STAT 200 Chapter 6 Introduction to Inferences

Basic concepts: estimation, estimators and estimates

1. Estimators vs. Estimates:

   An estimator is a function of random variables X1 , X2 , Xn in a random sample

   of size n) while an estimate is the realized value of an estimator (i.e., a number) that

   is obtained when a sample is actually taken.

2. Point Estimation:

   The process of estimating a single number as an estimate of the population parameter

   is called point estimation.

                Parameter              Point Estimator   Point Estimate
   
            Population mean           Sample mean X            x
   
             Population SD             Sample SD S             s
   
          Population proportion p    Sample...