Common Core: High School - Statistics and Probability

Explore the principles of statistics and probability, equipping high school students with essential skills for data analysis and informed decision-making.

Advanced Topics

Statistical Inference and Sampling

How Do We Draw Conclusions from Data?

In real life, we can't always study everyone, so we take samples—smaller groups that represent the whole population.

Sampling Methods

  • Random Sampling: Everyone has an equal chance to be picked.
  • Stratified Sampling: The population is divided into groups, and samples are taken from each group.

Making Inferences

We use data from samples to make predictions about the whole population. This process is called statistical inference.

Margin of Error

Because samples are only part of the population, our results may be a little off. The margin of error tells us how much.

Key Formula

\[P = \frac{n}{N}\]

Examples

  • Surveying 100 students to estimate the favorite lunch food of the entire school.

  • Polling voters to predict election results.

In a Nutshell

Statistical inference uses samples to make educated guesses about bigger groups.

Key Terms

Sample
A subset of the population used for analysis.
Population
The entire group we're interested in.
Statistical Inference
Using sample data to make conclusions about a population.