sampling distributions

statistical inference

evaluate whether a sample drawn from a given population is representative of that population

- estimate parameters using statistics

normal distribution

describes a symmetrical, bell shaped curve

sampling problem

challenge of drawing representative samples from populations due to the infinite number that could be potentially drawn

sampling distribution (of the mean)

distribution of all possible sample means you could draw from a population

central limit theorem

describes what we can expect from sampling distributions, in terms of shapes and parameters

- if N>30, this provides the info necessary to deduce the sampling distribution

expected value

the mean of the sample means

standard error

the standard deviation of the sample means

sampling error

sample means vary from sample to sample