A researcher analyzing 356 completed surveys to study television viewing habits found the average to be 3.1 hours per day. The 356 respondents constitute which of the following?

A researcher analyzing 356 completed surveys to study television viewing habits found the average to be 3.1 hours per day. The 356 respondents constitute which of the following?

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

Answer: (B)

When you study a group by taking data from a subset of the whole, that subset is a sample. The 356 respondents are a portion of everyone you’re interested in, so they form the sample. The average you computed from that group, 3.1 hours per day, is a statistic—a descriptive measure of the sample. If you could know the average for every person in the population, that would be a parameter—a population value. So, the 356 respondents are a sample.

When you study a group by taking data from a subset of the whole, that subset is a sample. The 356 respondents are a portion of everyone you’re interested in, so they form the sample. The average you computed from that group, 3.1 hours per day, is a statistic—a descriptive measure of the sample. If you could know the average for every person in the population, that would be a parameter—a population value. So, the 356 respondents are a sample.