Idea 6of 22Builds onA survey question that does not push
The population and the sample
Who is the whole group, and who do we actually ask?
Today you'll discover
- what the population is
- what a sample is
- how the two fit together
Think first60 students, and Sam can ask 10
Sam will ask 10 of these 60 students. Which group is the population?
Decide first, then press Next. Find the whole group first, then the ones who are asked.
A grid of 60 marks, one for each student at Pine Hill School: filled for wants a court, hollow for wants a garden; squares ride the bus, circles walk. A dashed outline goes round all 60 and a hat holds their names. Then 10 marks are ringed: the sample. At the right, two bars: the sample, 3 of 10 want a court; all 60 students, 18 of 60.
See the whole ideathe big idea and the key word, in one place
The big idea
The population is the whole group; the sample is the part of it you ask.
Pine Hill School
Question: what should the yard get? Population: all 60 students. Sample: the 10 whose names come out of the hat.
- Population60 students
- Sample10 asked
Easy to get wrongThe population is everyone the question is about, not only the people who answer. A sample is always part of a population.
Key words
- population
- the whole group a question is about, like all 60 students at a school
- sample
- the part of the population that is actually asked or measured
Ready to use it?
- Name the population and the sample in a survey.