Chapter 1 Reading

Front 1

What is statistics?

Back 1

• Field of study that deals with data.
• Includes all aspects of analysis including collection, organization, and interpretation of data.

Front 2

Why do we need Statistical Theory?

Back 2

Because we rely on data to make decisions and draw conclusions.

Front 3

What fields/applications use statistics?

Back 3

• health studies (medicine/dentistry)
• psychology
• social sciences
• clinical trials/drug tests (medicine)
• political polling (political science)
• market research (economics/business)
• forecasting/predictions (all fields)
• engineering

Front 4

Group of individuals we want to describe?

Back 4

Population or target population

Front 5

What are the characteristics recorded for each individual case called?

Back 5

Variables

Front 6

What are summaries of the population called?

Back 6

Parameters

Front 7

How much could a U of A CompSci grad expect to earn five years after graduation?

Back 7

Population: U of A CompSci grads

Variable: salary

Parameter: The average salary of CompSci grads five years after graduation

Front 8

Is a new migraine drug more effective than an existing drug?

Back 8

Population: migraine sufferers

Variable(s): measure of pain relief, whether or not drug worked in a particular time frame

Parameters: some measure for the difference in average pain relief between the two drugs, the difference in the probability of drugs working in a particular time frame

Front 9

What proportion of voters will vote for a particular political candidate?

Back 9

Population: eligible voters

Variable: whether or not a voter will vote for this candidate

Parameter: The proportion of voters that will vote for this candidate

Front 10

How do we find the value of a parameter?

Back 10

• We need to observe each individual in the population
• This is often impossible, so we "sample" information from a smaller subset of the population

Front 11

Statistical Inference?

Back 11

The theory of generalizing a relatively small amount of information from a small group (called a sample) to a much larger group (the population).

Front 12

Population?

Back 12

The set of objects or individuals in which we are interested

Front 13

Parameter?

Back 13

A number that describes a characteristic of the population (often unknown)

Front 14

Sample?

Back 14

A subset of individuals from a population

Front 15

Statistic

Back 15

• Number that describes a characteristic of the sample.
• Calculations made from data

Front 16

What are data?

Back 16

• Values with a context
• numbers, record names, or other labels

Front 17

Process of making a data-driven decision?

Back 17

1. State the question!
2. Decide how to collect data and which statistical methods need to be applied to answer question/make decision.
3. Collect the data --> Draw a sample from the population of interest
4. Describe/summarize the data. Find statistics.
5. Use appropriate statistical tools to find answer to question --> Generalize the finding from sample to the entire population (if possible)