simple random sample
A sample of size from a population of size is calleda simple random sample if
- 1.
it is a sample without replacement, and
- 2.
the probability of picking this sample is equal to theprobability of picking any other sample of size from the samepopulation .
From the first part of the definition, there are samples of items from a population of items. From thesecond part of the definition, the probability of any sample of size in is a constant. Therefore, the probability of picking aparticular simple random sample of size from a population ofsize is .
Remarks Suppose are valuesrepresenting the items sampled in a simple random sample of size.
- •
The sample mean
is anunbiased estimator
of the true population mean .
- •
The sample variance is an unbiased estimator of, where is the true variance
ofthe population given by
- •
The variance of the sample mean from the truemean is
The larger the sample size,the smaller the deviation from the true population mean. When, the variance is the same as the true population variance.