In basic statistics, an important distinction is made between those values associated with samples (a part of a population) and those associated with populations. To do this, statisticians use the following conventions. For a sample statistic (such as the mean of a sample), Roman letters are used. For a population parameter (such as the mean of a population), Greek letters are used. So, for example, the mean for the spelling score for a sample of 100 fifth graders is represented as whereas the mean for the spelling score for the entire population of fifth graders is represented, using the
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