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What is a representative sample? What is its value?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The representative sample is the group that provides information on the entire population and is of great value for researchers and statisticians.

Step by step solution

01

Definition of a representative sample

A representative sample can be understood as the subset of the population that accurately indicates the attributes of the population considered for the study.

Example: Consider an organization with 500 employees bifurcated into 250 male employees and 250 female employees. Then the sample of 100 employees with 50 male and 50 female is an example of a representative sample.

02

Value of representative sample

The representative sample is important in statistics as it facilitatesacquiring information about the population just by studying the sample, which is a smaller group. For statisticians and researchers, studying details about the entire population is time-consuming; moreover, money and resources are spent on it; hence, studying the sample that comprises the characteristics of the entire population makes it easy and more convenient for them. Accordingly, the statistician can conclude and provide the required results in a shorter period along with utilizing lower resources.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Treasury deficit prior to the Civil War. In Civil War History (June 2009), historian Jane Flaherty researched the condition of the U.S. Treasury on the eve of the Civil War in 1861. Between 1854 and 1857 (under President Franklin Pierce), the annual surplus/deficit was +18.8, +6.7, +5.3, and +1.3 million dollars, respectively. In contrast, between 1858 and 1861 (under President James Buchanan), the annual surplus/deficit was -27.3, -16.2, -7.2, and -25.2 million dollars, respectively. Flaherty used these data to aid in portraying the exhausted condition of the U.S. Treasury when Abraham Lincoln took office in 1861. Does this study represent a descriptive or inferential statistical study? Explain.

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