what is the difference between a sample mean and a sample proportion?
In: Mathematics
Think of a mean as a continuous value but proportion as a binary or discreet one.
sample mean is you polling 1,000 people and getting their mean age, or mean income, it’s an average number based on everyone in the sample.
a sample proportion is a count. Same 1,000 people but now you ask who is a Biden voter, or who holds a Master’s degree. It’s not an average or mean, its just a count or percentage. You can then get a mean of the proportions from different samples to increase confidence and reduce error.
Sample mean is the average value while sample proportion is the % that have a specific value/range of values.
Eg. Of 1000 people (sample) tested the average height was 170cm (mean) and 12% (proportion) of people were taller than 180cm.
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