ABSTRACT
Why Is Probability Important When Using Statistics? One of the themes that has been stressed thus far is that decision-makers rarely, if ever, get inforK mation on the entire population. It is too costly and usually impractical to survey everyone or everything. Therefore, we take a sample from the population and hope that the sample statistics are close enough to the population parameters such that sound decisions can be made. This inK volves probability. Probability theory is a basic component of decision making under uncertainty. What is the probability that the sample characteristics are close enough to the population characK teristics such that the sample is a reliable estimate of the population? Keep in mind that we are asking this question even though we may not know exactly what the population looks like.
