The relationship between a statistic and a parameter is the same as the relationship between ______.

The relationship between a statistic and a parameter is the same as the relationship between ______.

• A. A sample and a population
• B. A parameter and a statistic
• C. A variable and a constant
• D. A mean and a median

Answer: (A)

Think about what each term represents: a population parameter is a fixed value that describes the entire group, while a statistic is a number computed from a sample to estimate that fixed value. The relationship you’re testing is the one between the whole group and a subset: you take data from a sample to learn about the population, and the statistic is the estimate of the population parameter. So the best fit is the idea that a statistic to a parameter mirrors a sample to a population—the statistic estimates the population parameter using information from the sample. The other options don’t capture that estimation link: a parameter and a statistic describe two different quantities; a variable and a constant aren’t about estimation from a subset; and a mean and a median are two different summaries of data, not a population–sample relationship.

Think about what each term represents: a population parameter is a fixed value that describes the entire group, while a statistic is a number computed from a sample to estimate that fixed value. The relationship you’re testing is the one between the whole group and a subset: you take data from a sample to learn about the population, and the statistic is the estimate of the population parameter.

So the best fit is the idea that a statistic to a parameter mirrors a sample to a population—the statistic estimates the population parameter using information from the sample. The other options don’t capture that estimation link: a parameter and a statistic describe two different quantities; a variable and a constant aren’t about estimation from a subset; and a mean and a median are two different summaries of data, not a population–sample relationship.