Glossary

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 27659

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

Example and Directions
Words (or words that have the same definition)	The definition is case sensitive	(Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages]	(Optional) Caption for Image	(Optional) External or Internal Link	(Optional) Source for Definition
(Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...")	(Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity")		The infamous double helix	https://bio.libretexts.org/	CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen

Glossary Entries
Word(s)	Definition	Image	Caption	Link	Source
Alternative Hypothesis	A statistical hypothesis that states that there is a difference between a parameter and a specific value, or that there is a difference between two parameters.
Blind Study	The individual does not know which treatment they are getting or if they are getting the treatment or a placebo.
Class Boundary	The halfway points that separate the class limits.
Class Limit	The smallest and largest value that could go into a class.
Cluster Sample	The populations are split into groups called clusters, then one or more clusters are randomly selected and all individuals in the chosen clusters are sampled.
Coefficient of Determination	The coefficient of determination is the fraction (or percent) of the variation in the values of \(y\) that is explained by the least-squares regression of \(y\) on \(x\).
Coefficient of Variation	The standard deviation divided by the mean, which allows you to compare variability among data sets when the units or scale is different.
Combination Rule	The number of ways to select \(r\) out of \(n\) objects where order does not make a difference.
Completely Randomized Experiment	In this experiment, individuals are randomly placed into the two or more groups. One group gets either nothing or a placebo; this group is called the control group. The groups getting the treatment are called the treatment groups.
Confidence Interval	A range of potential values for the unknown population parameter.
Continuous Random Variable	A variable that has an infinite number of possible values in an interval of numbers.
Continuous Variable	Can take on any value. Continuous variables are usually things you measure.
Convenience Sample	Picking a sample that is conveniently at hand. For example, asking other students in your statistics course or using social media. Most convenience sampling will give biased views and is not encouraged.
Correlation Coefficient	A measure of the strength and direction of the linear relationship between two variables.
Critical Value	The number of standard errors added and subtracted in order to achieve a desired confidence level.
Cross-sectional Study	Data observed, measured, or collected at one point in time.
Descriptive statistics	The process where you collect, organize and describe data.
Discrete Random Variable	A variable that has a countable number of possible values.
Discrete Variable	Can only take on particular values like integers. Discrete variables are usually things you count.
Double-blind Study	Neither the individual nor the researcher knows who is getting which treatment or who is getting the treatment and who is getting the placebo.
Event	A set of certain outcomes of an experiment that you want to have happen.
Experiment	An activity or process that has specific results that can be repeated indefinitely which has a set of well-defined outcomes.
Extrapolation	The use of a regression line for prediction far outside the range of values of the independent variable \(x\).
Factorial Design	This design has two or more independent categorical variables called factors. Each factor has two or more different treatment levels.
Factorial Rule	The number of ways to arrange \(n\) objects is \(n!\)
Five-number Summary	Minimum, first quartile, second quartile, third quartile and maximum value in a data set.
Fundamental Counting Rule	The number of ways to do task \(1, 2, \ldots, n\) together would be to multiply the number of ways for each task: \(m_{1} \cdot m_{2} \cdots m_{n}\).
Hypothesis Testing	The scientific method used to evaluate claims about population parameters.
Independent Events	Two events that are not related and the probability of one event does not affect the probability of the other event.
Individual	A person or object that you are interested in finding out information about.
Inferential statistics	The process of using sample data to make inferences about the population.
Influential point	A point in a scatter plot that is positioned far away from the main cluster of data points on the \(y\)-axis.
Interquartile Range (IQR)	The distance between the first and third quartile.
Intersection	Where two events overlap and happen at the same time.
Interval data	Numeric data where there is a known difference between values, but zero does not mean “nothing.”
Law of Large Numbers	As \(n\) increases, the relative frequency tends toward the theoretical probability.
Leverage Point	A point in a scatter plot that is positioned far away from the main cluster of data points on the \(x\)-axis.
Lurking Variable .	A variable other than the independent or dependent variables that may influence the regression equation
