A particular country has 55 total states. If the areas of 30 states are added and the sum is divided by 30, the result is 196,582 square kilometers. Determine whether this result is a statistic or a parameter and why.
A parameter is data about the whole population, while a statistic deals with a part of the population, a sample. What does that tell you?
The result is a statistic because it describes some characteristics of a sample.
Or is it because if describes some characteristics of a population? this is where I get confused.
thanks
parameter
Its a statistic
To determine whether the result is a statistic or a parameter, we need to understand the definitions of both terms:
1. Statistic: A statistic is a numerical value that describes a characteristic of a sample. It is calculated based on the data collected from a subset of the population.
2. Parameter: A parameter is a numerical value that describes a characteristic of a population as a whole. It represents a fixed and unknown value that we try to estimate using statistics.
In this specific case, we are calculating the average area of the 30 states, which are a subset of the total 55 states in the country. The given result of 196,582 square kilometers is calculated from the sample (30 states). Therefore, this result is a statistic because it describes a characteristic of the sample, not the entire population of 55 states.
If we had the average area of all 55 states, it would be a parameter because it would describe the characteristic of the entire population. However, in this scenario, we only have information about a subset of the states, so it remains a statistic.