1.1 Statistics and Data

case

an individual about whom or which we have data - who was measured

record

information about an individual in a database

data table

an arrangement of data in which each row represents a case and each column represents a variable

respondent

a person who responds to a survey

population

all the cases that exist - the larger group we want to draw a conclusion about

data

systematically recorded information, whether numbers or labels, together with its context

sample

the cases we examine in seeking to understand the larger population - a subset of the population

subject

a human experimental unit, also called a participant

participant

a human experimental unit, also called a subject

categorical variable

a variable that names categories using words or numbers

context

ideally tells Who was measured, What was measured, hoW the data was collected, Where the data was collected, and When and Why the study was performed

quantitative variable

a variable that measures something, always with units

experimental unit

an individual in a study for whom or for which data values are recorded

variable

holds information about the same characteristics for many cases - what is measured

unit

a quantity or amount that is a standard of measurement, such as dollars, hours, or grams

identifier variable

a categorical variable that assigns a unique value for each case, naming or identifying a case