Question

A company has developed a new engine whose average lifetime is unknown. In order to estimate this average, 100 engines are randomly selected from a large production line and tested; their average lifetime is found to be 11 years. The 11 years represents a:a. parameter.b. statistic.c. sample.d. population.

Answer 1

Answer:

(B) Statistic

Explanation:

A statistic is defined as a metric derived from (or that describes) a sample. As such, given a certain population (in the case of the question, the population is the total number of new engines developed by the company), a sample can be selected from the population (the sample in the question is the 100 engines that are randomly selected).

Any characteristic that describes the population is known as a parameter, whereas a characteristic that defines the sample is a statistic. In the question given, the average lifetime of 11 years was derived from the sample of 100 engines as is thus a statistic.