5.3 Sampling Distributions

So far the calculations we’ve been doing have all depended on a known theoretical probability. However, most of the time we actually don’t know what the real probability is – if we did, there would be no point in doing statistics! How can random variables help us to analyze a dataset?

Sampling Distributions

By treating the population parameter as a random variable, we can start making estimates about its probability distribution by analyzing samples.

⊕ sample mean, sample proportion
⊕ sampling distributions
⊕ central limit theorem