Statistics key words and

definitions
Edexcel specification for S2- Ayomide
Olubummo

When is a binomial distribution a

suitable model for a practical solution
When there are only two outcomes-either

success or failure
The probability of success remains
constant.
There are a fixed number of trials.
The outcomes are independent of each
other
Hot tip: relate theses reasons to the situation
given for the full marks

When is a poisson distribution a

good model to use.
When event occurs at a constant rate
They occur singly
They are independent of each other ( so in

cases of catching fishes or other organisms,

you assume that the fishes location is
completely random and independent of
other fishes which is not always the case.
Hot tip; Again relate this to the context given

How do you know when to use the

Poisson distribution as an approximation
to the binomial
When n is large
When p is small

When to apply the continuity

correction
You apply the continuity correction when

moving from a discrete distribution to a

normal one. This is the case when
approximation from either the binomial or
Poisson to the normal as the normal is
continuous while the binomial and Poisson
is discrete.
This involves +/- 0.5 depending on whether
or not you want to keep the observed value
(X)

When would you use the normal

distribution to approximate a binomial
N is large
P is close to 0.5

When would you use the Poisson to

approximate the normal
When lamba (

) is large

What is meant by a
population
A collection of individual items and people

What is the difference between a

census and a sample
A census is information collected from ALL

members of the population

A sample is information collected from
CHOSEN members of the population.

What is meant by a sampling

frame
A numbered list of all the sampling units in

the population.
For example if you where collecting
information about the school from student
using a class as a sample you would use
the class register as a sampling frame as it
has a numbered list of all the sampling
units ( see the next slide) in this case
students.

What is meant by a
sampling unit
The individual units in the population.
So again if you were collecting information

from a school, the students would be the

sampling units. A numbered list of the
students would then form the sampling
frame

What are the advantages of taking

a census
All the members of the population surveyed

therefore representative.
Unbiased
Like to get more accurate data

What are the disadvantages of

doing s census
Costly
Time consuming
Hard to ensure all the members of the

population are surveyed

What is a sampling distribution of a

statistic
Firstly a statistic is a quantity calculated

from observations so there are no unknown

parameters.
A sampling distribution contains all the
values of the statistic and the probability
that each will happen by chance alone.

What is an hypothesis
A statement about the population

parameter

What is an hypothesis test

A mathematical procedure that evaluate

the value of the population parameter

proposed by the null hypothesis by
comparing it to the alternative hypothesis

What is meant by the null

hypothesis
What we assume is correct. H0

What is the alternative

hypothesis
Tells us about population parameter if our

assumption is shown to be wrong.

When to use one or two

tailed tests
One tailed when want to test whether it can

increased or decreased.
Two tail when you want to test change in
proportion.

What is meant by a critical

region
The range of values that would lead to a

significant test thus the rejection of the null

hypothesis and acceptance of the
alternative hypothesis.
Hot tip: always split the level to calculate the
significance figure unless told otherwise in
the question.

What is meant by the significance

level
The probability of incorrectly rejecting the

null hypothesis.
Calculated by adding the probabilities of
the boundaries of the critical region