AS Stats - Census and sample

Question 1

What is a census ?

Answer 1

• Observes or measures every member of the population

Question 2

What is a sample ?

Answer 2

A selection of observations taken from a subset of the population - used to find out information about the population as a whole

Question 3

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a census ?

Answer 3

Advantage
- Gives completely accurate results
Disadvantages
- Time consuming AND expensive
- Hard to process large amounts of data

Question 4

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a sample ?

Answer 4

Advantage
- Less time consuming AND less expensive
- Fewer people have to respond
- Less data to process
Disadvantages
- Not that accurate
- Sample may not be representative of the population