• Understand the difference between a census and a sample, and be able to identify the population being studied
• Distinguish between a value calculated from a sample and one calculated from a population
• Categorize a measurement as either numeric or qualitative

Unraveling the Data: Exploring Statistical Concepts in Dietary Research

You’re a research intern at a local health department. Your team is interested in understanding the dietary habits of the city’s residents. As you help with this project, you’ll need to understand several key statistical concepts: population, sample, census, statistic, parameter, and the types of measurement.

 

The city is diverse with different age groups, dietary preferences, and lifestyle habits. As an initial step, the health department is planning to conduct surveys and interviews to collect data related to residents’ dietary habits.

As a part of this project, you are tasked to make crucial decisions about the research process and understand the underlying principles of data collection and interpretation. Here are some tasks for you.

In collecting data about the dietary habits of residents your team is particularly interested in the type of diet (e.g., vegan, vegetarian, non-vegetarian) of the town residents and the number of meals they eat daily.