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Example 1.4 from Statistics, 1.1 Definitions of Statistics, Probability, and Key Terms
Determine what the population, sample, parameter, statistic, variable, and data referred to in the following study.
An insurance company would like to determine the proportion of all medical doctors who have been involved in one or more malpractice lawsuits. The company selects 500 doctors at random from a professional directory and determines the number in the sample who have been involved in a malpractice lawsuit.
Work it out on paper first. Then open the solution one step at a time, and stop as soon as you can finish on your own.
The population is all medical doctors listed in the professional directory.
The parameter is the proportion of medical doctors who have been involved in one or more malpractice suits in the population.
The sample is the 500 doctors selected at random from the professional directory.
The statistic is the proportion of medical doctors who have been involved in one or more malpractice suits in the sample.
The variable X records whether a doctor has or has not been involved in a malpractice suit.
The data are either: yes, was involved in one or more malpractice lawsuits; or no, was not.
How did it go?