ABSTRACT
The objective of statistical analysis is to gain knowledge about certain properties in a population that are of interest to the researcher. When the population is small, the best way to study the population of interest is to study all of the elements in the population one by one. This process of collecting information on the entire population of interest is called a census; however, it is usually quite challenging to collect information on an entire population of interest. Not only do monetary and time constraints prevent a census from being taken easily, but also the challenges of finding all the members of a population can make gathering an accurate census all but impossible. Under certain conditions, a random selection of certain elements actually returns more reliable information than can be obtained by using a census. Standard methods used to learn about the characteristics of a population of interest include simulation, designed experiments, and sampling.
