Example 3

Data collected by the National Climatic Data Center from 1971 to 2000 was used to determine the average total yearly precipitation for each state. The following table shows the mean yearly precipitation for a random sample of 10 states and each state’s ranking in relation to the rest of the states, where a ranking that’s closer to 1 indicates a higher mean yearly precipitation. Use the sample data to estimate the total rainfall in all 50 states for the 30-year period from 1971 to 2000. Identify the population, parameter, sample, and statistic of interest in this situation.
  1. Identify the population in this situation.
  2. Identify the parameter in this situation.
  3. Identify the sample in this situation.
  4. Identify the statistic of interest in this situation.
  5. Calculate the statistic of interest.
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