Difference Between Population and Sample

Population Definition

Population, in its simplest form, is the whole of all components under investigation that have one or more characteristics, for instance, the entire population of India. In addition to referring to individuals, the word "population" can also describe objects, occasions, structures, etc.

Population size is the total amount of people living in an area. For instance, if India has 100 million citizens, its population is N. Populations can be any size.

The following discusses the various population types:

Population Limit

The population is considered finite when the total number of its components is fixed, making it feasible to count it all.

A limitless population

When there are too many units in a population to measure, making it impossible to see every item in the world, the population is said to be limitless.

Present-day Population

The term "existent population" refers to genuine people and living things.

Imaginary Population

The population that only exists in mind is known as the hypothetical or imaginary population.

Example

• The total number of employees in the sugar factory.
• The number of bikes made by a specific manufacturer.
• The number of mosquitoes in an area.
• The number of Indian taxpaying citizens.

Sample

By "sample," we refer to a portion of the population chosen randomly to participate in the research. The sample so chosen should be such that it represents the population in all of its features and should be free from bias in order to provide a tiny cross-section, as the sample observations are used to draw generalizations about the population.

In other words, a "sample" comprises the respondents chosen from the population, and the selection of respondents is referred to as "sampling." The number of units in a sample is referred to as the sample size, while the units under investigation are known as sampling units.

The majority of the time, while doing statistical testing, samples are employed when the sample size is too big to encompass the whole population being examined.

Population V/S Sample

Significant Distinctions Between Sample and Population

The following reasons make the distinction between population and sample clear:

• The population is the totality of all components with shared properties in the universe. Sample refers to a subset of the population members selected to participate in the study.
• Every component of the entire group is represented in the population. On the other hand, a sample only contains a small portion of the population.
• While the measure of a sample observation is known as a statistic, the feature of the population based on all units is referred to as a parameter.
• The process is considered a census of the entire population when data is gathered from every population unit. In comparison, a sample survey is conducted using a sampling technique to gather data from the group.
• In a population, the emphasis is on identifying the components' characteristics. Still, in a sample, the emphasis is on drawing generalizations about the elements of the population that the sample was drawn from.

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the distinctions mentioned above, it is also true that the relationship between the sample and population is that the sample is taken from the population; hence, without the population, the sample might not exist. Also, the sample's primary goal is to draw as precise a statistical conclusion about the population as possible. The amount of generalization accuracy increases with the size of the sample.

Population and Sample frequently asked questions

Question 1: What is the sample population's limitation?

Answer: The sampling approach needs to be improved by using limited selection, which causes us to make incorrect inferences. When a sample selection technique is misused, bias results. Large samples that were poorly chosen may not be as dependable as relatively small samples that were carefully chosen.

Question 2: How do you tell whether a set of data is population or sample?

Answer: The term "population" describes the complete group of people about whom you want to make conclusions. The term "sample" refers to the population from which you will gather data.

Question 3: Do samples always represent the population?

Answer: Researchers and statisticians use samples to represent a population while gathering data. Samples can be useful for drawing inferences about populations that are meaningful and for representing populations. As samples are parts of populations, they are always smaller than the populations they represent.