ABSTRACT

Observe that as the sample size increases, the variation of the 1000 replicates of the proportion of red decreases. In other words, as the sample size increases, there are fewer differences due to sampling variation and the distribution centers more tightly around the same value. In both our tactile and our virtual sampling activities, we used sampling for the purpose of estimation. Let’s introduce some terminology and notation as well as statistical definitions related to sampling. The act of “inferring” means to deduce or conclude information from evidence and reasoning. Statistical inference is the “theory, methods, and practice of forming judgments about the parameters of a population and the reliability of statistical relationships, typically on the basis of random sampling.” The chapter discusses the “sampling from a bowl” exercise to other sampling scenarios and present a theoretical result known as the Central Limit Theorem.