As a a test of a new measurement process, 10 measurements are made on pieces of glass known to have conductivity 1. The average of the 10 measurements is 1.07.


Indicate whether 1 and 1.07 is a parameter or statistic and explain why.

I know 1.07 is a statistic. Please explain what 1 is and why. Thank you

If it is from all previous pieces, then it is the measure of a population and therefore a parameter. If it is just based on a previous sample (part of a population), then it is a statistic.

I understand the population = parameter and sample = statistic. I don't understand whether the "1" is referring to a population or just the 10 pieces.

"10 measurements are made on pieces of glass know to have conductivity "1."

is the "1" representing the population or just the 10 pieces/sample??

In statistics, "parameter" and "statistic" are terms used to describe numerical values that summarize characteristics of a population or sample, respectively.

In the given scenario, the conductivity of the pieces of glass is the characteristic that is being measured. The value of 1 represents the known conductivity of the glass, which is the true value or the population parameter. This parameter reflects the average conductivity of all pieces of glass in the entire population being investigated. Since the value 1 is known and used as the basis for comparison, it is considered a parameter.

On the other hand, 1.07 is the average of the measurements taken on the 10 pieces of glass. This average is calculated from a sample, which is a smaller subset of the entire population. The average of 1.07 is a statistic since it is computed from sample data and provides an estimate of the average conductivity in the population. The statistic represents the best estimate of the parameter that can be obtained from the available sample of measurements.

To summarize, 1 is a parameter because it is the known value of the characteristic in the entire population, while 1.07 is a statistic because it is the average computed from the sample of measurements.