Population parameter

Population Parameter

The population parameter can be defined as a quantity or statistical measure which, for any provided population, which is fixed in time and is used as the value of a variable in any of the general distribution or frequency function in order to make a descriptive of the given population.

Example

A parameter is to a population as a statistic is to a sample. At a particular time, there may be some parameter for the percentage of all voters in a whole country who prefer a particular electoral candidate. But it is impractical to ask every voter before an election occurs what their candidate preferences are, so a sample of voters will be polled, and a statistic, the percentage of the polled voters who preferred each candidate, will be counted. The statistic is then used to make inferences about the parameter, the preferences of all voters. Similarly, in some forms of testing of manufactured products, rather than destructively testing all products, only a sample of products are tested, to gather statistics supporting an inference that all the products meet product design parameters.