteristic of a sample, which is a subset of the target population. Furthermore, a
Parameter is a fixed, unknown numerical value, but a Statistic is a known number and a variable that
depends on the population proportion.
Here are some instances of these two terminologies to help you grasp them better. Assume, for
example, that a researcher is conducting a study in which she wishes to estimate the average height of
men. The researcher's target population consists of men aged 30 and up. As a result, the parameter is the
average height of all men aged 30 and up. Meanwhile, in Statistic, imagine a school administrator wants
to know the average SAT verbal score for students whose first language is not English. From a basic
random sample of 20 students whose first language is not English, the administrator achieves a sample
mean SAT verbal score of 458. Therefore, the statistic is the mean SAT verbal score of 458 from the
sample of 20 students.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE AND DEPENDENT VARIABLE

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
 In an experimental study, an independent variable is one that you control or modify in order to
investigate its effects. It is referred to be "independent" because it is unaffected by any other factors
in the study.
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
 A dependent variable is one whose value is affected by the value of another variable, known as the
independent variable. It is the variable being tested in a scientific experiment, and so it is referred to
as the dependent variable.
Example:
 You conducted a study to see if adjustments in the temperature of a room affects English test
performance. The temperature of the room is the independent variable. You change the temperature
of the room by making it cooler for half of the participants and warmer for the other half. The
dependent variable, on the other hand, is the English test scores. You use a standardized exam to
assess all participants' English skills and see if they alter depending on the temperature of the room.
PARAMETRIC TEST AND NON-PARAMETRIC TEST