SAMPLE

(Statistics) The sample consists of a number of randomly-selected, representative observations about an economic phenomenon; a part of a population taken to estimate a parameter of the whole population. The underlying assumptions are that we do not have the means to measure the entire population of events and that the sample, if properly selected, will accurately represent the behavior and characteristics of the entire population (of events) within specified limits of probability. Types of samples include: (1) Random: A sample drawn without bias from a population in which every item has an equal chance of being drawn; (2) Representative: A sample drawn in such a way that it gives a true value for the population from which it was drawn. Contrast with Population and Census.