k e y t e r m s i n s t a t i s t i c s- villanova university（k e y t e r m s我n s t t s t c s -维拉诺瓦大学）.docVIP

Glossary of Statistical Terms Arithmetic Mean the total value of a set of observations divided by the number of observations ( ( or X ) Central Tendency the “middle’ of a data set Coefficient of Variation the standard deviation divided by the arithmetic mean ( (/( or s/ )- used to compare the RELATIVE VARIATION in two or more data sets. Continuous Variable data can assume any value in a given range (can be fractions or decimals) Discrete Variable data can only assume values that are whole numbers Frequency Distribution a table that indicates the number of observations that fall into classes of values Frequency Polygon a single line graph of a frequency distribution Histogram a bar chart of a frequency distribution Median the “middle” value when the data are arranged in ascending order Mode the value that occurs with the greatest frequency Modal Class the class in a frequency distribution that contains the most observations Cumulative Frequency a frequency distribution that presents the number of observations that fall Distribution below certain values Population all of the observations on a given phenomenon (N = population size) Sample part of the population (n = sample size) Random Sample a sample in which every observation in the population has the same probability of being included in the sample Systematic Sampling a sampling plan in which every kth item in the population is included in the sample after a random start Stratified Sampling a sampling plan in which the population is divided into strata (each of which has some common characteristic) and probability samples are drawn from each strata Cluster Sampling a sampling plan in which the population is dived into clusters (each of which has the characteristics of the population) and probability samples are drawn from each cluster Parameter a characteristic of a population (signified by G