Differentiate population from sample

A population is all of a particular group, while a sample is only a portion of that group.

I searched Google under the key words "population sample" to get these possible sources:

http://score.kings.k12.ca.us/lessons/wwwstats/population.html
http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/steps/glossary/basic_definitions.html
http://www.ltcconline.net/greenl/courses/102/Statistics/population_sample_and_data.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(statistics)

In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search. Also see http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/.

I hope this helps. Thanks for asking.

To differentiate between population and sample, we need to understand their definitions and how they relate to one another in the context of research and statistics.

1. Population:
- Population refers to the entire group or set of individuals, objects, or events that we are interested in studying. It represents the complete collection of subjects or units that share a common characteristic.
- For example, if we are studying the average height of all adults in a particular country, the population would include every adult in that country.

2. Sample:
- A sample is a subset or smaller group selected from the population. It represents a portion of the population that is used to gather information or data.
- The sample is chosen so that it represents the characteristics or attributes of the population as accurately as possible. It is impractical or impossible to collect data from the entire population, so we use a sample to make inferences about the population.
- For example, instead of measuring the height of every adult in the country, we might randomly select a sample of 1000 adults and measure their height. The data from this sample can then be used to make inferences about the average height of the entire population.

In summary, the population is the complete group of individuals or objects of interest, while the sample is a subset of that population that is selected to represent it. The sample is used to gather information or data that can be generalized to make conclusions or predictions about the entire population.