Margin of Error	Half the width of the confidence interval and is a statistic that represents the amount of random sampling error.
Matched Pairs Design	This is a subset of the randomized block design where the treatments are given to two groups that can be matched up with each other in some way.
Mean	The mean is the arithmetic average of the numbers. This is the center that most people call the average.
Median	The median is the data value in the middle of the data that has 50% of the data below that point and 50% of the data above that point.
Midrange	The average of the smallest and largest data values.
Modal Class	The modal class is the class with the highest frequency.
Mode	The mode is the data value that occurs the most frequently in the data.
Mutually Exclusive Events	Disjoint events that cannot occur at the same time.
Nominal data	Categorical data that has no order or rank. For example, the color of your car, ethnicity, race, or gender.
Null Hypothesis	A statistical hypothesis that states that there is no difference between a parameter and a specific value, or that there is no difference between two parameters.
Observational Study	An observational study is when the investigator collects data by observing, measuring, counting, watching or asking questions. The investigator does not change anything.
Ordinal data	Categorical data that has a natural order to it.
Outcomes	The results of an experiment.
Outlier	An outlier is a data value that is very different from the rest of the data and is very far from the center.
Parameter	Any characteristic or measure from a population. This number is a fixed, unknown number that you want to estimate.
Pareto Chart	A bar graph that is ordered from the most frequent down to the least frequent category.
Permutation Rule	The number of ways to arrange \(r\) out of \(n\) objects where order does make a difference.
Point Estimate	A sample statistic used to estimate the population parameter.
Population	The total set of all the observations that are the subject of a study.
Probability Distribution	An assignment of probabilities to all the possible values of the random variable.
Prediction Interval	The confidence interval for the predicted value of \(y\).
Longitudinal Study	Data collected in the future from groups sharing common factors.
Qualitative or Categorical Variable	A word or name that describes a quality of the individual
Quantitative or Numerical Variable	A number (quantity), something that can be counted or measured from the individual.
Quartile	Numbers that divide a data set into fourths. One fourth (or a quarter) of the data falls between consecutive quartiles.
Random Variable	If you have a variable, and can find a probability associated with that variable, it is called a random variable.
Randomized Block Design	A block is a group of subjects that are similar or the same subject measured multiple times, but the blocks differ from each other. Then randomly assign treatments to subjects inside each block.
Range	The difference between the largest and smallest data values.
Ratio Data	Numeric data that has a true zero, meaning when the variable is zero nothing is there. Most measurement data are ratio data.
Replication	Repetition of an experiment on more than one subject so you can make sure that the sample is large enough to distinguish true effects from random effects. It is also the ability for someone else to duplicate the results of the experiment.
Residual	The vertical distance between the actual value of \(y\) and the predicted value of \(y\).
Retrospective Study	Data collected from the past using records, interviews, and other similar artifacts.
Sample	A subset from the population.
Sample Space	Collection of all possible outcomes of the experiment.
Scatterplot	A scatterplot shows the relationship between two quantitative variables measured on the same individuals.
Simple Random Sample (SRS)	Selecting a sample size of \(n\) objects from the population so that every sample of the same size \(n\) has equal probability of being selected as every other possible sample of the same size from that population.
Standard Deviation	The average distance of the data points from the mean.
Standard Error of Estimate	The standard deviation of the residuals.
Statistic	Any characteristic or measure from a sample.
Statistical Hypothesis	An educated conjecture about a population parameter.
Statistics	Statistics is the study of how to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret data collected from a group.
Stratified Sample	The population is split into groups called strata, then a random sample is taken from each stratum.
Systematic Sample	We list the entire population, then randomly pick a starting point \(n\) and then take every \(n^{th}\) value until the sample size is reached.
Type I Error	Rejecting the null hypothesis when it was actually true.
Type II Error	Failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is actually false.
Union	The junction of two events including their intersection.
Variable (also known as a random variable)	The measurement or observation of the individual.
Variance	The average squared distance from the data points to the mean.
Z-Score	The number of standard deviations a data point is from the mean.