Which term refers to a numerical expression summarizing a sample characteristic?

Which term refers to a numerical expression summarizing a sample characteristic?

• A. Statistic
• B. Representativeness
• C. Probability Sample
• D. Accidental Sampling

Answer: (A)

A numerical expression summarizing a sample characteristic is called a statistic. This includes values like the sample mean, sample proportion, or sample standard deviation—the numbers that describe what was observed in the subset you studied. In social work research, you collect data from a sample and compute these statistics to describe the sample and to estimate the corresponding population values (parameters), even though the true population values aren’t directly known. The other terms describe how the data are obtained or how well the sample represents the population. Representativeness refers to how closely the sample mirrors the population, not to a numerical summary. A probability sample refers to a sampling method where each unit has a known chance of being selected, while accidental sampling (convenience sampling) is a nonprobability method.

A numerical expression summarizing a sample characteristic is called a statistic. This includes values like the sample mean, sample proportion, or sample standard deviation—the numbers that describe what was observed in the subset you studied. In social work research, you collect data from a sample and compute these statistics to describe the sample and to estimate the corresponding population values (parameters), even though the true population values aren’t directly known.

The other terms describe how the data are obtained or how well the sample represents the population. Representativeness refers to how closely the sample mirrors the population, not to a numerical summary. A probability sample refers to a sampling method where each unit has a known chance of being selected, while accidental sampling (convenience sampling) is a nonprobability method.