What is the main goal of statistics?

• Deductive reasoning

• Inductive reasoning

• making predictions

• describing data

What is a target population?

• A group from which a sample is taken

• A physical list of all members of a sampled population population

• Every member of the population

• A particular group of interest

What is the difference between a parameter and a statistic?

• Parameters describe a sample characteristic, while statistics describe a population characteristic.

• Parameters describe a population characteristic, while statistics describe a sample characteristic.

• Parameters are values that never change, while statistics change over time.

• Parameters and statistics are the same thing.

Identify the population and the sample in the following scenario: In a survey, 359 college students at the University of Jackson were asked if they had tried the October flavor of the month at the campus coffee shop. Eighty-three of the students surveyed said yes.

• Population: 359 college students; Sample: 83 college students

• Population: All college students in the world; Sample: 83 college students at the University of Jackson

• Population: All college students at the University of Jackson; Sample: 359 college students

• d) Population: 83 college students; Sample: 359 college students

What is the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics?

• Descriptive statistics summarize and display data, while inferential statistics use data to estimate population parameters.

• Descriptive statistics test hypotheses, while inferential statistics summarize data.

• Descriptive statistics estimate population parameters, while inferential statistics summarize data.

• Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics are the same thing.

Identify the type of statistics used in the following excerpt: "AOL had 900 journalists, 500 of them at its local Patch news operation.... By the end of 2011, Bloomberg expects to have 150 journalists and analysts for its new Washington operation, Bloomberg Government."

• Descriptive statistics

• Inferential statistics

• Both descriptive and inferential statistics

• Neither descriptive nor inferential statistics

What is a sampling frame?

• A subset of the population

• A numerical description of a population characteristic

• A physical list of all members of the sampled population

• A group of interest in a survey

In a census, data are obtained from:

• Every member of the population

• A random sample of the population

• A specific subgroup of the population

• A select few individuals from the population

Which branch of statistics involves using descriptive statistics to estimate population parameters?

• Exploratory analysis

• Confirmatory analysis

• Inferential statistics

• Descriptive statistics

In statistics, what is the term for a value or characteristic that changes among members of the population?

• invariant
• parameter
• constant
• variable